The right move at the right time
For the past four years I've dined out on the story of the day
when former BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson and I tried to persuade the
BPI Council to move the BRIT Awards into the then yet-to-open O2
Arena.
A ripple went around the room. "It'll never work," said one. "No
one will ever travel that far east," said another. "We're not
wrecking our show and putting it in there," said a third.
Even the very favourable deal AEG were then offering was not
enough to persuade them.
We were left in no doubt that we were idiots even to have
suggested the idea.
Needless to say, within six months the O2 Arena was the most
successful arena in the world, and we naturally felt somewhat
vindicated.
So it was with great anticipation that I arrived at North
Greenwich tube station on Tuesday night for this year's BRIT
Awards - at the O2 Arena.
It wasn't only the venue that was changed for 2011. New BRITs
Chairman David Joseph had rethought every aspect of the show from
the TV production team to the PR company - even the BRITs trophy
itself, newly redesigned by Vivien Westwood.
Within seconds of the huge show opener from Take That, it was
clear that Joseph's changes were spot-on, a clever reinvention of
the 30 year old BRITs franchise.
It was an ûber BRITs. The BRITs on steroids. Each performance
one-after-the-other giving a highly focused dose of contemporary
pop.
From Take That's opener to the intimate pure emotion of Adele,
to the courtroom drama, riot scene and burning policeman of Plan
B's outstanding performance it was state-of-the-art pop music at
its best: sexy, smart, funny, heartfelt - and to the
point.
Of course there were disappointments. No show is ever perfect.
Instructed not to get in the way of the music, presenter James
Corden barely made an impression at all.
More serious was the show's disappointing ratings performance
where it was beaten by Channel 4's Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. That
specific ratings clash could not be avoided, but pre-promotion for
this year's show felt lighter than in previous years.
Going forward, there are clearly areas for development:
- Build-up. It's worth asking whether in a faster moving media
landscape the five week gap between the announcement of nominations
and the show itself is too long;
- Sales. How can labels and retailers work better to maximise the
commercial potential of the BRITs? The show itself benefited from a
relentless focus on essentials. The commercial impact of the show
deserves similar focus.
- Opportunities to view. MTV endlessly repeats its awards shows.
If you miss the live broadcast of the BRITs, it is not easy to see
it again.
- Online presence. The BRITs website is not good. Yet again, it's
a focus issue.
- Download strategy. There may be practical reasons for selling
BRITs downloads exclusively through iTunes. They are of course the
biggest game in town. But that is no reason to exclude everyone
else.
- International. There is clearly scope to rethink the BRITs
international strategy, trading on the huge international goodwill
towards British music and using it as a showcase for the best new
UK music.
However none of these issues matter at all unless the show
itself is right. My guess is that Joseph decided to fix the
fundamentals first and these other areas will follow
soon.
And so what of the switch to the O2? It was clearly a good move.
The nature of the arena means most people are closer to the action
than at Earls Court.
I suspect the senior record company executives and artists who
dined on the floor of the arena rather enjoyed being secluded from
the rest of the hoi-polloi. Those of us who dined in the adjoining
marquee - and were treated to a performance by Jessie J - also had
a great time. Those who experienced the show from the O2's suites
tell me they felt a little cut off from the action.
The sheer scale of the BRITs operation clearly tested the O2's
infrastructure and staff to the limit and led to long queues to
enter the dining area. And that's more than three-and-a-half years
after the venue opened. In retrospect the BPI Council may have
decided against the O2 in 2006 for the wrong reasons, but it was
probably the right decision at the time.
One final thought. 2010 was not a great year for British music.
UK artists were totally trounced in the charts by US talent. Few
new artists emerged. Mainstream rock - the UK's historical strength
- was a disaster area.
And yet this was a great BRITs Awards show. The best in
years.
If, as we all hope, a new wave of British talent emerges in
2011, just imagine what the new BRITs team will make of that.