Or any of the band members either! Sure, people meet at the job but there is a reason that bigger firms have rules that it’s forbidden to have relationships between employees. Ok, the music industry doesn’t have that but you should see it that way anyways.
I had an artist that was produced by her boyfriend. They did not meet on the job. They had been a couple for a long time so it became kind of natural that they started doing some music together. He naturally produced her first EP and album. Things were going quite well and a record label came onboard. They were very enthusiastic but felt the music had to step up. “Why don’t hire a good producer?”
She got stuck between a rock and a hard place. Go home and tell her boyfriend that his producer career wouldn’t be moving forward with her career? Or that he wasn’t good enough? It just became mission impossible. Every time the subject came up at the record label meetings she avoided the topic. The record label just took it that as she was a diva and didn’t see their new super-producer as cool enough. After a couple of meetings, the record label was not so enthusiastic about their new signing any longer.
The recording happened anyway. Don’t really know how she broke the ice? Her demand though became really strange. The whole recording session she needed to bring her boyfriend with her to the studio. Okay, I don’t know if he thought she would shag the new producer. At the same time, the producer found himself in an awkward position where he now should produce new songs with the old producer sitting on the sofa next to him watching every move.
The production came through. The record label was losing even more interest in the project, so the song ended up staying on the shelf. Then six months later the artist came with the super idea (she thought) that her boyfriend could make some arrangements on the production that was already done. Make it up in style.
The worst idea ever and the record label just saw that they would be stuck with this mediocre producer stuck to a good artist. There was no way her songs or productions would get any better as she had reached her peak. And letting the boyfriend go in and change in the production and get the other producer to go on with that. Not even a solution. In the end, they just released the song with no marketing whatsoever and dropped the artist.
Another artist I know that did the same thing but became involved with every producer. Releasing her record was like having five angry ex-boyfriends working against the release. Any delay they could do, they would do it. In the end, we just had to tell her to stop dating the producers.
Then suddenly every demo that she did was not in the usual quality. The artist was talented, not writing songs, but finding guys that were good producers and songwriters then literary shag them to get a good product. She couldn’t write anything herself.
Latest I saw something from her she had a great looking video but it was a really poor song. My friend told me she was shagging the photographer nowadays.
And yes, we all know the famous breakups around artist and their relationships. Lady Gaga and her first producer. Yoko Ono and The Beatles. Dave Stewart and Shakespeare sisters.
The final advice, follow the rules of the big companies. Stay away from relationships in the professional world of music.
Contact Peter@:
pastedt@gmail.com (personal email)
peter@casboxradio.ca (Station Manager)
Discover Sensation https://musichelp.se/discover-sensation/
Editor’s Note: Peter Åstedt has been working in the music industry for over 30 years. He has started record labels, distribution systems, and publishing companies. Peter also runs several major showcase festivals and is an advisor for INES and co-founder of MusicHelp/Discover Sensation. He has worked with the Top Ten most streamed songs and had music on both the Olympics and Super Bowl. Peter has currently taken up the seat of Station Manager of Cashbox Radio, working with MD, PD and station owner, Sandy Graham.