Charles Bradbrook, Janice Lloyd and Steve Wren are among Billboard’s 2024 Top Business Managers, who have been identified from firms guiding the finances of some of the most successful artists in the industry worldwide.  It is the second year running that our partners have appeared in the prestigious annual list.

Commenting on the news, Steve Wren, Partner at SRLV, said: “Charles, Janice and I would like to thank the clients, industry peers and colleagues who nominated us this year, along with Billboard for including us.  It’s a privilege to be part of Billboard’s Top Business Managers list for a second year running and we deeply appreciate everyone’s continued support.”

To mark the trio’s inclusion in the list and the publication of Billboard’s 2024 Top Business Managers, we’ve included the full version of our feature Q&A with Charles Bradbrook, below.

What specific achievements has SRLV made in its music industry work over the past 12-18 months?

We’ve made some key appointments over the past 18-months, including our 10th Business Manager Partner, Tina Sunderland, as well as adding industry specialists to our royalties and international teams. International expertise remains one of our core strengths, particularly in dealing with the US, and we now have a team dedicated to US issues.

Earlier this year, we also welcomed renowned business valuer and finance expert, Alan Wallis, who has led valuations for some of the world’s most iconic music catalogues, to the team.  As part of his consultancy role, Alan will be working alongside SRLV partners to expand our business valuation and expert witness services for music IP.

Clients have been busier than ever this year and we’ve supported some very large international world tours, and artist residencies in the US and Europe.  As always, it’s important to us that our services are inclusive and that we’re helping a diverse spectrum of music talent, from superstars and heritage acts to independent and emerging artists.

What industry developments are affecting the income of your clients or your advice to clients most?

The use of avatars as an alternative to touring is something our clients and particularly, heritage acts, have been exploring, over the past year. The economics of this must be worthwhile though so it’s only feasible for the most well-known artists.

What is the most pressing issue facing business managers now, as they guide the finances of their clients?

Touring can be extremely lucrative for major performers, but there are significant issues which can make touring potentially prohibitive to new and developing acts.

My personal gripe is Brexit and the continuing impact that it’s having on the ability of UK artists to tour Europe and on developing new UK talent. The red tape around tax rules, social security and visa requirements adds to the complexity and overall touring costs.

With travel and accommodation costs being so high, there is little chance of offsetting the withholding tax charged on gross appearance fees, meaning there is minimal/no net profit made. It’s vital that something is done about this, particularly for emerging and independent UK artists.

From a tax perspective, the planned UK reforms for non-UK domiciles to a tax residency-based system from April 6 2025 may be a double-edged sword. Long standing UK tax resident, non-UK domiciled individuals may decide to leave the UK but for more recent and new non-domicile individuals, this should encourage inward investment and significantly ease the compliance burden for those newer foreign artists living in the UK.  For details on these changes and the new foreign income and gains (FIG) regime, please see our recently published update here.

What is the most unusual investment a client has made or attempted to make, recently?

Clients have always invested in things they’re interested in, but a more unusual example recently is padel court companies!  They made this investment based on their love of the sport, but it’s also proving to be a lucrative business opportunity.

What charity do you support and why?

Personally, I support the UK charity The Truants Foundation, which raises funds for children’s charities, and was founded by Iron Maiden manager, Rod Smallwood.  As a company, SRLV support several UK charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, Nordoff and Robbins and the PRS Foundation, as well as carrying out pro bono work for these and many others.  Our team are very caring and passionate about their charity work and we get involved with the majority of charities through industry or staff connections.

To find out more about Billboard’s 2024 Top Business Managers, please visit their website.

ABOUT BILLBOARD

Published weekly by Penske Media Corporation, Billboard magazine (www.billboard.com) is recognised as one of the most reputable sources of music industry news and provides music charts, features, video opinion, reviews, annual listicles, events and styles related to the music and entertainment industry.