Birt to shake and rattle ‘lazy’ pop stars

EMI calls in former BBC chief to review upunderperforming singers

Dipesh Gadher

HE is an unlikely candidate to become the saviour of rock’n’roll. But Lord Birt, the former BBC director-general once ridiculed as a “croak-voiced Dalek”, has resurfaced at EMI, the troubled music group, to help knock artists such as Robbie Williams and Lily Allen into shape.

Birt, who also served as Tony Blair’s “blue skies” strategic thinker for four years, has been drafted in by EMI’s new private equity owners as they embark on a mission of “fundamental change” that could see big stars being dropped if they fail to pull their weight.

Like other big music groups, EMI, which was bought by Terra Firma for £2.4 billion this year, is battling against falling record sales prompted by piracy and ever-changing consumer buying habits.

Birt, who joined Terra Firma as an adviser in 2005, has been asked to review how EMI treats its roster of artists, raising the prospect of him rubbing shoulders with the likes of Pete Doherty, the drug-addled frontman of Babyshambles.

Birt, 62, will consider the best means of promoting stars and disseminating their music, whether it be through conventional CD sales, internet downloads or live concerts.

Insiders insist that Birt — who gained a reputation for cost-cutting and unintelligible management-speak at the BBC — will not be involved in wielding the axe.

In a leaked memo sent to EMI staff last month, Guy Hands, the head of Terra Firma, said: “There has been a lot of talk about what labels offer to artists and to the consumer.

“However, there is not much talk about how artists should work with their label. While many spend huge amounts of time working with their label to promote, perfect and endorse their music, some unfortunately simply focus on negotiating for the maximum advance . . . advances which are often never repaid.”

Hands said that once EMI had raised its standards “it will be open to us to choose which artists we wish to work with and promote”. Although the memo did not include names, it has triggered speculation about which artists EMI’s new owners might have in their sights.

Williams, who has sold more albums in the UK than any other solo artist, was reportedly paid £80m when he signed to EMI in 2002. However, his last album, Rudebox, has been a relative flop.

Hands has singled out Birt’s expertise in technology as “invaluable” and his assessment will feed into a company-wide strategic plan.

Despite his unpopularity with BBC staff, one of Birt’s main achievements at the corporation was to prepare it for the multi-channel digital age.

Yet his calculating, mechanical demeanour may prove uncomfortable for creative types. It was Dennis Potter, the late playwright, who gave Birt the “croak-voiced Dalek” epithet.

Birt’s familiarity with today’s music scene may also prove problematic. His closest friend from the world of pop is thought to be Cilla Black.

A fellow Liverpudlian, Black was a guest of honour when Birt tied the knot in December 2006 to Eithne Wallis, a former head of the probation service. The wedding followed Birt’s divorce from his ex-wife Jane after 40 years of marriage.

One EMI group that has crossed paths with Birt is the Rolling Stones. As a young editor on World in Action in the late 1960s, he was offered a fleeting glance of the “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” lifestyle when he got Mick Jagger, in the wake of the infamous drugs raid on Keith Richards’s country home, to appear on a live television debate about the state of youth.

Birt was unavailable for comment this weekend.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp