Interscope CEO on ASIB Spotify Promo/GRAMMY/Oscars, + much more

[Arturo 40,746]

HDD interviewed Interscope CEO John Janick. He answers numerous questions regarding his strategy, new releases, and artists.

On ASIB's Spotify and Apple Music Strategy:

Spoiler

With Apple and Amazon specifically, we thought A Star Is Born would be massive on those two platforms because of the sound and the type of project it is. They came out swinging, and they both crushed it. But with Spotify, I called Nick Holmstén and said, “Hey, this is not a normal thing for Spotify, but I’d like you to check it out.” He said, “We don’t ever want it to feel that some things make sense for us and some things don’t.” He saw the film, and they were super-supportive. We talked about making vertical videos and doing more with them, and of course you can see the proof in how well the track is doing for them.

On Gaga's creative input:

Spoiler

How hands-on were you guys in terms of song selection with A Star Is Born?
Gaga is obviously a genius. She’s hands-on in everything she does musically. She’s one of those great artists who probably doesn’t need help, but she’s also so super-smart that she’ll get opinions.

Talking about his 1st year at Interscope and how well it went with Night Visions, MMLP2, and ARTPOP all being successes:

Spoiler

Things just fell into place. Imagine Dragonscame out right before I came into the company, and when I got here, we set up the long-term plan, saying, “We’re just going to have to grind it out as we continue to position them.” Kendrick [good kid, m.A.A.d city] came out three weeks after I started and, with everything Kendrick, Top and TDE did, it just kept growing every week. Then, in 2013, Eminem [The Marshall Mathers LP 2] and Gaga [ARTPOP] came out. The crazy thing is, I’d never run a big company before. 

On putting out multiple singles + albums every week:

Spoiler

Three weeks ago, we put out A Star Is Born, which did 230k; Sheck Wes, who did 30k; and LANY, who did 12-15k. Two weeks ago, we had Ella Mai; last week, Lil Mosey—we’re dropping records. For the rest of the year, we have Tory Lanez coming out, which feels great. We have Lil Durk coming out, which should do really well; we have albums coming from Imagine Dragons, The 1975 and Benny Blanco. There’s so much in every different genre, and then, on top of that, the singles, whether it’s ‘Taki Taki’ that we’re dropping or Ellie Goulding featuring Swae Lee, or the Benny project, with a massive record. We’re trying to look at it like we have these albums and projects coming but making these event singles on top of it as well.

On Shallow's GRAMMY/Oscar chances:

Spoiler

“Shallow” is definitely in the top 10 for the eight slots for Song of the Year.
That and Maroon 5 “Girls Like You” and Zedd’s “The Middle.” That’s just off the top of my head. And then, beyond the Grammys, looking ahead to what we hope to have happen at the Oscars with A Star Is Born and Black Panther, we’re hyper-focused. We have a lot of exciting partnerships with films right now. Imagine Dragons has a song in Ralph Wrecks the Internet. Then we’re working on a great project, Creed II, with Mike WiLL Made-It, who’s executive producing the soundtrack, and it’s incredible. That’s coming out Thanksgiving week, and the feeling is it’s going to be massive.

On Eminem's surprise Kamikaze drop
 

Spoiler

It was Paul and Marshall’s idea to make the record a surprise, but then executing and getting that record out without anybody knowing was unbelievable. I felt horrible, because I always talk about transparency in this company, and only seven or eight people knew it was coming. People were like, “This is ours?” I had to say, “I’m sorry, but this is how Paul and Marshall wanted it.” That’s what I think is exciting about Interscope: We have all these great new acts that we’re breaking, but then being able to work with artists like Eminem—who I’ve been a fan of for such a long time, and who’s still one of the most important, culturally potent artists—Gaga, U2and these other great acts.

Part 1 Full: http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=314109&title=MOVE-WITH-THE-FLOW:-THE-JANICK-WAY-OF-KNOWLEDGE-(PART-1)
Part 2 Full: http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=314137

[LeJudas 6,490]

Interesting. Hopefully they see Gaga's worth and promote her like they do the others. If not she better get a  multi 100 million dollar severance package

[Phaye Monster 8,569]

“Gaga is obviously a genius”

tea

[TheFame Monster 8,718]

What they have done with ASIB on streaming is amazing tbh. I know it's far away, but I hope they use a similar strategy with Gaga's future releases to have her continue grow on streaming while simultaneously having success with sales

[Stef 60,172]

Interscope better keep this energy for LG6

[Mr S 7,636]

This is great to hear. It seems like her (and Kendrick) are the label's top priority.

I hope Kendrick doesn't release until next October. I want the label to have 100% support in ASIB for next years Grammys.

[Arturo 40,746]

Just now, GrigioGirl1 said:

This is great to hear. It seems like her (and Kendrick) are the label's top priority.

I hope Kendrick doesn't release until next October. I want the label to have 100% support in ASIB for next years Grammys.

Yeah it seems like they're pulling in the most money. Eminem closely trailing if only his singles had as much longevity. But his last album did amazing.

[monketsharona 44,578]

3 minutes ago, GrigioGirl1 said:

This is great to hear. It seems like her (and Kendrick) are the label's top priority.

I hope Kendrick doesn't release until next October. I want the label to have 100% support in ASIB for next years Grammys.

Gaga will have her next album coming before next Grammys

Interscope also have a lot of huge releases coming : Madonna, Kendrick, Ariana and more. 

So I doubt their focus will be one ASIB for Grammys 2020. But yeah it's definitely on Shallow for Grammy 2019

[Arturo 40,746]

2 minutes ago, monketsharona said:

Gaga will have her next album coming before next Grammys

Interscope also have a lot of huge releases coming : Madonna, Kendrick, Ariana and more. 

So I doubt their focus will be one ASIB for Grammys 2020. But yeah it's definitely on Shallow for Grammy 2019

Ariana is Republic records. Madonna hasn't been a Grammy threat since 2000. 

[Pantera 743]

I’m a bit confused. Was he the CEO of Interscope during ARTPOP?

[Arturo 40,746]

2 minutes ago, Pantera said:

I’m a bit confused. Was he the CEO of Interscope during ARTPOP?

No he started working as COO a year before ARTPOP. He has been CEO since May 2014.

[Pantera 743]

3 minutes ago, Arturo said:

No he started working as COO a year before ARTPOP. He has been CEO since May 2014.

Oh ok. Well, hopefully this means now we won’t have another era as messy as ARTPOP. Him and the label have done a pretty good job with the soundtrack.

[Arturo 40,746]

Just now, Pantera said:

Oh ok. Well, hopefully this means now we won’t have another era as messy as ARTPOP. Him and the label have done a pretty good job with the soundtrack.

Yeah I like his strategy of focusing on the single releases just as much as the album release. It worked with Shallow. It worked with Eastside (although that album hasn't dropped yet).

Taki Taki is doing its thing too.

[Mr S 7,636]

59 minutes ago, monketsharona said:

Gaga will have her next album coming before next Grammys

Interscope also have a lot of huge releases coming : Madonna, Kendrick, Ariana and more. 

So I doubt their focus will be one ASIB for Grammys 2020. But yeah it's definitely on Shallow for Grammy 2019

We don't know when the next album is coming. Madonna is not a threat and Ariana is not on our label. I already said "hopefully Kendrick doesn't release" and I dont know who "more" is? Kendrick, LG, Eminem are the biggest artists at this label.

[monketsharona 44,578]

28 minutes ago, GrigioGirl1 said:

We don't know when the next album is coming. 

Well Gaga is in the studio for long working on next album, she said many time she can't tell about it because she wants it to be a total surprise and I'm sure Interscope wants to enjoy the ASIB boost to push Lady Gaga's music with her own solo material.

Don't get me wrong ASIB is very successful, but I'm not sure it is the project that could last years in charts especially it was made for promoting a movie. Let's see in few months if it's still standing strong without the movie being in theaters and without promo.

The focus of the next few months will be Enigma, and seeing who is involved, I'm sure it has some links to new Lady Gaga music.