AH Vault: Chris Blackwell On Getting Started

The following interview with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell was conducted by our own George Howard a couple of years ago, but I always go back to it because as much as things change, some core facts remain the same, and Blackwell articulates that in a way that is both inspirational and challenging. 

You can watch it here.

It is important to note that nothing presented by Chris is “of the moment”. The process of starting Island Records, while it did involve some luck, was primarily about a lot of hard work and having strong convictions. In other words, core values. We bang on about them here to no end, but stories like Blackwell’s really demonstrate that we aren’t just talking about some trendy business parlance. Having a well defined set of values and a vision for how to implement them is vital.

On a slightly different tack, below is another great segment filmed later in the day where Chris addresses how a new artist can get some attention: