Interview: Nicola Slade

Nicola Slade is a music industry journalist, reporter, broadcaster and author based in London, UK. She has worked for various consumer magazines and websites including The Fly where she served as deputy editor for three years, Mean Fiddler (launching the very first Reading and Leeds festival websites) Clickmusic, Slant Magazine (Virgin Megastores), UK Live and Music Week, where she worked as online and digital editor.

Nicola is currently editor of Record of the Day a music industry news service and magazine. She also regularly contributes to a music reviews slot on BBC 5Live and writes features for the MPA magazine, Impact. She is co-author of “Download the Lowdown” (a guide to downloading music) and “How To Make Music In Your Bedroom”, a guide to home recording, marketing and distributing your own music without the need for a record label. Both books are published by Random House/Virgin.

Hi Nicola, you’ve enjoyed quite a varied career in the music industry – what ties all your various (past & present) roles together?

Journalism. I decided I wanted to be a music journalist when I was nine years old. Because of the changes in print publishing (I started my career unofficially in 1995, officially in 1998 – we could all see it looming even back then), I always knew I had to expand my skill-set, hence those hours learning HTML code, Photoshop, audio conversion tools etc…the tools I needed to propel myself into the 21st century.

You now edit ROTD – how long have you been in this position?

Almost three years. However, I worked with publisher Paul Scaife a few years back and have always kept a close eye on the company’s development. He lured me back from our rival Music Week, where I had previously spent three-and-a-half years.

What are the main challenges of being ROTD editor?

The deadlines are the hardest challenge. We guarantee the arrival of our daily newsletter by, at latest, 10am each morning. Most mornings I’m up by 5.30am (and I’m by no means a morning person) to make sure we’re on top of everything. We’re also keen to gain that all-important market share and boost our circulation, so in order to do that we have to be first on the news as often as possible. Aside from that, I’m a bit sad in that I love a challenge. The more complicated things get, the happier I am.

You’ve written two music related books. Can you give us a brief description of the books and their general themes/messages?

The first book was co-authored with PR Polly Birkbeck and the deal came via V2 Records – a guide to downloading music, published by Virgin Books. It was published in 2004, so much of what we put together is out-of-date now. The second was a guide to recording music at home and promoting/distributing it without the need for a record label, again published by Virgin. The key message in that book was to encourage people recording at home to take a DIY route.

You seem to be a passionate advocate for DIY music production/distribution. Do you see this as the way forward for the music industry?

I certainly see it as a way forward for certain acts, although I don’t think it’s the best route for all musicians/songwriters/performers. I think that the power now lies with managers as opposed to labels and that DIY elements fit into that idea. I think management companies are being forced to look at ways they can get their artists to market without advances from labels. In one sense or another, however, music has always for a long time been about the ‘do it yourself’ approach. We have punk to thank for that.

How to Make Music in Your Bedroom looks at the omission of labels in the music-making and distribution process. Companies like gogoyoko are making this a reality – do you see these as models for the future?

Yes, I do see it as one route which will keep music in front of people’s eyes, but I don’t see it as the only way.

Are record labels (esp. majors) completely irrelevant, or do they still have a role?

Yes, I think record labels will always have a place. Regardless of what one’s opinion might be of a record label, they have the expertise (in some areas, particularly in my experience in marketing and promotion) and in more cases than not, there is still some money available. I think we will see an increase in the importance of managers and publishers – they hold the real keys to the future.

You’ll be at YAIC talking about “the power of the digital media”. Can you give us an idea of what you’d like to discuss there?

Being a journalist myself, I find it fascinating that the new kids on the block – the bloggers – are starting to get more readers than the massive NME-style brands. I took an official journalism post-grad course because in those days, there was no proper internet to showcase your talents – or lack of. I thought it was the only way to prove to music magazines that 1. I could write and 2. I was serious about what I wanted to do. If only Blogspot existed back then. Saying that, if I could have self-published back then, my life would have been very different, so I’m happy I came to the industry at a time when everything was only just starting to change.

YAIC is aimed very much at discussing the digital and DIY realms – is this what attracted you to the event?

Reykjavik. Hot springs. Seriously, though, I am interested in how you have managed to pull together people from all strands of the ‘arts’ and not just music. I think we all have a lot to learn from one another.

Have you been to Iceland before?

No…and as the day gets nearer I’m getting all the more excited about it. The furthest north I have ever been is Ullapool in Scotland – will I need my snowboots? 
 


Check out Nicola Slade’s YAIC profile here.

For more information on YAIC click here.