Lucy Drennan
Head of A&R
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"Last year, we were inspired by the way artists adapted to an altered landscape, and excited by the shape of thing to come. Judging by what we’ve seen from the BBC Sound of 2021 and the best New Artist
Nominees at the 2021 Grammy’s, there’s plenty to look forward to. As the year gets into full swing, myself and the Composition team have made our predictions on the year ahead for the global music industry." |
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The rise of the live stream:

Through the challenges of 2020, the spirit of performance was kept alive by artists who – cut off from their most reliable and
lucrative form of income, turned to streaming – connecting digitally with their audiences across the gulf of the pandemic. Necessity has always been the mother of invention, as throughout history, inventors and musicians alike have explored techniques and demonstrated real innovation in reaction to their circumstances. In this case, these developments are set to have a lasting legacy on the industry.While many of us are
dreaming of the day we’re back at a festival, or in the atmospheric embrace of our favourite indoor venues, streaming has
made gigs more accessible to all by removing the confines of physical space, while expanding artist reach. From Instagram
Live and Twitch sets, to the on-demand revival of the concert DVD, and even tour stops on Fortnite – the burgeoning virtual
concert industry is driving new kinds of engagement. We predict it won’t be too long before we see the emergence of
a streaming platform in the vein of Spotify or Apple Music, but dedicated to live performances.
About Jonny:
Jonny’s industry accolades include a position as a live-in Assistant Sound Engineer at Chapel Studios, working on projects from bands such as The Wytches, Spring King and Crippled Black Phoenix. His experience also encompasses radio presenting, radio advertising, podcast music, audio-visual postproduction, live sound engineering, and composition and production - as well as Brand-Sound-Tracks™ for high-profile clients such as Ocado and JLab Audio.
Situational influences:

In 2020, behaviours changed significantly for both creators and consumers of music, introducing new contexts for recording
and listening that are set to shape the sound of 2021 and beyond. Artists across all genres quickly adapted to an altered
creative landscape – and as many return to the humble home or makeshift studio, this situational change is heavily reflected
both in the end result and the way it’s received. Smaller teams, a stripped back approach, and almost infinite time for self-reflection logically leads artists towards more emotive timbre and lyrical content – so it seems safe to say we’ll hear a lot of
acoustic elements, and a continued rise in popularity of Billie Eilish-esque minimalistic dark-pop.
As for how this affects audiences, think about the difference in how we listen through headphones while commuting or sat at
our office desks, compared to how we listen in the comfort and privacy of our bedrooms. With more time spent in our private
spaces we’re connecting with our playlists on a more emotional level, and that’s something artists will continue to tune into.
About Louis:
A renowned hip-hop and electro record producer, Louis has worked with artists such as Sway, Akon, Wiz Khalifa, Wretch 32, Joe Budden and Ironik – with whom he reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart.
Genre merging:

The largest positive we can take from the upheaval of the past year is the rapid democratisation of music – or in other words,
people are listening more and in a variety of different ways, exposing themselves to all kinds of new influences from new and
faraway places. This has led to an increase in experimental genre crossover – something Lil Nas X helped pave the way for in
2019 with his incredibly successful rap/country track, ‘Old Town Road.’ The proof is in the pudding – or in this case, the Spotify
algorithm. In their 2020 Wrapped results, the ubiquitous streaming giant showed our listening patterns were more diverse than ever before. This led Shiva Rajaraman - Spotify’s VP of Product - to tell Paper Magazine about his vision for a genre-less world where preferences are replaced by ritual, and playlist content is tailored to mood.
Whether this is a positive or negative
change is up for debate – but it’s certainly something we’ll be keeping a keen eye on as we move further into this new decade.
About Mary:
A prolific musician, Mary has played a wealth of venues including The O2 Academy and The Philharmonic, and was recently featured on the BBC Introducing Mixtape, curated by 6Music’s Tom Robinson.
Influencing our music:
As composers, we’re consciously and subconsciously influenced by music industry trends – and as we look forward to creating
more unique tracks to capture the individuality of our clients, we’re most excited to explore the possibilities of a more emotive
approach led by genre crossover. By taking disparate but complimentary influences from the entire musical spectrum, we’ll be digging even deeper into the unique personality of each brand we write for – defining the sound of
countless companies, all over the world.