Facing the music
‘‘It is absolutely nobody’s responsibility to speak of their harassment or abuse, but I felt that in my current position it was something I could and should do. I want people who are in similar situations to know that they can talk about it, and that they are not alone. Their jobs and livelihoods should not be on the line.’’ Amy Goldsmith, above
Once you look closely at the music industry in Aotearoa, the juxtaposition of the artists who make the songs that make the money, and the executives who manage those artists and that money, is tellingly stark.
Increasingly, artists are young, female or gender-fluid, and skilled in utilising new methods to connect with their audience including platforms like Instagram and YouTube. But offline, their careers are still shaped in the in-person world; this is an industry where valuable, make-or-break connections are forged at gigs, launches and industry parties.
Possum Plows and Lydia Cole , who spoke of their experiences as clients of CRS Management’s Paul McKessar, both said they found that world, and therefore their careers, more and more difficult to navigate as the lines between business and personal became increasingly blurred. They say they have no doubt it affected their work.
New-age, but still beholden to the old-guard. A number of sources the Sunday Star-Times spoke to during its investigation into music in Aotearoa told of an industry dominated at executive level by older and mainly white, men. Those men, they say, operate in a comfort zone where the rock’n’roll business is done the way it has always been done. What is these days recognised as unsafe behaviour (and even harassment), has been an accepted part of that – in fact, it’s been ‘‘business as usual’’.
Until now, the potential damage to an artist’s career has made it nigh on impossible to call the behaviour out.
Change is slow but evident; experienced women do now hold senior management positions in various sectors of the industry. One of the whistleblowers, Amy Goldsmith, struck out on her own a year ago, forming Goldie Management.
Goldsmith, who spoke to the Star-Times about her experience as an employee of Scott Maclachlan, says she made the difficult decision to tell her story, because others could not.
‘‘While part of my experience was told in the article, for me it was and is about more than that. It’s about the bigger picture – acknowledging we have systemic and pervasive issues in the industry, so we can move forward with positive change.
‘‘It is absolutely nobody’s responsibility to speak of their harassment or abuse, but I felt that in my current position it was something I could and should do. I want people who are in similar situations to know that they can talk about it, and that they are not alone. Their jobs and livelihoods should not be on the line.’’
The result has been a week of reckoning, online and in boardrooms and closed-door meetings across the industry. On Instagram and Twitter there was fury and heartbreak from big-name artists such as Tami Neilson, Anika Moa and Anna Coddington, and rumblings about the lack of public support from male artists and industry professionals. Among the few men who did speak out was Liam Finn, who posted ‘‘men need to be held accountable by their peers and colleagues if they abuse their positions of power and trust’’.
Perhaps the most urgent conversations will have been those taking place at CRS Management – the company set up by Paul McKessar and another music business veteran, Campbell Smith.
McKessar would not engage in any meaningful way when contacted by the Star-Times before last week’s investigation was published; in answer to a list of 14 questions, the manager sent a brief email.
‘‘I won’t be making any comment about my private life, or about a consensual relationship with a former partner,’’ McKessar wrote. His email was followed the next day by a formal letter from a law firm, promising legal action if ‘‘defamatory’’ statements were made about him.
By contrast, Scott Maclachlan responded by answering all questions put to him, admitting the harm he had caused, and offering a public apology to Amy Goldsmith and others. The former management star, who was demoted from senior vice-president, artists and repertoire at Warner Australasia in 2018, after the company commissioned an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint, said he was in intensive psychotherapy and treatment for alcoholism.
‘‘There’s not a day goes by that I don’t regret the harm I have caused people around me and most importantly the pain and embarrassment I have caused my wife and children. I have to live with that guilt, knowing that people I worked with have also endured pain and stress because of my actions.’’
It was not enough to save his job; on Sunday night Warner Music fired Maclachlan outright, saying that until the Star-Times’ investigation was published, they had believed the 2018 incident to be a ‘‘one-off’’.
By Monday, CRS Management had also decided an apology was necessary. Posting on its Instagram account – without mentioning Paul McKessar’s name – a statement signed by Campbell Smith admitted the company had ‘‘a responsibility to provide a safe environment’’ for its clients.
‘‘We have not always met this standard’’, Smith wrote. An apology from McKessar’s personal Instagram page was also posted in Instagram story form, before McKessar’s account disappeared altogether.
The same day, McKessar announced he would hand back the Manager of the Year Award he won at the Aotearoa Music Awards 2020 for representing Benee, and Lydia Cole received an emailed apology from him.
As of Friday, Plows had not received a personal apology. On Tuesday, McKessar was stood down from CRS and had resigned his directorship, pending an external investigation into the company’s culture.
By late in the week, there were signs change was on the way.
On Thursday, an open letter from seven of New Zealand’s top female acts called for meaningful change, and Universal Music New Zealand chairman Adam Holt gave an interview to the Sunday Star-Times, describing the reporting as ‘‘a watershed moment for the industry’’.
Holt, who rarely appears in the media, said he felt issuing a statement would not go far enough to signal the industry’s concern.
‘‘Being dismayed is one thing, but really, what are we going to do about it?’’ Holt told the Sunday Star-Times.
‘‘It’s incumbent on all leaders to own this problem and take a real, active stance to drive change. I felt another corporate statement coming out, starts to sound a little bit like platitudes, and this is a watershed moment for the industry, I really think it is.’’
Holt, who has led Universal New Zealand since 2001, said the revelations had prompted ‘‘the most powerful conversation I’ve had in my time here’’, with women on his team speaking openly on the topic of harassment and abuse.
He suggested industry workers had to get used to calling out negative behaviour when they saw it.
‘‘Let’s make everyone feel they can call out behaviour without repercussions.’’
And Holt said big-name artists – including international acts – should not be exempt.
‘‘No-one’s too powerful or too connected to be held accountable. If you’ve got bad behaviour, everyone needs to know you’re going to get caught.’’
The Star-Times has been told an industry-wide hui will be held on Tuesday to ask the music community what action should come next. The hui will be hosted by SoundCheck, a new group supported by a number of industry bodies including AAPRA, the Music Managers Forum, NZ On Air, and Te Ma¯ ngai Pa¯ ho.
In the meantime, the trio of Plows, Goldsmith and Cole say they’ve been encouraged by the response thus far.
‘‘By coming forward with my story and holding it side-by-side with Possum’s I’ve finally been able to understand what actually happened to me in those years being managed by Paul,’’ Cole says.
‘‘I don’t feel ashamed anymore, and yet I also don’t really feel like a victim either. That whole experience has now been reframed. I feel empowered in a way that I haven’t experienced before.’’
Goldsmith agrees: ‘‘The discussion and action so far has been highly encouraging.
‘‘This stuff really does happen. Hopefully we all commit to continue taking more tangible steps to ensure a safer, transparent, diverse and inclusive industry for all. Not just when it’s news.’’