Interview by Rhian Jones

Emma Greengrass began her career in the ’90s at stomping ground London Records and, following a stint at Warner Music, handled the marketing of British stalwarts Oasis during their record-breaking rise to fame at Creation Records. When the label closed in 2000, Greengrass was hired by the band to launch their own label, Big Brother Recordings. Then, after working as U.K. Label Head at UMG distributor Caroline International, Ian McAndrew hired her as MD of his Wildlife Entertainment management company last year. The firm’s roster includes such great British bands as Arctic Monkeys, Royal Blood, Travis and The Last Shadow Puppets, as well as rising star Isaac Gracie.

What does Wildlife look for in new signings?
Ian has built Wildlife over the last 27 years based on a tradition of great songwriting—everything starts with the song.

What’s the role of management in 2017?
Managers have to be multitalented and experienced, and have every single area covered off, particularly when developing a new artist. The label expects you to come to the table with a pretty much fully formed plot, a fanbase, socials ready to go and often an album ready to go too. I think perhaps years ago labels were able to do more in terms of artist development, although in my experience in the industry—at least since 1995, when I began work with Oasis—I have always known the most successful managers to be hands-on in every area of their artists’ careers.

How do you cut through the noise on streaming services, and how do you measure success?
There is no easy answer to cutting through the noise, but I am a believer in quality music cutting through eventually. If you assume that is the starting point, then I think it’s about patience, perseverance and a great team who are dedicated to the cause. If everyone pulls their weight, I firmly believe you can get there in the end. I experienced that in a really positive way when I was at Caroline International working on everything from St. Vincent to Bear’s Den, Gaz Coombes and Glass Animals. We knew we had amazing music, we were nimble and kept at it, and all four of those campaigns reached great milestones eventually.

What’s your opinion on the health of the British music sector?
Streaming is really taking off and putting music back into the hands and ears of fans young and old around the world. The labels are clearly already benefiting financially, which means there is more money to invest in new talent. One has to hope that will soon find its way down to the artist level too. I feel very glass-half-full about the industry. The next few years are going to be very interesting.

What are your ambitions for Wildlife as a company?
We aim to keep the boutique quality of the company, which offers a service that is second to none if you are an artist, maximizing the potential of every project we work on. That said, I think we have some capacity to work with one or two other artists, so we always have our ears to the ground for the right thing to help us grow in an organic way.