producer and songwriter Nico Rebscher - who worked with Louis on Faith In The Future - posted from Real World Studios 27/3/25 - the same studio Louis posted from two days ago…
Hi Allie, hope you're doing well. I didn’t know you were from Latin America—so cool to meet another latina:)
I’m trying to understand more about H and L’s careers and had a question after going through your industry tag. I’m confused about how the management team and record label work together. I get mixed opinions on whether the artist is more controlled by their manager or label. I asked ChatGPT (lol), and it said they collaborate, but management protects the artist while meeting label requirements. That makes sense in Harry's case because Jeff has done a good job overall, and they seem to have a good relationship. But what confuses me is Jeff’s role during the holivia mess, where the director seemed more like Jeff’s client than Harry, especially with rumors about Azoff’s financial interest in the film's success (which was very clear imo). Also, Harry clearly seemed upset at that time ( I don't think he was upset at Jeff specifically, but more angry about the whole situation).
I’ve also read from someone who works in the industry that the Azoff contracts are very restrictive, and I thought that kind of contracts were more label-related than a management thing.
Could you clarify the role of each team, please?
Thanks so much! :)
It’s really nuanced, and honestly, everything depends on the contracts. There’s no definitive answer to this.
Label contracts and management contracts are totally independent. So in theory, you could have a strict label contract while having a management team that actually has your back. On the other hand, you could be signed to a more flexible label (like an independent one) but have a management team that’s more controlling. And sometimes, the label and management are completely aligned, which means they’re working together in ways that may or may not benefit the artist.
From my understanding:
Label → They’re investing the money, so they own the artist’s music and control how everything is marketed. The artist is contractually obligated to deliver music, and the label decides when, how, and sometimes even what they release. The bigger the artist, the more control the label will want (whether it’s influencing their image, sound, or release timeline, etc). Therefore, I’d say the more restrictive contracts and “control” are coming from the label side, in general. Because it’s their investment, they’re the ones putting money into it 💰💰💰
Management → They work for the artist, not the label. But that doesn’t mean they’re always on the artist’s side, I mean, they have their own interests, too. You can have a strict management contract while being on a more flexible label, or vice versa. At the end of the day, management’s goal is also profit. They’re not the artist’s best friends; they’re there to negotiate, advocate, and execute day-to-day career decisions. They can’t override the label, but they can push for better deals, marketing, and overall strategy.
About Holivia, I don’t know if Jeff was prioritizing Olivia as a person over Harry’s feelings, but listen… I’m going to hold your hand when I say this: management’s job is to handle an artist’s career, not their personal happiness. It’s business. The Azoffs are deeply connected in Hollywood, and it’s pretty clear they had financial and industry interests tied into Harry’s success as an actor, especially DWD.
I think that the biggest thing that makes fans frustrated with management teams is that it’s hard to separate personal relationships from business decisions. Harry seems close to the Azoffs, so it’s natural we assume they’d protect him personally. But should we really see it that way? Or should we be looking at it through a business lens rather than personal loyalty? Because that’s how the industry actually works. I know it sucks, and we all want to protect Harry, but it’s not how it works.
We don’t know how Harry personally deals with this kind of situation. But if I were in his position, I’d also want to stay very friendly with the people making major business decisions for me because that’s where I’d have a better shot at them actually protecting my interests. I don’t know if Harry was personally upset with Jeff, but he definitely seemed frustrated with the whole situation.
I don’t think it is, just because we’d already seen a lot from it already, from pictures to some clips that Harry used as stage visuals during the tour. It’s not like it was completely new, just a longer portion, apparently. So I don’t know, it just looks unfinished to me. And honestly, the shade toward the studio in that tweet is pretty funny LOL.
today marks 10 years (wtf) since zayn left one direction before the band went on hiatus at the end of 2015. in remembrance, have my favorite moment during that very sad and confusing time: Harry Styles telling the crowd to get their aggression out and throw whatever they had at them onstage during the next show without zayn after none of the boys had yet to say something about his departure
and harry immediately fucking around and finding out he severely messed up by putting that into action
not even a lobotomy could make me forget how bad holivia was
Please, yes, I wish I could forget (along with a few other things I don’t even need to mention). But unfortunately for everyone, I won’t, and my blog will continue making it everyone’s problem too 😗
Maybe holivia wasn't bad for his music career, but it was definitely bad for his acting career.
He’s a single person, a single artist, with a single image. If his reputation takes a hit (like Holivia did to his image), it affects everything. He tried incorporating references to her in his songs, and not even that stuck. It doesn’t compare to Hamille, which was a much more successful stunt… Holivia was BAD. I get that there’s a massive influx of new fans now, but acting like it wasn’t a big deal? Come on. People are calling themselves and everyone else stupid. People forget things way too easily, and one of the points of this blog is to make sure they don’t. So honestly, people are wasting their time here with these arguments.
