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Stephen Budd
Born
Hampton Court, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Music Industry Executive, Festival Owner
Known forCo-chairing the Music Managers Forum, managing Tony Visconti, Songhoy Blues, Heaven 17, Gang of Four, The Magic Numbers, Rick Nowels, Dry The River and live music projects NH7 Weekender, Passport: Back To The Bars, Give A Home, Africa Express.

Stephen Budd is a British music industry executive based in London. He is a director of artist and producer management company Stephen Budd Music Ltd, the OneFest Festival, the Africa Express project and is the co-founder of the NH7 Weekender festivals in India. He is a recognised TV commentator on music industry issues, regularly appearing on a variety of British TV news shows.[1] In June 2017 he completed his 3-year term as co-chairman of the MMF (Music Managers Forum).[2][3] He is a co-executive producer of Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds' ‘Give A Home’ global concert series.[4][5] His current management roster includes the artists Dry The River and Nubiyan Twist,[6] along with the record producers Rob Ellis, Tore Johansson, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Nick Zinner, Mike Hedges, and Arthur Verocai.[7]

Early career

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Budd started out as a teenage roadie in the punk era working for artists such as X-Ray Spex, Generation X, Lydia Lunch, and Wayne County[8][9] at clubs including Soho's Vortex and Twickenham's Winning Post Pub, where he suffered a back laceration working under the stage at a Motörhead concert in 1975 and was taken to the hospital by Lemmy.[10] (The concert was Motörhead's first headline show and Budd had also roadied for them at their London Roundhouse debut in the previous weeks.)[11][12] Aged 19 he started the Tortch Records label out of his bedroom in 1979,[13][8] releasing the debut singles by cult artists The Sound,[14] Second Layer, The Directions and Cardiacs.[15] He went on to manage The Sound,[16] The Directions[17] and The Big Sound Authority, with whom he had his first top 30 success.[18]

Artist and producer management

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He was then asked to manage record producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy) and Visconti's Good Earth Studios[19] in London's Soho, leading to the founding of Stephen Budd Management in 1985, with a focus on the promotion and management of record producers, remixers, songwriters and recording engineers who over time included Arthur Baker, Steve Levine, Chris Kimsey, Billy Steinberg, Gary Katz and many others.[8] He went on to manage influential bands Heaven 17[20] and Gang of Four[21] as well as British pop/folk singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram[22] and The Magic Numbers.[23] He was a director of Stephen Budd Management until it was absorbed by the MAMA Group and subsequently HMV.[24]

He is a founder and long term board member of the MMF (Music Managers Forum) trade association[25] and was the creator of its Producer Managers Group.[26] He served as the organization's co-chairman from 2013 to 2017.[3]

In 2013 whilst on an Africa Express trip to Mali, Budd and Marc Antoine Moreau discovered Songhoy Blues and subsequently co-managed the band for 3 years, signing them to Transgressive Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the USA.[27]

Live music

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In 2004 he created the Passport: Back To The Bars[28] charity concert project to raise money for Warchild and Shelter. The project has featured Amy Winehouse, The Cure, Duran Duran, Coldplay, Florence and the Machine, and many more artists performing in small venues.[29][30] The 2015 edition raised over £500,000 for Warchild[31][32][33] and won the 'Best Use Of Events' awards at the National Fundraising Awards.[34]

Much of Budd's later career has focused on bringing together musicians from different cultures, with projects in Africa, India, Palestine and elsewhere.[35] In 2006 the Africa Express project was formed with musician Damon Albarn, journalist Ian Birrell, and others.[36][37] The project aims to bring African music into the mainstream through musical collaborations with Western artists.[38] Artists who have featured in Africa Express to date include; Paul McCartney, Amadou & Mariam, Baba Maal, Franz Ferdinand, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more. In 2012, Africa Express featured as a part of the London 2012 festival, a part of the Cultural Olympiad.[39][40][41][42] In 2014, a CD Africa Express Presents Maison de Jeunes was released on Transgressive Records featuring musical collaborations recorded in Mali by Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, Ghostpoet, Django Django and others.[43] In 2014 Budd was the Executive Producer for 'Africa Express Presents Terry Riley's In C at the Tate Modern' which resulted in an award-winning interactive film and concert album.[44][45][46] In 2019, Budd and his Africa Express colleagues had 80 musicians from around the world performing in a circus tent erected in Damon Albarn's native area of East London, Leytonstone.[47][48]

Other activities branching outside the UK include Budd joining the British Prime Minister David Cameron's 2010 trade mission to India[49] where he co-founded the NH7 Weekender Festival which has featured artists including Mark Ronson, Flying Lotus, The Wailers, AR Rahman, Megadeth, and many others.[50][51] It is the first festival of its kind in India.[52] He joined the advisory board of Palestine Music Expo (PMX) in 2016,[53] helping to create a three-day live music showcase in Ramallah aiming to highlight the little-known local music scene.[54] Budd has chaired Eurovision Song Contest selection panels for Georgia[55][56] and Azerbaijan.[57] In 2017 he became the co-executive producer of Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds' ‘Give A Home’ global concert series that took place in 60 countries in support of Amnesty International's ‘I Welcome’ refugees program. The series featured over 1000 artists performing shows in peoples' houses and included performances from Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé, Moby, The National, and Hot Chip.[58][59][60]

Additionally Budd is a co-founder of OneFest which, since its inception in 2011,[61] has featured artists including Damon Albarn, Laura Marling, and Damien Rice,[62] and gone on to win 'Best Independent Festival’ at the 2017 AIM Awards[63] for a 4-day event at London's Roundhouse done in collaboration with musician Frank Turner.[64][65]

In late 2017 Budd, along with Martin Elbourne (booker for Glastonbury Festival and founder of The Great Escape), helped establish the DMZ Peace Train Music Festival in South Korea, and joined its board.[66] This free festival, occurring inside the Demilitarised Zone on the border between North and South Korea in June 2018, was supported financially by the City of Seoul, Gangwon Province and Cheorwon County.[67][68][69][70] The not-for-profit festival aims to bring a climate of peace to the region and is run in collaboration with the mayor of Seoul.[71] The two day featured a conference in Seoul followed by a train taking artists and attendees to the demilitarized zone for live performances at the border of North Korea and South Korea.[72] Headliners announced for the second edition of the festival in 2019 were John Cale, Korean-Chinese rockstar Cui Jian, and the Korean musical couple Chung Tae-chun and Park Eun-ok.[73]

In 2021 and 2022 Budd resurrected the Passport Back To The Bars project in a new incarnation as the Passport Back To Our Roots concert series in support of small venues threatened with closure as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.[74] The series of shows in small venues by the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Elbow, Metronomy, Everything Everything, Passenger, Ash, Public Service Broadcasting and others raised over £140,000 for the Music Venue Trust's #SaveOurVenues campaign.[75][76][77]

Public Appearances

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Budd has been interviewed as a music and music business commentator on numerous television and radio news shows and stations including BBC World,[78] BBC News,[79] CNN,[80] Al Jazeera, Channel 4,[81] BBC Radio 4 & 5,[82][83] and Sky News.[84] Other notable television appearances include his role chairing the judges on two seasons of MTV's Get Seen Get Heard talent series.[85]

He has presented educational programs for The British Council in Nigeria, India, China and Uganda,[86][87] and has given speeches at music conferences and events around the world including MIDEM (France), The Great Escape (UK),[88] WOMEX,[89] A Greener Festival (UK),[90] In The City (UK),[91] FUSE Festival (Australia),[92] M for Montreal (Canada),[93] Tallinn Music Week (Estonia), Mastering the Music Business (Romania),[94] Medimex (Italy),[95] Soundports (Turkey),[96] Whats Next In Music (Lithuania),[97] Pin Music Conference (N.Macedonia),[98] and Oslo World Music Festival (Norway),[99] where he gave a talk at the Nobel Peace Center on music and politics.[100] Budd has been a speaker at the Berklee College of Music and at the London School of Economics.[101]

Interviews with Budd appear in various music documentaries including The Africa Express,[102] and Walking In The Opposite Direction (about the artist Adrian Borland and The Sound),[103] and books such as Martin Roach's Take That – Now and Then biography,[104] and Jonathan Maitland's How to Have a No.1 Hit Single.[105]

Budd's career was the subject of an extensive 2018 documentary in the Wonders Of series,[106] and a 2019 Off The Beat & Track podcast.[107]

He was invited by the UK Parliament to give evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on the British Government's role in supporting the creative industries.[108][109]

References

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  1. ^ "Stephen Budd TV appearances". Youtube. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. ^ "MMF chairs Diane Wagg and Stephen Budd on the evolving role of the manager". Music Week. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b Hanley, James. "Six Questions With... Stephen Budd of Stephen Budd Management". Music Week. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  4. ^ Bradbury, Sarah. "Hot Chip is playing at my house: the secret living room gigs showing solidarity with refugees". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  5. ^ Vinti, Mike. "300 gigs, one day: Amnesty International is enlisting your favourite musicians to stop the refugee crisis". Notion Magazine.
  6. ^ "Artist Management". Stephen Budd Music. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Producers/Songwriters - Our Clients". Stephen Budd Music. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "How Stephen Budd Started An Indie Label Aged 19 And Ended Up Organising Global Music Events". Youtube. WonderVision Films. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  9. ^ LeBlanc, Larry. "Industry Profile: Stephen Budd". LinkedIn. Celebrity Access. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  10. ^ Hanley, James (11 July 2017). "Six Questions With Stephen Budd". Music Week. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Motorhead". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Motorography 1975". Altervista. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Tortch Records". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  14. ^ "allmusic / The Sound". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Cardiac Arrest / Tortch Records". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Renascent interview with The Sound (band)". Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  17. ^ "The Directions". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  18. ^ "Official Charts Company / Big Sound Authority". Official Charts. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  19. ^ Visconti, Tony (2007). The Autobiography. London: Harper Collins. p. 355. ISBN 978-0007229444.
  20. ^ "Bigger than America". Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  21. ^ "Gang of Four: Profile". Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Tanita Takaram". Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  23. ^ "The Magic Numbers". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  24. ^ "HMV to buy MAMA". Daily Mirror. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  25. ^ "MMF: About Us". Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Producers Push Self Preservation". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  27. ^ "Songhoy Blues - Music In Exile". Discogs. 23 February 2015.
  28. ^ "Artists endorse Passport charity project". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  29. ^ "Pub Rock!". NME. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  30. ^ "David Gray / Passport Back to the Bars". Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  31. ^ "War Child's Passport Back To The Bars gig lottery now open". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  32. ^ Stephen Budd Music [@stephenbuddmgmt] (5 June 2015). "If you didn't see the @MusicWeek article on @MMFUK's @WarChildUK #BackToTheBars project that raised + 500K here it is" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. ^ "Brits 2015 activity raised £500k for War Child". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  34. ^ "National Fundraising Awards 2015 Winners". Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  35. ^ Smirke, Richard. "Delegate Attendance Holds Steady at In The City". Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  36. ^ "An Interview w/ Stephen Budd". 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  37. ^ Toledo, Manuel (9 September 2012). "Africa Express rolls into London". BBC News. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  38. ^ Zayed, Amy. "Musikkollektiv Africa Express Organisiertes Chaos als Rezept". Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  39. ^ "London 2012 Festival heads into its final week". Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  40. ^ "All aboard the Africa Express". BBC News. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  41. ^ "Africa Express : Rolling Coverage". The Guardian. London. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  42. ^ "Beyond the Stage interview with Stephen Budd". 4 December 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  43. ^ "Africa Express: Maison des Jeunes". digimusic. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  44. ^ "Tate Modern, Africa Express and Space present Terry Riley's 'In C'". Tate.org. Retrieved 3 Jan 2015.
  45. ^ "Africa Express - Terry Riley's 'Mali In C' album reviews". Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  46. ^ "Songlines Awards 2016 Winners". Songlines. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  47. ^ Mccormick, Neil (6 April 2019). "Africa Express: how Damon Albarn brought the world to his home town". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  48. ^ McCormick, Neil (6 April 2019). "Africa Express: how Damon Albarn brought the world to his home town". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  49. ^ "David Cameron's visit to India: full list of delegates from Britain". The Guardian. London. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  50. ^ Muldoon, Mark (23 November 2011). "India goes indie at the NH7 Weekender". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  51. ^ "British Council / NH7 Weekender". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  52. ^ "Billboard: NH7 Rock Festival to Launch In India". Billboard. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  53. ^ Horan, Tom (11 April 2017). "'I'm the only trip-hop artist in Palestine!': the musicians shaking up the occupied territories". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  54. ^ "Palestinian Music Expo with Cooking Vinyl announced". Billboard. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  55. ^ "The Independent / Interview with Stephen Budd". London. 20 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  56. ^ "Tonight: The Georgian national final - don't miss it!". Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  57. ^ "Director of British company: Participation in Eurovision is a great chance for Azerbaijan's recognition in the international arena". Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  58. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (15 September 2017). "'It was impossible to write about anything else': how musicians have – finally – tackled the refugee crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  59. ^ Paine, Andre. "'It's been an extraordinary response': Stephen Budd on Amnesty and Sofar Sounds' Give A Home gigs". Music Week. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  60. ^ "Give a Home - 20th Sept 2017". Facebook. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  61. ^ Denselow, Robin (16 April 2012). "Guardian: Onefest and Damon Albarn kick off the festival season". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  62. ^ "Onefest - A Very Singular Festival". Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  63. ^ The AIM Awards 2017 [@AIMAwards] (5 September 2017). "And the winner of Best Independent Festival is... Lost Evenings aka @onefestUK! @roundhouseldn #AIMawards" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  64. ^ Grumble, Daniel. "Details revealed for Frank Turner's four-day Roundhouse Festival". Music Week. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  65. ^ Paine, Andre. "US ambitions for Frank Turner's Lost Evenings festival". Music Week. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  66. ^ "DMZ Peace Train 2019". Youtube. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  67. ^ "About". DMZ Peace Train. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  68. ^ Malt, Andy. "New Festival To Launch Promoting Peace In Korea". Complete Music Update. CMU. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  69. ^ Resnikoff, Paul (3 May 2018). "Introducing the 'DMZ Peace Train Music Festival,' Happening Next Month Along Korea's Demilitarized Zone". Digital Music News. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  70. ^ Chapple, John (3 May 2018). "New Music Festival Planned For Korean DMZ". IQ. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  71. ^ Guru-Murthy, Geeta. "BBC World News Impact - DMZ Peace Train Music Festival". BBC Worldwide. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  72. ^ Masson, Gordon (2 August 2018). "2018's Hottest Boutique Music Festivals". IQ. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  73. ^ Dunbar, Jon (23 April 2019). "Legendary lineup comes together for DMZ music festival 2019". The Korea Times. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  74. ^ "Dates Confirmed...More Coming Soon!". Passport Back To Our Roots. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  75. ^ Moore, Sam (7 September 2020). "Pet Shop Boys added to line-up of 'Passport: Back to Our Roots' intimate gig series". NME. BandLab Technologies. Retrieved 5 Aug 2022.
  76. ^ "Elbow: Night & Day Cafe Manchester". Elbow.co.uk. Polydor. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 5 Aug 2022.
  77. ^ "'Passport: Back To Our Roots' Announce Concerts By Elbow, KT Tunstall, Metronomy & Slow Readers Club". Music Venues Trust. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  78. ^ "Stephen Budd on Apple Music for BBC World". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  79. ^ "Stephen Budd on Apple Music for BBC News". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  80. ^ Stephen Budd [@stephenbudd] (5 February 2014). "Just out of @CNN @cnni for an interview about the #PrinceUKTour and the @EBallroomCamden show last night..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  81. ^ "Channel 4 Battlefront". Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  82. ^ "Stephen Budd on Tidal for Radio 4's Front Row". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  83. ^ "Radio 5 interview with Stephen Budd". YouTube. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  84. ^ "Taylor Swift & Music Streaming Debate". YouTube. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  85. ^ "And here are the winners..." Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  86. ^ "CEN - Arts - British Council". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  87. ^ "Can Ugandan music make it big on the world stage?". Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  88. ^ "The Great Escape 2011". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  89. ^ "The UK Jazz Revival". WOMEX. WOMEX. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  90. ^ "GEI11 Speaker Bios". A Greener Festival. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  91. ^ Smirke, Richard. "Delegate Attendance Holds Steady at In TheCity". Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  92. ^ "Fuse Festival". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  93. ^ "M for Montreal: Music Festival". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  94. ^ "Stephen Budd (UK)". Mastering The Music Business. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  95. ^ "Stephen Budd". Medimex. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  96. ^ "Sound Ports İstanbul 2019'un 'Yaratıcı Buluşmalar' programı 8 Kasım'da başlıyor". Yeşil Gazete. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  97. ^ "Stephen Budd". WNIM. What's Next In Music. Retrieved 5 Aug 2022.
  98. ^ "Music Conference - Stephen Budd". Pin Conference. Retrieved 5 Aug 2022.
  99. ^ "Film & Talk: Africa Express by Stephen Budd". OSLO WORLD.
  100. ^ "Forbidden Songs". Nobel Peace Center. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  101. ^ "Stephen Budd at LSE Music Business Society Speaker Series". Evensi. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  102. ^ "IMDB Credits for Film "The Africa Express". IMDb. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  103. ^ "IMDB Credits for Film "Walking In The Opposite Direction"". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  104. ^ Roach, Martin (2007). Take That : Now and Then. London: Harpers. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-00-723258-1.
  105. ^ Maitland, Jonathan (2002). How to Have a No.1 Hit Single. London: Simon & Schuster. p. 30. ISBN 0-7432-1988-0.
  106. ^ "How Stephen Budd Started A Successful Independent Music Label At 19". Youtube. WonderVision Films. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  107. ^ Wiffen, Stuart. "Off The Beat & Track: Special Guest - Stephen Budd". Off The Beat And Track. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  108. ^ "HOC CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT COMMITTEE". Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  109. ^ Supporting The Creative Economy. Great Britain: House of Commons, Culture Media & Sport Committee. 2014. p. 55.
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