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Lucy Tallant graduated from ACM’s Business school in 2013 with a very clear set of career goals. One of these was to be featured in Music Week’s ’30 Under 30’ within three years. Well, she managed that in just two! We reckon she’ll hit her goal of discovering and managing a number one selling artist in no time. Lucy took the time out her busy schedule to chat with us following her recent Music Week achievement…
What motivated you to come and study at ACM?
It was the only university I ever wanted to go to. It took me a few years to work out what area of the industry I wanted to work in, and then when I knew for sure it was management – there was no where else I’d rather have gone.
Tell us about what you’ve been involved with since leaving ACM?
I now work at Turn First Artists as Head of Digital Marketing and as an Artist Manager. I’ve been part of the Iggy Azalea & Rita Ora teams now for a couple of years on a global scale. I’m also managing three developing artists. In my final year at ACM I managed Ebony Day who was studying on the Artist Development course. We utilised the power of social media to crown Ebony the winner of MTV’s Brand New For 2013, beating the likes of Gabrielle Aplin, HAIM, Tom Odell and K Koke.
How did your course prepare you for life in the music business world?
The advice I gained from my tutors was invaluable in terms of just having an overview of what happens in the industry. It’s impossible to learn everything from a book or a tutor as the industry is so vast and situations occur when you least expect them, but studying at ACM definitely gave me the foundation I needed to build upon.
What are your aspirations for the future?
Well my aspiration when I left ACM was to be in the Music Week ’30 Under 30’ within 3 years! I emailed my ACM tutors the day I found out I was being featured as I genuinely owe it to them! Looking to the future, I want a UK number one with an artist I’ve discovered, and I will work every second I can to develop and manage a global star.
Do you have any advice for those currently at ACM looking to get in to the industry?
The best advice I can give is just to jump in! If you want to be in management, find someone and manage them alongside studying about it. The key to the industry are the fans. I believe, more so than ever before, fans are the truest form of currency that any artist has. Do everything you can to develop a fan base from day one. The second key is digital marketing. For me, management and digital go hand-in-hand. It’s free (on the most part) and if you can come up with innovative marketing campaigns online, you’ll unlock the way to growing your artist. The days of labels spending hundreds of thousands on physical marketing campaigns are gone. Advances are lower than ever, as are recording budgets, and income is harder to obtain. So meet with everyone, network your way to not paying for every service and accept that you’re on your own, talent isn’t enough, you need to create a brand. Then you have something sellable.
Keep up to date with Lucy on Twitter, or by following Turn First Artists.
