By Eleonore Witschaß
Daryl Bamonte is the Managing Director and co-owner of Schubert Music Publishing UK in London. He worked for Depeche Mode for more than 15 years (including becoming keyboard player for 3 months in 1994.) Since 2013 he makes his way from the UK to find new artists at SPOT in Aarhus.
Regarding it to be “such a world-presented conference and a very good show case for Danish and Scandinavian talents“ SPOT is one of his favourite events during the year.
About himself, Bamonte says: “I am a managing director of the UK, but I also look after Scandinavia. It‘s my responsibility to see what’s going on here as well. And from a personal view I find that so many good artists are coming out of here, especially in the last few years”.
The purpose
So personally Bamonte is curious about seeing new bands. But asking him about the reason to return to SPOT every year he has a more business-oriented answer:
“It is about making new contacts but also to maintain existing contacts and keep up with what everyone else is doing. Some of the best deals come out of these events. You can always get much further, much quicker by face-to-face talks than you would with someone over e-mail or phone”.
Especially Scandinavian artists are a strong focus of Bamonte.
“If I see a band I really like, I will make an offer to sign the writer or writers but always with a view of also helping them to develop as writers outside of that band”.
Streaming music as a modern publishing platform
Apart from pitching songs through radio and television, streaming music online, for example on Spotify, becomes very popular among the consumers. “We have to stick behind streaming, this is how the consumer wants to consume music… but there needs to be more transparency for the writers and artists”.
The struggle of being a fan
SPOT is known for its up-and-coming musicians, mostly from the alternative genre. Bamonte has experience in these kind of bands becoming very big in the end. “As a fan, the music I would go to see is very much of the alternative sector and I rather take towards that as musicians to work with. But at the same time I have to take a broader view on that because I have to look at the commercial aspects. I really like good pop music, nothing against it. But I like something with an extra level, something a bit more subversive about it. Actually I work with artists from any genre but I think you automatically take towards the music you understand and have a passion for”.
It is about the vibe
When Bamonte is interested in a deal with an artist it is important for him to get along well. “You can sit down with someone even just for half an hour and get a good sense of whether you have faith in them and their abilities or not. If you can present a good track record of experience in the industry, then people are interested to talk to you. But even if they think the deal is good, if they don‘t get the right vibe from you maybe they don‘t want to sign a deal with you. I have really amazing relationships with all of the writers I work with, beyond a working relationship; it is friendship as well. I put a lot into it and they put a lot into it. There is a lot of mutual respect”.