Ed Sheeran came out to Music Business Worldwide‘s Music Business U.K. Awards in London on Tuesday night, giving a speech to a crowd of industry power players to honor WMG’s outgoing record executive Max Lousada, while imploring record labels to champion art and artist development instead of following analytics and data.
“They don’t make people like him anymore,” Sheeran said. “And if they do, they come around once in a generation. It’s not about having a big marketing brain, or being good at algorithms or jumping on the new hot things. It’s about recognizing what are great, great songs and who are great, great artists and allowing them to grow and not just dropping them after two duff singles. All the legacy artists we know and love today were developed over time and allowed to explore and fail and build and experiment.”
Sheeran warned that the music industry is “at risk of becoming reactionary, rather than just following heart and gut feelings on things that are just good.”
“I really hope young people who are like Max are nurtured in the future, because for real art to thrive, we need real people like him in the music industry fighting for it,” Sheeran said. “I’m so proud of what we have achieved together, and more proud to be able to call him a friend and someone that I have an immense amount of respect for both personally and professionally.”
Lousada was awarded the George Martin Award, of course named after the legendary record producer. Those in the audience for the awards on Tuesday included Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, along with other high profile executives including Sony Music Publishing CEO Jon Platt and Columbia Records CEO Ron Perry.
Also in attendance were Lousada’s fellow outgoing Warner Music executives Julie Greenwald and Kevin Lyles, who are all leaving the company amid a broader shakeup as Elliot Grainge — son of UMG CEO Lucian Grainge — has taken the reigns as Atlantic Music Group’s CEO.
“Because in a world swamped with content, it’s all too easy to drift into this algorithmic echo chamber,” Lousada said in his acceptance speech, echoing Sheeran’s sentiments. “I looked around the room tonight and I’ve seen people coming up on stage, and I’ve seen the resistance. I’ve seen the A&Rs, the managers, the labels, who are trying to look beyond that data, who were trying to find the artists who changed the energy in the room, to find the artists that move the world.”
Read Sheeran and Lousada’s speeches below:
Sheeran
My dream was always to be on Atlantic Records, because Atlantic Records has the best singer-songwriters.
All my heroes and all the people that I aspired to be were all housed there.
When I first met Max, I told him this. I was a little bit intimidated, because he was the big dog, and had shaped all of my heroes’ careers.
But I was over the moon when it ended up being my home with him at the big ship’s helm. I went through Asylum with Ed [Howard] and Ben [Cook], but Max worked from afar on my first album, and then very closely on my second and [from] then on.
We both hit our career highs together, which is something that I won’t ever forget. It’s mad going through all the years and all the artists that I’ve met along the way who all say, “Oh yeah, Max did this for me, and Max was instrumental in this”. Everyone from The Darkness to Stormzy, to James Blunt, Coldplay, Dua Lipa and beyond. When I got asked to introduce this award tonight, Max had just been let go of by Warner, and I wanted to make sure that I was here to say they don’t make people like him anymore. Music people.
And if they do, they come around once in a generation. It’s not about having a big marketing brain, or being good at algorithms or jumping on the new hot things.
It’s about recognizing what are great, great songs and who are great, great artists and allowing them to grow and not just dropping them after two duff singles. All the legacy artists we know and love today were developed over time and allowed to explore and fail and build and experiment.
The industry is at risk of becoming reactionary, rather than just following heart and gut feelings on things that are just good.
I really hope young people who are like Max are nurtured in the future, because for real art to thrive, we need real people like him in the music industry fighting for it.
I’m so proud of what we have achieved together, and more proud to be able to call him a friend and someone that I have an immense amount of respect for both personally and professionally.
Congrats on this amazing honor, man, and let’s celebrate it tonight. I can’t wait to see what you do next. Make sure you cut me in, bruv.
Everyone makes some noise, for the winner of tonight’s Sir George Martin award: Max Lousada.
Lousada
Thank you, Ed. Our journey has been sort of remarkable, and you’ve just been an amazing artist, an amazing partner, and more importantly, an incredible friend.
Thank you so much to Tim [Ingham] and everyone at Music Business Worldwide. You know, as Jon Platt said, I don’t really try and pick up these awards, but this one felt really, really special.
I just wanted to thank the George Martin family for this honor. Today I was trying to think about keeping a short speech and trying to work out what I really wanted to say.
It came to me that there’s an important through line from Sir George Martin to Ed Sheeran that goes way beyond this stage tonight.
When I first joined Warner Music, which was like 21-22 years ago, I started reading up on George Martin and about what Parlophone Records was. What he built was this kind of ever-welcoming shelter for unconventional minds, and that was something that has struck me and has been my North Star, the people that don’t quite seem to fit in.
And that’s been something that I’ve looked at when I’ve signed artists, or when I’ve run record labels. And it’s not just that [Martin] himself was a complete one-off, a maverick.
It’s that when he saw originality, he leaned into it hard. When some saw misfits, he saw pioneers. He never tried to mold his artists to fit the mold. He tried to break it into pieces with them. And I’ve always been inspired by that kind of creative bravery. And if I’m honest, that kind of creative bravery is what we need more and more.
Because in a world swamped with content, it’s all too easy to drift into this algorithmic echo chamber. I looked around the room tonight and I’ve seen people coming up on stage, and I’ve seen the resistance. I’ve seen the A&Rs, the managers, the labels, who are trying to look beyond that data, who are trying to find the artists who changed the energy in the room, to find the artists that move the world.
So I just really wanted to dedicate this as a music executive, but more importantly as a music fan, to everyone who backs new artists that have something to say. Everyone who champions them with equal parts patience and passion, and everyone who’s given them the support to succeed and the freedom to explore.
I want to give special thanks to an incredible list of artists that I’ve had the privilege [to work with] and who have put their trust in me for their stories, for their dreams, for their careers.
I want to shout out the wise and generous mentors, some of them are here tonight, Korda [Marshall], who brought me in from the cold, Lyor [Cohen], who toughened me up and to all my team at Warner.
You guys have just made an incredible journey for me and for my life. And to my American Crew, to Julie [Greenwald], to Tom [Corson], to Aaron [Bay-Schuck], and to Kevin [Liles].
To my UK crew, Tony [Harlow], Joe [Kentish], Briony [Turner], Ed [Howard], Jen [Ivory] and everyone at Warners, it’s truly been an incredibly special journey.
Obviously, to Ali my wife, and my kids, who have gone on [this] journey. Commuting back and forth from New York for six years certainly [required] someone to be really patient in the household.
But finally, to all of the unconventional minds here tonight, some that I’ve had the privilege to work with, and some that I’ve admired from afar, I just wanted to say: I see you. I salute you, and I’m proud to walk in the footsteps of George Martin, alongside you. Thank you.
(Disclosure: In 2020, Penske Media Corporation, Rolling Stone‘s parent company, made a substantial investment into Music Business Worldwide.)