Paul Samuels

Paul Samuels started working with The Flaming Lips some 12 years ago, before their Warners deal. Alongside Scott Booker from Hellfire Management, he managed the band for the UK and Europe. During that time he met Craig Kallman - who was running Big Beat and Tag Records as a joint venture with Atlantic USA – for whom he began doing A&R. Later, he became the label manager for the international labels at Atlantic. The role became International A&R Manager, and has developed to tie the two departments together and create a synergy between them.

He has recently signed Estelle and Pendulum, and previous signings include Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and Hard-Fi. Around five years ago, he formed Crown Music Management and started to work with Mark Hargreaves and Sarah Stennett. He looks after Brendan Benson, Good Shoes, The Moths, Rosabella Gregory, Blackmarket and Mimi Soya.

Expert blog

  1. 3 July 2008
    Your questions answered
    Q - Do you know of any up and coming events that we can perform at? A- Get as many gigs as you c...
    Q - Do you know of any up and coming events that we can perform at? A- Get as many gigs as you can. Q - We are a London group of three female vocalists who sing pop, R ‘n’ B, Urban, Hip Hop and ballads. Where should we be looking for gigs? A - Very hard, you should be doing PAs at R'n'B club nights - Mission Control and Concorde are great agencies for this kind of music. Q - How do we tell the difference between a good manager and a bad one? A - Track record and not asking you to sign a contract before they do a thing. Q - As a manager what qualities does a band need to make it big? A - Hits and to be young enough to contact with their target audience.
  2. 12 June 2008
    Trying it break it
    This year's entries are very exciting and we are uncovering some real gems. Advice to all bands t...
    This year's entries are very exciting and we are uncovering some real gems. Advice to all bands trying to break, build as much of a base as you can, use the myspace page and face book page and get people involved. The best bands are the ones ahead of the curve of any scene that's there already. The biggest acts in the world stood out and when people heard them their music made them stand out from the crowd! My advice is to have attitude with rock and some soul if that is where you want to be. Always remember to have the belief in the music, the flaming lips would be doing their mad show if they where signed or not, the greatest bands ever do it because they can't do anything else!! I am very excited about the new death cab for cutie album, panic at disco and pendulum. The Gnarls Barcley record is cool, Adele is a superstar, Racontuers are massive. Estelle is going to huge! And primary one is star with tunes. Good Luck!

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