No matter how much technology and algorithms shape the music industry, its beating heart will always be human relationships and instinct.
This is just one of the many insights found in For the Record & Off the Record: Leadership Lessons from the Music World by Richard Hussein, a former regional music executive and producer. Recently released, the book serves as both a rare memoir of a career in the evolving Mena music industry and a digestible business self-help guide – much like The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson – with bite-sized chapters named after Hussein’s favourite songs.
Among the 40 lessons in the book is Heartbreaker, in which the Australian-Lebanese music executive recalls discontinuing work with a talented young artist due to the demands of her parents. “As you might expect, this story follows the familiar cliche of parents being more involved and pushier than the artist themselves,” he writes. “With massive expectations, they wanted us to treat their child as if she were already a major star.” The artist was eventually dropped from the label, and the chapter concludes with the advice to “set better expectations at the beginning of (business) relationships”.
While Walk Like an Egyptian is a witty yet insightful chapter about Hussein’s experience working with industry counterparts in Egypt, where business meetings scheduled to begin at 8pm would often start closer to midnight. He also reflects on the challenges of promoting music in a country – and a wider region – heavily impacted by piracy. Yet Hussein doesn’t fret or complain. Instead, he notes that he managed to achieve strong results in Egypt by understanding the idiosyncrasies of the local music scene.
Many of these experiences and insights were gleaned during Hussein’s nearly decade-long run that began in 2003. As the former head of local artists and repertoire for EMI Music Mena, the job in Dubai had him work with Arab pop stars such as Tamer Hosny, Mohammed Hamaky and Haifa Wehbe.
It's also a journey that traces its roots to Australia, where Hussein began as a hip-hop dancer and DJ in Melbourne before landing an internship with major record label BMG Music Australia in 1996 during his late teenagers.
“While I enjoyed the performances and the buzz of DJing, the idea of working in the music industry as a full-time job wasn’t something I ever considered,” he tells The National. “Part of it was being young and enjoying the freedom to do what I wanted, but it was also because I didn’t see many people who looked ethnically like me in the industry. Once I met a few, it slowly gave me hope that I could actually do it.”
This led to a role with the Australian office of US label Jive Records – home to stars such as Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys – as well as promoting select records by Arab artists. This included setting up promotional campaigns with Australian–Arabic radio stations for tracks by stars such as Amr Diab, as well as exploring more unconventional avenues of outreach.
“Belly dancing schools in Australia at the time really loved the music that was coming in from the region, and that wasn't only the big stars like Diab or Nancy Ajram, but also the fusion tracks that were instrumental,” Hussein says. “I would put these schools on the mailing list and send them samples of these Arabic tracks and they would buy loads of records.”
These achievements were noticed in the Middle East, with EMI Music Mena making a move for Hussein in 2003. And what were his first impressions of the music landscape when he arrived?
“I think the biggest difference was that some decisions that were made in the region at the time were most focused on the pulling power of the artist,” he notes. “Where in Australia it was more about having the right strategy in place as well as the right attitude when it comes to knowing how to push these records. I think that’s what helped me when it comes to making the negotiations and collaborating with the artists in the long run.”
For the Record and Off the Record is replete with these experiences, many of them with high-profile artists who are unnamed to protect relationships: Hussein still works in the music industry as a consultant to artists and record labels.
In Don’t Leave Me This Way, he reflects on an incident in which an artist attempted to walk out of a television shoot after the first hour of a negotiated five-hour session. A tense stand-off with the singer ensued, but Hussein soon realised the issue had less to do with ego and more to do with a personal matter. A compromise was eventually reached. While in Invisible Touch, Hussein looks back at investing heavily in an album by a major artist, only for it to unceremoniously flop. The takeaway is “to avoid getting caught up in the hype and know your audience intimately”.
And it isn't only that chapter that offers some wise words. These are all lessons that apply to anyone at the start of their career journey. This is also why he dedicated the book to his young daughter – whether she follows in his footsteps or forges her own path.
“It's as much about life stories as a resource book,” he adds. “I hope I left her enough of my experiences and lessons that she or anyone else can use.”
