Working at Sony’s King’s Cross office as Co-President (with Glyn Aikins) of RCA UK, Stacey Tang sees posh lighting shop Tom Dixon pretty much every day.
To her, however, it will always be Bagley’s, a legendary rave venue during a golden age for UK underground dance culture (and a pretty damn grubby era for pre-developed King’s Cross) where she would use a fake student ID to get into a warehouse packed (and it really was packed) with sweaty (and they really were sweaty) ravers.
It was a definitive and transformative time for Tang, having progressed from singing along to Paul Young’s No Parlez album into her hairbrush, to being swept up in a scene that included ground-breaking club nights including The Heavenly Social, Wall of Sound, BuggedOut!, Trash and Metalheadz. Fruit Machine at Heaven, Together at Turnmills, Camouflage at Complex in Islington and Fabric.
Tang herself worked in The Social, a London pub connected to the renowned Little Portland Street venue, which became a Sunday hang-out for some of the biggest DJs and tangential celebrities of the time.
“It was like living inside an issue of The Face,” she recalls. “How could you not be inspired by that?”
It was another part-time job, this time in a restaurant in Crouch End, that was to provide not just inspiration but opportunity.
“It was like living inside an issue of The Face. How could you not be inspired by that?”
By this time, Tang had given university a go twice – and found it lacking, twice. The first time was in Leeds where she studied History and Law (“I thought it sounded serious and would lead to a ‘proper’ job”).
The second time was in London, on a Culture and Media Studies course (“I assumed it would be more my sort of thing, but I ended up writing essays on Esperanto and the theory of language. So I ended up going out raving even more, this time with a genuine student card”).
Thankfully, one of the bar staff where she was waitressing to fund her clubbing habit was a young Paul Epworth.
“He knew I was trying to get into the music industry, so he introduced me to one of his friends who introduced me to a guy called Damian Lazarus, who at the time worked at Dazed.
“I did work experience with Damian for 18 months. After 18 months, he got offered a job with somebody called Phil Howells that he’d worked with at Warner’s for a little while. Phil was setting up a label called City Rockers, with Shane Murray, who’s now VP of Concert and Festival Promotions at Live Nation.
“So there were four of us, but I didn’t know how a record company worked. So basically I got busy on the stationery. Phil would be like, ‘We don’t need any more Post-its, stop ordering them!’”
Forced by a bulging office-supplies cupboard, Tang went on to learn every aspect of getting records made, getting them played and getting them in shops. It was, she says, hands-on experience that proved as valuable as it was fun.
Then, in 2007, after six years on the indie frontline, her talents were brought to the attention of Max Lousada, then running Atlantic Records. He offered her a job working with artists like Ed Sheeran, Zero 7, Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, Santigold and Lykke Li.
It turned out, of course, to be the move that changed her life, even if, at first, she was reluctant to change buses…
How much of a culture shock was it moving from City Rockers over to Atlantic?
It took me a long time to make that move. I remember getting on the bus in Hackney, calling my mom and having a bit of a cry.
We’d been through so many ups and downs and so many versions of the label, and I was like, ‘It’s gonna turn into something now’. Because they were getting investment and part of me thought, ‘This could be it, this could really be taking off from here…’
But Max Lousada had called and said Someone was leaving, and that he’d asked around and been told I would be a good replacement.
It took me eight weeks to accept that job. I was leaving my mates, and we’d built something awesome together. But Max is very persuasive. I remember one of the things he said was, ‘Imagine what it would be like if you got paid the same amount of money on the same day of the month’.
That hit home, because at City Rockers I was getting off the bus a stop early to save money by not travelling into a more expensive transport zone.
The other thing that he said to me was, ‘What do you think you could achieve if you had money to spend on your artists?’ And that really got me thinking…
After I joined, I remember going to see Richard Hinkley, who was the Director of Marketing at the time, and I can’t remember who the supplier was that I was talking about, but I was basically saying to him, ‘Oh my God, they want £990 for this thing’, whatever it was at the time.
And he just went: ‘Yeah?’ So I told him again, ‘They want £990! That’s nearly a grand!’. And he said: ‘Yeah?’ And then he asked me what my sign-off level was. I didn’t really know what that meant. So I went and asked someone and they told me it was £5,000. I could not believe it!
I must have seemed so tight when I got there because I just kept saying, ‘Nah, we’re not paying that!’.
My first experience at Warner was actually quite difficult, because I felt like some of the people there were siloed. It was almost like, ‘Don’t look at my homework’, or, ‘Why are you sitting in my seat?’
But on the positive side, I got to look after Sean Paul. I got to look after like Missy Elliot. It was a dream come true.
What was that Atlantic experience like for you?
It was such a great time. Atlantic had a really hot phase. They were signing so well.
You know, Max always used to say it’s the biggest indie, which of course it’s not, and it’s definitely not now. But there was that kind of vibe of everybody in it together.
I think when you run a company, in terms of who you work with and who you sign, you’ve got to have aligned values, you’ve got to know that you share the same vision, because otherwise so much of your time is spent convincing people that something’s a good idea – and that’s such a terrible waste of time.
So, going back to my time at Warner, I feel like everybody was given a platform for learning and everybody was involved in the conversations.
Max would drill us on a Monday morning label meeting: Who’s your audience? How many are you gonna sell? What’s gonna happen?
But there were so many amazing execs who were so generous with their time and with sharing what they knew. I learned so much.
Damian Christian’s still there, Mel Rudder was there, Taponeswa Mavunga was there who is just… I mean, there’s no way to measure the value knowing that woman as a friend or an executive. Phil Youngman was there, Katie Crisp, Jamie Burgess. There were just so many great people – a bunch of outliers in one way, but all united by their passion for music
You kind of felt like underdogs, but we used that as motivation, and that was something I was used to from the independent world.
We had the attitude of let’s get it done. If this isn’t working, there’ll be another way around it, let’s work it out. And so then to deliver Bruno Mars, Plan B, Ed Sheeran, Charlie XCX, Delilah, Rudimental; what a run to go on.
It was an incredible journey, and I get the impression that group of people you mentioned weren’t just important to you professionally, but also personally, right?
Absolutely. I mean, I got into music because it’s social. So when you arrive at a record company, you’re going out a lot. And if you are a raver, you were going out a lot anyway! So, initially at least, what’s the difference? There comes a time when you have more responsibility, or perhaps the culture changes, and you realise that you have to go out in a slightly different way when it’s work. But at the start, it’s all just going out!
“Music can be a time machine. It takes you back to certain places or feelings – or haircuts!”
Music is a great connector of people; it can change your mood. If you’re feeling sad, it can remind you that you’re not the only person who feels like that. Or it can make you happy. And it’s a time machine, it takes you back to certain places or feelings or haircuts! Music is about the gut and the heart.
So yes, those people were all amazing and generous. And then on top of that, you go out, you go to festivals, and everything is bonded by this incredibly emotional thing called music – and you’re right, they become personally important to you. You make life-long friends in this business.
You talk about the emotive power of music and how you got into this business because of your passion for music. Does that ever bump up against the need to see things from a business point of view and be more analytical?
Look, if I’m working at a big frontline record label and I’m putting music in front of people, I can’t think that only my ears work and that what I like and what I don’t like is what everybody likes and doesn’t like.
There’s stuff that I’ve grown to like that I didn’t used to have time for. Also, when I was younger, even though I dressed a certain way and I listened to certain things, I went to see Guns N’ Roses at Milton Keynes Bowl. And I also went to World Dance. You can appreciate all those things.
I think you have to be current, because you have to know what you’re working at a record label and you have to know how to work it. But trends change all the time.
I watched this documentary on ABBA recently, and they were saying they had it tough because in the ‘70s, rock was cool and no one took them seriously.
But, for a start, they sold 384 million records. And on top of that, everyone now loves that music, including critics.
There have been acts that I’ve worked on where, because I’ve been a fan of them, I’m like, ‘It is going to work: the music’s brilliant; they’re great live; I’ve done the artwork with them; this is all excellent. OK, people aren’t liking it right now, but we just need to give it time…’
It’s like, ‘Stacey, you are now being a focus group of one, and that is actually not what the market is saying.’ At that point, you probably do need to listen to other people. And then there’s been times where I’ve really liked the people, but I wouldn’t necessarily have listened to their music, and it’s worked brilliantly. I can always appreciate the artistry and it’s also important to really like the person.
People always want to work harder for somebody who’s nice, or somebody who’s interesting or somebody who is really ‘there’. I also think, when you’re talking about taste or trends, if we’re thinking about it from the commercial aspect of what you sign, if everybody’s running one way, you can’t be running the same way. You don’t need to be the 20th version of something, right?
Glyn says this all the time: look in the opposite direction. How many Princes have there been? How many David Bowies? How many Queens? How many Kate Bushes? How many Missy Elliotts? That is artistry – and you don’t find that level of artist by looking in the same places and thinking in the same way as everyone else.
You left Atlantic for Columbia, and you’ve ended up as one of very few women running a major label. Tell us about that journey…
When I got to Columbia, Sony was quite a different set-up, because the talent TV shows and Syco were huge. They were making the business so much money then that Columbia was actually quite a small label at the time in comparison.
It was helmed by Alison Donald and Mark Terry, in the same way that Glyn and I work together now, and that was a very smart way of doing things. They signed such good acts.
My first campaign was with someone who’d been signed for a while, Calvin Harris. I was a little bit nervous, thinking, ‘What if I can’t do this? What if it was actually down to all the people who helped me at Atlantic, you know?’
But of course there were new people to work with and learn from at Columbia. And we were really lucky to have a run that was quite similar: Calvin Harris, George Ezra, Rag‘N’Bone Man, Mark Ronson, and lots of other cool things that sat underneath that.
Then, as a group, you have an experience of what it means to be successful. You realise, ‘OK, this is our level now’, and then everyone knows that they can reach a little bit further.
It’s not like it takes more bandwidth, because you work out what you’re in charge of and what you’re not, you start to work more efficiently as a group. You share with one another and you can feel something building.
You know, we can talk about indies, we can talk about artist services, we can talk about major labels. But once you get behind the logo, it’s just a group of people. And it’s about how do these people work with one another, and then getting the benefit of all of their knowledge.
When that happens, you can have impact and you can make a difference, as individuals and as a group. That then leads to fulfilment, and that’s a great motivator.
That’s certainly how Glyn and I run labels. You know, we are not here to do 30 people’s work. They’re charged to be sovereign beings, and we’ve got their backs all the time. They need to know that they’re safe, that we’ve got them. But also, get on with it, fail fast, learn more, be brave, be experimental and have fun.
That’s how I’ve always learned at all the labels I’ve been at.
What did it feel like to be told you were going to be co-head of a frontline label? Was there any level of self-doubt about that challenge?
Listen, I still get imposter syndrome. I remember this one manager, when I was at Columbia, asking me where I got my marketing degree.
I said I didn’t do a marketing degree. And that I actually didn’t do a degree of any sort. He said, ‘Do you not even know what the seven Ps of marketing are?’ I said, I could probably guess them. He was a bit snotty about that. So I just said, ‘I do know I’ve sold more records than you’ [laughs].
There’s a part of me that’s a bit cheeky like that. I do it less now because I’m more self-aware. But when you are young and you’re firing from the hip, you’re like, hang on a minute…
What I will say about Sony is that they’ve always been really good about learning, and they’re great about progression.
It’s a privilege to have been offered all the positions that I’ve been offered. But I’ve always been trained for those positions as well. I’ve been looked after and I’ve been told, ‘This is where you can go to next if you want it – and we think you can do it’. For somebody who does get imposter syndrome, that’s important.
Because I’ve responded well to that and found that to be helpful, that’s how I try and coach the execs that I work with.
As someone who now gets to decide even more about the culture of a label, along with a partner who is awesome, I’m clear that we need to be an incubator and evolve what it is to be an executive.
We toggle between being the first and the second biggest label in the UK yearly, and we have done for some time. But we work on a really scant team – and that’s because everybody there is brilliant.
But we can’t keep them there forever. There’s a triangle, right, and there’s less jobs at the top. So I hope that those people feel comfortable being celebrated for who they are as individuals and then, as they go out and take other jobs in the industry, or they go and create in other areas of art or culture, that have an impact on society, that they carry forward values that they think are important and that we have stressed as important.
How do you see the career path for women in 2025 in our industry? It has hopefully improved, but is there still a long way to go?
I think the answer is probably both. There’s far more representation for lots of groups of people who’ve been under-represented at executive level in comparison to the impact and the difference that they make in music – but yes, there’s a long way to go.
The one thing I’ll say about advancement though is that it’s not constant. Things look like they’re on a pretty flat line until suddenly they look like they’re a hockey stick.
What I hope is that, instead of getting frustrated, we continually look at things, try to improve things and ensure that there’s corporate social responsibility in place. And I think there is; people and companies are held to account in a different way now, and so they should be.
We need to check ourselves all the time. It’s also quite a difficult thing to be running a company because you’ll be challenged with people wanting to do things a different way. And instead of me getting upset about that, I think that’s important because actually my opinions need to be challenged, so do everyone else’s, because that’s how we evolve – as people and as companies.
How are you enjoying running RCA with Glyn right now?
I’m enjoying it a lot! You know, we’ve been doing it for two years now and we’ve been working behind the scenes furiously.
Glyn and I are both from backgrounds where we’ve worked on things that have been signed in the UK and been successful internationally.
Historically, RCA didn’t have a huge domestic roster. Now we have everyone from Bring Me The Horizon, to Nothing But Thieves, to Jade, to Myles Smith, to Tems, to Biig Piig.
So the fact that artists like Myles and Jade are making waves in the culture is great to see and, going back to where I came from, it’s so nice to see UK musicians doing what they should be doing on the international stage again.
Of course Myles and Jade just enjoyed success at The BRITs. Can you tell us about where they’re at in their respective journeys, and what the plan is for them going forward into 2025 and beyond?
Well, wowee, didn’t they both absolutely smash the shit out of Saturday night?!
I am so incredibly proud of and for them both. Jade has a spectacular creative vision for her solo project and that’s evident in all the music she’s written, helped produce and brought to life through these huge visual concepts, whether that’s video, the performance that you saw on Saturday night, or artwork and content, absolutely everything is just exemplary and her tone is unique.
She has really put herself through it and worked so hard, to come out of that world class performance and have such a huge percentage lift on streaming and be one of the most shared and talked about artists of the evening in the worldwide press and with fans, that is so very richly deserved.
We’re excited for Jade to go out live, taking her music to fans in real life in 2025. She announced Glastonbury recently and is on the line-up for All Points East with Raye, Doechii, Cat Burns and Tyla.
She releases her next single in a week and all of this leads into an album rollout strategy that’s in keeping with her desire to do things differently and on her own terms.
Myles has had an incredible year and I am delighted that was recognised by The BRITs. He toured for eight-and-a-half months of last year. He’s sold 115,000 live tickets to date and you can see and feel that in his stage presence and the comfort he has showing his personality in those hugely kinetic performances of lyrically emotive singles.
The fact that he used his acceptance speech to highlight industry issues that are close to his heart and important for new, developing talent and our wider industry speaks volumes to who he is as a human. I’m looking forward to more people discovering the man behind the songwriting this year and to deliver bigger and better for Myles here in the UK and internationally.
He’s just come out of the studio holding the good stuff, so we are actively planning next releases. I’m more than sure Myles will continue to soundtrack huge moments in people’s lives throughout 2025 and beyond.
What would you tell your younger self in order to prepare for your journey?
I would say that you’re going to meet a lot of people who will colour your world in awesome ways and make your life really rich.
Expect to be really overwhelmed sometimes, by the pressure that you put on yourself and by the perceived pressure that you think other people are putting on you.
But please know that you can put your hand up at any stage and ask for help; it’s really important that you learn to do that.
I’ve learned a lot about myself on that journey and I’ve definitely evolved as a human being along the way, which is what we’re all here to do.
I feel really grateful to all the people who shared their knowledge with me, to all the people who’ve given me an opportunity and to all the artists who’ve trusted me.
There’s a speech that Snoop Dogg gave last year and he said, ‘I’m gonna thank myself for turning up’. And there’s definitely a little bit of that too.
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