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Radio Edit | 7.17.23

Radio Edit | 7.17.23

with Jess Severn

Radio Edit Team
July 17, 2023

Chris Shelley

Having already guided the creative direction of superstar artists like Justin Bieber and Olivia Rodrigo, Dead Happy’s Jess Severn takes us through her role within these projects and where she wants to go next.

The title of creative director is generally very broad and amorphous. I'm about to ask you the most annoying question that you're definitely sick of answering but can you describe what your role generally entails?

It’s such a good question, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it varies project to project! But - as a CD who is mostly working in the music industry, the job for me is:

Formalizing the look and feel of the world the artist wants to create with their music (listening to the music, asking the artist if they have any specific visual ideas or overarching concepts, mood boards mood boards mood boards)
Helping select who should execute each of the different creative pieces the project requires (Me? Other designers? Photographers? Video directors? Illustrators? Painters? Specific magazines or interviewers or platforms? Stylists? Etc). Essentially: who would be the best partner for the project in each of these corners, and how would their work support and elevate the core vision?
Producing those pieces and ensuring they all play well together! I’m a designer and illustrator first, so I’m often executing those pieces with my own hands, but the job requires a very top-down managerial approach before I ever open photoshop.

And would you look at that, job done!

You launched your own creative firm, Dead Happy, in 2019. What have been some of the highlights and challenges of starting your own shop?

Opening our shop has been the most affirming step I could have taken as a creative! It was a coward’s move not to have done it sooner. The practical challenge is mostly invoicing on time, I’ll admit it! And the existential challenge is the ambition to constantly be improving on your own work and scale; to really believe that your best will always be yet to come. One of the bravest things you can do is insist on yourself and your own dreams, and overcoming my fear of the void and stepping into the field as an independent entity was and continues to be hugely rewarding. I had the privilege of sharing that step with my creative partner Chris Shelley, and having him to lean on as another voice of reason and shared labor allowed us to reach for projects and goals we may not have had the tenacity for on our own.

For eight years, you were the creative director & lead designer at Scooter Braun's SB Projects, working with artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. What was your most challenging project you worked on during that time and why?

Every step of those 8 years was incredibly formative for me. I still can't believe what Scooter let me lead as a 21-year-old - and I credit that trust with the spaces I get to occupy now. When it comes to a real challenge, I think it happened day 1! I rolled up to the SBP offices and had hardly found my way to my new desk before they told me my boss was moving into a different section of the company entirely, and I had essentially inherited the design department (of one). They were just beginning to dig into the artwork for Justin Bieber's Believe movie, and those first few weeks were absolutely sink or swim for me. What did I know about key art and movie marketing?! Not a thing in October 2013, but a competitive amount by that November.

You're currently working on Victoria Monét's Jaguar II album, what has that process been like and are there any exciting aspects of it that you can talk about?

It’s been the honor of my life! It’s not every day you get to work with an artist who is so self-possessed, intelligent, trusting, hilarious, and creatively curious. I can’t speak highly enough of Victoria and the rest of the team! Separate of the fact that the era of Jaguar II is upon us, which is a thrill and a half- I am just so happy to be in an environment where everyone is working so collaboratively and earnestly. Having hopped on the project in 2020, watching it grow and seeing the world embrace Vic over these last few years has been crazy. If I had to pick one person to put in a spaceship to represent us to the aliens it would be her.

The last time we spoke you mentioned you were interested in working deeper with artist partnerships through things like brand collaborations and merch capsules. What's driving that interest?

Hell yeah I did! I love getting to inhabit the skin of a brand. The rules and win conditions are very different from the world of artists, and the puzzle that is a brand's internal calculus and sense of self is fascinating and motivating to me. I'm a sucker for a good game, and marrying the often diverging interests of artists and corporations is an exhilarating one to play. Sometimes you CAN actually make everyone happy, and if that happiness comes in the form of a cool bespoke jacket or a surprising ad campaign, well, let me at 'em coach.

I know you worked on Olivia Rodrigo's merch for her Sour album and tour cycle. How did that relationship come about and what drove your creative process as you put that together?

The fates truly conspired on that one - on both the label and merchandising side, I'd had longstanding working relationships with the different directors involved. I was asked to come on to the project right after Driver's License had really hit its stride, and before much of the Sour aesthetic had been established. We had freedom! The music spoke for itself, and as we all know, Olivia's own sense of self was very unabashed - it was easy to be inspired by her and the pop and punk-rock and coming-of-age of it all, and her trust in the team let us find something special in the designs.

What would your dream project be?

I'd love to get an animated sci-fi television show on the air. Short of that, if we could get Rolling Stone or i-D or Complex on the horn and convince them I should illustrate one of their magazine covers, I think I could die a peaceful death.

Rethinking the streaming payout model

As the power of AI threatens to exacerbate the already rampant issue of streaming fraud, the industry is being forced to consider whether the pro-rata payout model still makes sense moving forward. As a possible solution, SoundCloud has been testing a user-centric model for years where, instead of the royalty pool being divided proportionally by stream counts, the money from a user’s subscription fee goes directly to the specific artists they listen to.

While superstar acts would likely earn less under this model, a report on SoundCloud’s testing program found that nearly 65% of artists with fewer than 100k listeners made more money under this model. The model is especially appealing for emerging to mid-level artists with superfans who haven’t been able to fully monetize the power of their fanbase in the streaming space.

As an ancillary benefit, streaming fraud would likely be eradicated under this model as bots don’t pay subscription fees, and therefore would not contribute revenue to accounts employing these tactics. Interestingly, Spotify stated in their Loud and Clear report that while they can’t make a structural change like this without broad industry alignment, they’d be willing to switch to a user-centric model if that’s what rights holders wanted.

Mobile phones have become mobile studios

Without access to traditional studio equipment, many young artists are utilizing a free app to record and distribute their songs- some of which are even landing record deals. Tagged in over 200 million TikTok videos in April alone, BandLab’s platform gives its 60 million users access to an arsenal of music-making tools and the ability to distribute these songs to streaming services. These professional-sounding recordings can also make use of the app’s social network component where they can seek advice or deconstruct their songs to crowdsource remixes. For their part, BandLab’s revenue comes from their participation in artist services like distribution and promotion.

While multiple songs recorded on BandLab have landed on the Billboard charts, several more artists using the service have even secured record deals- including Diego Gonzalez (Island), d4vd (Darkroom/Interscope), Luh Tyler (Motion/Atlantic), ThxSoMch (Elektra), and thekid.ACE (APG). Meanwhile, artists like SSJ Twiin and kurffew have racked up 15 million Spotify plays apiece while maintaining their independent status.

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