Music Moguls: Masters of Pop

A new series exploring the untold history of the pop and rock worlds, told by the producers, managers and PR giants, starts tonight on BBC Four, 10pm. We asked series producer Francis Whately some questions about it.

Music Moguls. What’s the pitch?

"The music business is a cruel and shallow trench where thieves & pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There is also a negative side." Hunter S. Thompson

Where did the idea come from?

We wanted to tell the Rock Story from a different point of view. For too long it’s all been about the artists, as though they work in a vacuum. We wanted to shine a light on the unsung heroes – the men and women behind the scenes (the Svengali’s; the Melody Makers; the Puppet Masters, the Mythmakers etc.) to show the crucial role they have played in the success of the rock and pop industry. At a time when we are at saturation point with pop and rock biographies, now is the time that the stars behind the stars moved centre stage.

No-one likes a spoiler, so give us a taster of what we’ll see

The series tells the story of the music industry not from the frayed and tired yarns of the artists, but from the managers, producers and PR gurus who orchestrated their careers: the unsung heroes, and sometimes villains, behind the scenes. Where would Elvis Presley be with Colonel Tom? Where would be Led Zeppelin be without Peter Grant, or Justin Bieber without Scooter Braun.

Each film uses and expert in their field to tell the story. Episode one – Money Makers - we collaborated with Simon Napier Bell, the brilliant former manager of amongst others Mark Bolan, The Yardbirds and Wham; for Film Two – Melody Makers - the mighty Nile Rodgers, who produced everyone from Madonna to David Bowie, Diana Ross to his own band Chic; and for film Three – Mythmakers - Alan Edwards is our PR Svengali. Edwards was behind everyone from Prince to the Rolling Stones, David Bowie to the Spice Girls.

One great contributor in episode one is Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickens. He talks about what it is to be a manager, and the music industry today:

“Managers are only as good, I believe, as the artists they manage. That is so important."

“I've never really chased the money first, and a lot of people say they never really chase the money – and most people do. The biggest thing of that is when you actually have success, when the money really starts to be significant. Opportunity to Adele presents itself by the truckload every day. Any and every opportunity to make money in non-traditional or branding exercises, we've been offered it - everything. Clothing ranges, perfumes, nail polishes ..it goes on. For us, the first thought isn't the branding opportunity, it's the music, and I want to protect what it is we do with her music and her content - absolutely I do. And that will never change.”

Episode two looks at the Melody Makers - the Music Producers. The men and women who have created the signature sounds that have defined key periods in rock and pop history. Led by the genius that is Nile Rodgers, the film discusses his work with Chic, and others, but also how he gave super Producer Mark Ronson his first Sony Walkman to start producing his own sounds.

Mark Ronson tells us: “The role of a producer really is just to take the song at hand, or the album, and make it as great as it can be for that artist.”

“The first artist that I really clicked with was probably Amy (Winehouse) when working on ‘Back to Black’. Amy had played me this stuff by The Shangri-Las, and we obviously both loved Motown and 60's and early 70's soul music.”

“I never started making music because I wanted to be in the limelight.”

The third episode concentrates on the dark arts of PR – the Myth Makers. With exclusive access to one of the biggest PR’s in the music business, Alan Edwards, we tell the extraordinary story of how PR in Britain was born in the music industry, thrived and spread like wildfire throughout all the media. Today it is reckoned that 90% of what we read is PR orchestrated. We tell the story of how you can have a hit single without PR but you can’t have a career.

On being involved with the programme, Alan Edwards said: “We all know what a significant role PR plays in British public life nowadays, but not many people realise that its roots go back five decades to the start of the Music Business as we know it now. In this film I lift the lid on the unseen, uncredited, often unappreciated and unsung PR’s that helped create an industry that now employs something like 60,000 people.”

We hear how he and other major PRs, such as Barbara Charone and Andy Saunders, cultivate new bands, manage crises and attempt to maintain the reputation of their longstanding clients. They feature alongside artists such as the Sex Pistols, Uriah Heep, Brett Anderson and Hugh Cornwell.

What surprised you making these films?

As a team we were surprised just how important managers, producers and PRs are to the whole music-making process. Managers are therapists, accountants, confidants and friends. Producers can turn what sounds like nothing into a hit and while you can have a number one without PR you can’t have a career without it.

What do you reckon we’ll think about the music industry after we’ve watched it?

We hope the audience’s eyes will be opened wide by this series as it shows the immense work and brain power that goes into the soundtrack of our lives. The story is surprising, erudite and often very amusing.

Francis Whately is series producer of Music Moguls: Masters of Pop.

• Episode 1 of 'Music Moguls: Masters of Pop' will be broadcast on BBC Four at 10pm on Friday 15 January and available to watch on BBC iPlayer after that for 30 days.
• Find out about the '10 most influential moguls in pop history - and what you can learn from them' on the BBC Music website.