BMG is having a couple of big chart weeks – first with Louis Tomlinson and now Lily Allen.
With the physical release of Lily Allen’s West End Girl, the album is battling for No.1 following its No.2 peak last year. Grammy winner Olivia Dean may well be too strong as the chart week reaches its conclusion, but the vinyl and CD sales have this week taken West End Girl to gold certification for 100,000 units to date. Allen also has a busy touring schedule in 2026.
Louis Tomlinson did make No.1 last week with third album How Did I Get Here?, which opened with consumption of 28,416 units.
The chart results mark the evolution of the label and its expanded A&R team with a more contemporary roster, including Lily Allen, Louis Tomlinson, Marina, Meek, Eloise and Lava La Rue. Meek has just released the single Fabulous after signing to BMG.
Here, Jamie Nelson, SVP, new recordings, who oversees the UK frontline label, speaks exclusively to Music Week about his plans for the roster, the label’s huge campaigns and the evolving BMG…
What are your hopes for this phase of the Lily Allen campaign?
“It's been an amazing time for Lily, and we're very proud to be involved with that record, which has just been phenomenal. It's really important and special for us. It underlines exactly what we love doing – with each artist, we are bespoke in the way that we work with them. With Lily, we've supported, as opposed to led, the creative. This is a reflection of Lily's vision on every aspect of it. We've been here really as a great support for her through that process in helping develop the campaign. So we're very excited to see the physical out there. Bearing in mind that all of the focus and success of this campaign [up to now] has been driven purely by the streaming, it's great to finally see the physical coming to the market and for her to have another significant moment in the chart. This forms part of a really important year for her, because she's off doing all this incredible touring. So yes, it's been quite an amazing achievement.”
What was it like working on one of the biggest comebacks of recent years?
“With Lily, it’s a phenomenal record, and actually it’s so unusual to have a record that's delivered in this way … it's a piece in its entirety. So much music is consumed individually now in terms of singles, and so to hear a record in its entirety that felt like a complete piece of work, as opposed to individual songs, was unusual. But the quality of the music, the production and the incredible songwriting on that album indicated that it was going to be pretty well received.
“The confidence was more in knowing that there would be passion and love for that record. None of us can really isolate when something's going to go viral. So seeing that unfold in the way it did was amusing, brilliant and extraordinary. It's amazing when it happens. I don't think any of those things happen without the core part of the music and the messaging being intact. The reason it's been the success it has is because of what Lily delivered, the music she created, and the way that she wanted it to be delivered.”
It's been an amazing time for Lily, and we're very proud to be involved with that record, which has just been phenomenal
Jamie Nelson
You had previously worked with Lily Allen at Parlophone. What was key to her joining you at BMG?
“I think me and Lily first started speaking maybe a couple of years ago. But the reality of it is that Lily, in terms of the music-making part of it, that really happened on her own [with her team]. It's very different from the relationship that I had with Lily [at Parlophone]. She worked with [producer] Blue May and Seb [Chew, manager] and went off and then delivered – very quickly – an amazing record. So it was one of those moments and projects that we love, where an artist has got a vision. We love working on projects where artists have got their defined idea of what they want to do, we're more than happy to encourage that. We will happily leave artists alone to do what they want to do when they want to do it that way. In the way that many artists work these days, they want control. They want to feel that they've got space to do things how they want to do them. And we love supporting artists in that way.”
Was the BMG global infrastructure important for this campaign? How did you execute the marketing strategy?
“That was amazing. One thing I feel really proud of is that we've got incredible relationships around the globe. We've got incredible teams, the digital team across all of the aspects of that area of the campaign has been incredible, that's been a very significant part of what we do.
“Jane Third [at DreamTeam] has consulted on the marketing side and worked closely with Anna Derbyshire [VP, campaign management] in delivering a great campaign. It’s been great to work on a campaign that has been truly collaborative.”
Lily Allen (credit: Charlie Denis)
And you must be happy to be at this point with a gold album and multiple BRITs nominations?
“When we first started on the process, it's only 14 weeks from when we started [in the charts]… If you'd have told me then that we would be in this position, I'd have been over the moon. So we're really happy and excited to see that it's doing as well as it is. There’s lots more to do this year. Lily goes off to do all of the shows, and that's going to be an exciting moment for her.”
You had another great result with Louis Tomlinson, is he becoming a consistent career artist?
“First and foremost, Louis has an incredible global footprint, in terms of his fanbase, it's amazing. We had an incredible result on Faith In The Future, which is the previous album that was very much a global success. And this feels like it's heading into brilliant territory, in that he’s delivering success all over the world. We’ve got No.3 in Australia. We have a No.1 album in the UK. But also culturally, this has been quite a shift. It’s been really supported at Radio 1, for example. So it definitely feels like he's heading into exactly where he wants to be, which is a really relevant and contemporary place – we're really happy with how it's all going.
“Again, Louis is an artist who is very much about a global approach, he’s managed to continue to build on what he delivered last time. And as we know, longevity is not easy for many artists, the ability to be consistently successful isn't the easiest thing. So it's brilliant to see him delivering again at such a high level.”
Louis has an incredible global footprint, in terms of his fanbase
Jamie Nelson
Has he worked hard on this project and the campaign?
“He’s a music obsessive – in terms of the way that he delivered that record with [co-producer] Nico Rebscher, that has been really amazing. There's been total dedication and focus on the process. Louis is somebody that likes to be very front and centre in creating what he does. So that's been fantastic in terms of his appetite to go and work, it's second to none. He's somebody who wants to do everything he can to get his music out there, and we're happy to support it.”
In terms of fan engagement, Louis Tomlinson must be a great artist for a label to work with?
“He's great with that stuff. Obviously those fans have grown up with him over many years. He's somebody that thrives on that connection with his audience. He's always been like that, actually. There's such an amazing relationship you see between him and his fans. It's brilliant to see that they are continually there and that they support him.”
And it was pure coincidence, but it was quite a turn-up that Louis Tomlinson had the No.1 album the same week as Harry Styles scored the No.1 single…
“It’s an amazing coincidence. It probably tells us something about the endurance of One Direction historically, I guess. But also, as well, to see two artists in a totally different area, musically, going on and having their success is fantastic.”
Louis Tomlinson
What’s the A&R approach with Louis Tomlinson, who has leaned more towards indie music?
“His natural music tastes tend to be a little bit more alternative-led. I would say, again, Louis is somebody that we support and we have conversations with, but he's somebody that comes with a lot of history and experience, So it's a supportive role that we have, and between Matt Vines, who manages Louis, and Nico in this situation, with support outside as well, he's gone off and defined what he wants to do, and he's delivered it in a way that he's happy to do it.”
Is it going to be a busy year for him in terms of live?
“Massive, there’s huge global touring for Louis, again, reflective of that incredible fanbase that he's got. I know he's excited about getting the music from this album out on the road. So that will take up a big, significant part of his year.”
Meek (credit: Ben Cole)
We should also mention recent signing Meek, how are you building a new generation of artists on the roster at BMG?
"It's important for us, if I'm honest with you. When I started running the label, there was definitely a period where a lot of the direction of travel was always towards historical artists. I'd say we've just always been really keen to continue to push that into the most contemporary space that we can. We really love working with artists that have got history; but I really love working with artists that have got history and also a sense of progressive thinking. You want artists that are still very alive to the idea of pushing the boundaries and delivering music that's contemporary and exciting. Marina had a great moment last year, which again is reflective of the overarching trajectory culturally of where we're trying to take it.
“We're doing much more when it comes to newer music as well. We've been working on developing and bringing in new people into our department. So that's been a big focus for me over the last year, just to make sure that we're well equipped and set up to be able to deliver bigger and more exciting new music opportunities for us, because that's going to form a significant part of where we're heading. Meek is probably the first one of those for us that we see as the first opportunity, and it's already got off to a great start. It feels like a really exciting project.”
You want artists that are still very alive to the idea of pushing the boundaries and delivering music that's contemporary and exciting
Jamie Nelson
How have you expanded the A&R team?
“We brought Zach Fox [manager, A&R, new recordings, EU, UK, RoW] in and Alice Vaughan [senior director, A&R, new recordings, UK], both of them have got great experience. They're passionate about music, very on top of culture and understanding the new music side of where we need to be heading. The reality of the industry generally is that you want to develop artists that have got cultural relevance. We've got a team here that are really excited and keen to get signing, get projects moving, work with artists and support artists at an earlier level. We're excited with the projects that we've got coming through this year.”
There’s been a few developments at BMG globally and in Europe, is that helping to drive new opportunities for the UK new recordings business?
“Yeah, all of those announcements are reflective of the drive for the company to be working all of our projects on a global basis. Our structure is a global structure. We've redefined the way that all of the teams work to make sure that we're generating a bigger and broader ambition for the artists that we have signed to us, and we're already seeing really significant opportunities emerge from that. Meek’s a good example, we've just landed a really significant and important sync for Meek that will give us a huge global reach on the track Fabulous. It's reflective of the fact that even on a development project, a newer artist project, we've got the opportunity to be able to connect with our broader international sync team, and for them to go and find a really important sync.”
Finally, Kylie Minogue had a big success with her Christmas catalogue campaign. What are the plans for new music from Kylie with BMG?
“Kylie's an important artist for us, we're keen to get going. She's had a phenomenal two years. In fact, since we originally signed her back in 2017, we've seen such incredible progress. Every single time we've dropped her records, we've seen brilliant progress in terms of where we've taken it. To see her brand and her star rise in the way that it has has been an absolute joy, particularly for me. I’d originally worked with Kylie all the way back in the Parlophone days and signed her with Miles [Leonard] in 1999, so she's a really important artist for me personally. So that's been amazing. At the moment, there won't be too much going on with her, there will be a period of time [away] and then we’ll be looking after that. I can't envisage new music until next year.”
MAIN PHOTO: Lily Allen (credit: Charlie Denis)
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