Stockholm-based music licensing platform Epidemic Sound has partnered with legendary British guitarist, songwriter, and producer Johnny Marr.
Beginning this quarter (Q1 2025), Marr will mentor three rising Epidemic Sound artists, offering steerage on profession improvement, “creative development”, and launch methods.
In line with Epidemic Sound, Marr, identified for his guitar work in The Smiths, Modest Mouse, and The Cribs, quite a few collaborations, and a prolonged solo profession, will concentrate on guiding these artists “to diversify their strategy, exploring alternatives in sync licensing, collaborations, social media, and business releases”.
Added the corporate: “His versatility as a guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer, and movie composer — by collaborations with Hans Zimmer for motion pictures comparable to Inception and the James Bond movie No Time Die, together with the title observe created with Billie Eilish — makes him a perfect mentor for Epidemic Sound artists navigating the advanced fashionable music ecosystem.”
Based in 2009, Epidemic Sound gives royalty-free music and sound results to content material creators and types by a subscription mannequin.
It counts over 50,000 tracks in its library, and claims that its music options in YouTube and TikTok movies with a complete of 2.5 billion day by day views.
The corporate stated that the partnership with Marr “comes at a important time for the music trade, with many artists going through challenges comparable to a struggling grassroots dwell scene and low remuneration”.
The corporate’s personal remuneration mannequin features a 50/50 streaming royalty break up, fastened charges per observe, and a portion of a SEK 30 million (USD $2.7m) Soundtrack Bonus. You may learn precisely how the corporate pays artists on this MBW Explains characteristic.
Johnny Marr is the newest artist to workforce up with the platform, following Richie Hawtin’s partnership with the firm earlier this yr.
Epidemic Sound stated that every mentee was chosen for “how their distinctive expertise and objectives aligned with Marr’s experience”. The three Epidemic Sound artists chosen for this program embody:
Rebecca Mardal, a guitarist based mostly in Sweden, who “started mastering her craft” at 11 years outdated, and who Epidemic Sound stated, “has constructed a formidable profession with hundreds of thousands of streams from each her solo tasks and collaborations”.
Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen, in the meantime, is a Swedish composer and multi-instrumentalist whose orchestral-cinematic works have been featured globally in commercials, TV exhibits, documentaries, and trailers. In line with Epidemic Sound, his “ardour for each black steel and rock guitar showcases his versatile vary throughout moods”.
Marr’s third mentee, Kylie Dailey, is influenced by genres starting from American people music to African people melodies.
“Johnny Marr’s extraordinary profession and his capacity to repeatedly reinvent himself make him the right mentor for our artists,” stated John Cleary, Epidemic Sound’s Director of World Music Recruitment.
“His insights will likely be invaluable in serving to them develop the broad ability set wanted to thrive in in the present day’s music trade. We’re thrilled to have him on board and might’t wait to see the influence of this collaboration for our artists.”
“In in the present day’s difficult music atmosphere, it’s essential for artists to develop a various ability set and I’m excited to work with some gifted people to assist them navigate the trade whereas staying true to their imaginative and prescient.”
Johnny Marr
In an announcement issued with the press launch, Marr defined: “I’ve at all times been concerned with new expertise and attempt to be of assist if I can with rising artists discovering their distinctive voice.”
He added: “Epidemic Sound is a brand new sort of music firm with its progressive platform opening up methods for rising musicians to make a residing, whereas distributing their work at scale to in the present day’s on-line viewers of viewers, followers, and listeners.
“In in the present day’s difficult music atmosphere, it’s essential for artists to develop a various ability set and I’m excited to work with some gifted people to assist them navigate the trade whereas staying true to their imaginative and prescient.”
MBW caught up with Johnny Marr this week to seek out out extra about his partnership with Epidemic Sound. He famous in our interview that the “digital revolution” has considerably impacted artist improvement over the previous 35 years.
Marr additionally mirrored on the evolution of the file trade, contrasting his early profession with in the present day’s panorama, and stated that he regarded ahead to studying from the musicians by this partnership.
You may learn an abridged model of our dialog in full beneath:
Why did you need to work with Epidemic Sound?
Epidemic reached out to me about 18 months in the past and invited me to become involved. It appeared to me to be initially a cross between idealism and realism. I simply went on an intuition that they appeared to have a imaginative and prescient that was, on the coronary heart of it, a profit to musicians.
I used to be intrigued, actually, is the reply. I preferred what I heard in our early discussions. It appeared to be, and is the case, that it’s actually centered round largely [emrging] musicians. In order that was interesting to me.
“Within the fashionable [music industry], there are such a lot of challenges for bands, new writers, new singers, composers.”
Within the fashionable [music industry], there are such a lot of challenges for bands, new writers, new singers, composers – and for every kind of causes. Loads [of it has] to do with economics, lots to do with enterprise, and lots to do with the digital revolution and being heard by the noise. I do perceive and have seen, in my very own expertise, the knock-on results of all of those challenges.
Is there sufficient artist improvement within the file trade globally, and the way totally different is the present panorama, by way of improvement, in comparison with what it was whenever you had been beginning out? had been you given ample alternative, and had been your friends given ample alternative to develop?
Tradition is taking part in catch-up with the digital revolution of the final 35 years. There’s little doubt about that. We live by evolutionary occasions of large significance. There’s little doubt about that both.
In centuries to return, we are going to look again on this era we’re residing in now as simply as important because the Industrial Revolution or lots of the different large evolutionary modifications in human historical past. Now, 35 years into [internet] tradition, it optimistically, it’s solely within the very early phases.
Nevertheless, to reply your query, as you fairly rightly put it, one of many many aspects that now we have to meet up with is [artist] improvement.
So the reply to that [question], is, no, I don’t suppose that artist improvement is as in control because it must be. For those who ask most musicians beneath the age of 35, they’ll inform you a similar.
However I take a look at it with a little bit of positivity. I’m hoping it’s only a matter of taking part in catch up, however [that we] catch up quick. I can’t fake to know all of the solutions or all the opposite layers of complexity of those points, however I’ve seen lots of it firsthand with youthful musicians who I’ve been round.
Both in my hometown or engaged on motion pictures, working in studios, or with bands which were opening for me, or [bands] I’ve received to see in grassroots venues, which is one thing I’ve continued to do since I’ve been an expert musician.
What function do grassroots venues play in artist improvement?
I’ve had pals who run small venues. The Night time & Day Café on Oldham Avenue in Manchester is considered one of them. During the last 30 years, it has been important in artist improvement, giving artists an area — actually a stage — and an viewers.
And it’s a two-way factor, this matter [of artist development] that we’re discussing, as a result of we’re all music followers. In addition to these points affecting musicians, which is hopefully the place I could be of some assist, it additionally impacts music followers.
There’s an excessive amount of battle, and you may break down these causes to economics, social media, or as I stated earlier, simply the quantity of noise [to cut through]. However take the economics, for instance. It’s one thing so simple as, how younger musicians get their gear to a venue. How do musicians get from A to B? How do musicians get transport? How do musicians pay for gas? How do venue homeowners pay the payments?
All of it impacts the musicians and music followers. Now, everyone knows for certain that folks don’t thoughts paying musicians as a result of arenas are full all all over the world each week.
Why are grassroots venues struggling to pay the electrical energy payments? It’s a matter of realization and altering the mannequin. These are issues I’m intuitively conscious of and have some expertise of firsthand due to the younger musicians that I’ve encountered.
And I come from a music city, Manchester, which historically, for the reason that post-war [period], has been a hotbed of musicians, whether or not that’s the Buzzcocks Pleasure Division, New Order, the Smiths to Oasis, Stone Roses, B.C. Camplight, The Orielles..
“In my very own case, it took me a number of years of what appeared like an interminable time earlier than I received heard and had my first success.”
To reply your [earlier] query, the panorama and the tradition are, surely, very totally different from after I was developing. It’s by no means been a shoe-in that [just because] you’re a musician with a expertise or one thing that folks need to hear [your music ]and that you just routinely achieve success.
In my very own case, it took me a number of years of what appeared like an interminable time earlier than I received heard and had my first success. I attempted to be heard, knocking on doorways, discovering studio time, musicians, rehearsal rooms, and all that. So I’m no stranger to that, and it’s at all times been the identical, however sadly, it seems to be to me to be much more troublesome now.
ED SHEERAN GAVE A SPEECH A few weeks in the past on the Music Enterprise UK Awards in London, and stated that every one ‘the legacy artists we all know in the present day and love in the present day had been developed over time and allowed to discover and fail and construct and experiment…’
I believe Ed is fully proper there. It’s not all about economics although. Most musicians beginning out now, merely need to be heard.
It’s a really altruistic and idealistic impulse. They need their concepts to be shared and, at the least, appreciated, recognized, and heard.
That’s tremendously essential. Communication is a human want, significantly for artistic folks. And folks need to hear what different musicians have gotten to say.
Hopefully with Epidemic, we are able to take the primary steps to a extra profitable mannequin for musicians in these occasions and assist them notice their objectives ultimately.
You’ve been doing this for a very long time, and also you’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work from a artistic and business perspective. With that every one in thoughts, and with the proliferation of other platforms for the distribution of music and remuneration, what are your short-term and long-term predictions for the standard file trade?
I spotted fairly early in my skilled profession, after I’d signed to Tough Commerce Information that it wasn’t fully the norm to be on a 50/50 break up.
I’ve at all times realized how grateful I’m for that. Now, that’s no good in the event you get 50% of nothing, in case your music is so willfully uncommercial, which is the artist’s prerogative, that it doesn’t make something.
However in the event you do make some sort of cash, I believe you may’t actually [get] significantly better than a 50/50 break up with a accomplice.
I’m speaking about Manufacturing unit Information, Tough Commerce Information, and a number of the different indies again within the day.
And that’s what Epidemic are proposing for his or her royalty break up. I haven’t heard that for the reason that early eighties. In order that gave me a very good feeling about this undertaking, but it surely’s actually early doorways.
However in the event you ask me what I might undertaking, on the danger of sounding actually cliche, it’s the phrase: necessity is the mom of invention. Youthful musicians have been pressured to adapt for too lengthy due to the best way economics work. However platforms are going to have to fulfill the musicians‘ wants with a purpose to compete.
A technique or one other, the tradition of striving musicians who actually [bend] over backward with a purpose to adapt has to return to an finish. I do know it sounds a little bit naive, however that’s what my hopes are, that even when it’s nothing to do with altruism and the goodness of enterprise folks’s intentions, that simply the aggressive market implies that presumably the fairest [platforms] would be the one which musicians go to.Music Enterprise Worldwide
