WEBVTT - Clive Davis on Producing a Biopic That Captures ‘the Whitney Houston That I Have Known’

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties weekly podcast featuring conversations with

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<v Speaker 1>industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Cynthia Littleton, business editor for Variety. Today's guest is Clive Davis.

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<v Speaker 1>Like many great musical artists, Clive has achieved one name

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<v Speaker 1>status in the entertainment industry as the top music executive

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<v Speaker 1>for the Columbia and Arista labels. His work stretched from

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<v Speaker 1>Janice Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Smith to Aretha Franklin,

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<v Speaker 1>Whitney Houston, and Shaun Combs. Davis these days has been

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<v Speaker 1>consumed with producing a movie biopic of Houston that just

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<v Speaker 1>landed a big deal at Sony Pictures. In our conversation,

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<v Speaker 1>Davis talks me through how he assembled the package in

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<v Speaker 1>an unusual way and how he and screenwriter Anthony McCartin

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<v Speaker 1>didn't exchange a penny until they were both satisfied with

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<v Speaker 1>a completed script. It's granular deal making dish from an

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<v Speaker 1>industry master. Clive is so passionate about the Houston movie

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<v Speaker 1>that you can hear him pounding the table as he speaks.

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<v Speaker 1>Clive Davis, Wow, what a legend. We are so grateful

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<v Speaker 1>that you stopped by to give us some time to

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<v Speaker 1>talk about the industry and the many things that you

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<v Speaker 1>have going on right now. UM, let's dive in you are.

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<v Speaker 1>Just yesterday we got some big news, some big news

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<v Speaker 1>moving forward, the Whitney Houston biopic that you that you

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<v Speaker 1>are Shepherd NG. Can you talk a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>that project. It seems like it's just coming together. Well, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't talk about the project I was I've really

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<v Speaker 1>not been happy with the documentaries that have come out

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<v Speaker 1>on Whitney. Um, they don't reflect any real understanding of music. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>In the case of the Kevin MacDonald one, UM, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>he admitted to me that he doesn't know music. And therefore,

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<v Speaker 1>not only is there nothing from me or baby Face

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<v Speaker 1>or any of the incredible influence that Whitney had on

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<v Speaker 1>not just other autists but people music fans to general

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<v Speaker 1>public all over the world. So that yes, it's not

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<v Speaker 1>my intent. It was not my original intent by anything

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<v Speaker 1>to whitewash any of the battles that Whitney face. But

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<v Speaker 1>the full story of our the Witney that I have

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<v Speaker 1>known uh since her main teen years, has not been told.

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<v Speaker 1>So I would say it was probably over a year

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<v Speaker 1>ago that I met Anthony mccaud and the screenwriter. He

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<v Speaker 1>wrote The Indian Rhapsody, he wrote The Two Pops, was

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<v Speaker 1>just nominated the Academy Award. He wrote in a brilliant

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<v Speaker 1>films on Churchill, on Steven Hawkins, the theory of everything,

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<v Speaker 1>the dark is to our And so that I wanted

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<v Speaker 1>you just got a start with a great writer who

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<v Speaker 1>likes music, and Anthony put that bill and we clicked,

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<v Speaker 1>so that it was really a year ago that Empty

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<v Speaker 1>and I not only met, but we started working on

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<v Speaker 1>on this biopic. And so that when we've just come,

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<v Speaker 1>when the announcement has just come that we have made

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<v Speaker 1>a distribution arrangement with Sony, Uh, we've come with a

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<v Speaker 1>full script. We've come with a completed script. And I

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<v Speaker 1>made sure that Anthony really met everybody that was a

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<v Speaker 1>key player in the life of Whitney to understand her,

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<v Speaker 1>not only members of her family, but those that worked

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<v Speaker 1>with her, those that even her psychiatrist, if you will,

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<v Speaker 1>and from my files that I was so eager to

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<v Speaker 1>have other documentaries include, but they just felt music was

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<v Speaker 1>not that same, and uh, it will be here. This

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<v Speaker 1>will be a musically rich biopic. It will be, as

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<v Speaker 1>I said in the announcement, no hold barm but it

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<v Speaker 1>will capture with me, and so we're very excited about it.

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<v Speaker 1>The financing had been raised Sony one of really a

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<v Speaker 1>fierce battle other labels, Uh, you know studios were passionate

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<v Speaker 1>as well. Um and um, we're really excited now to

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<v Speaker 1>move forward with what I hope to be a classic

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<v Speaker 1>all time film. Do you enjoy that kind of work?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you like the work of being a movie producer?

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<v Speaker 1>This is the first film that I will have produce.

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<v Speaker 1>But I've got to say I'm no newcomer to the

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<v Speaker 1>world of film. I was on the board of CBS

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<v Speaker 1>when it first got into film. For many years. I

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<v Speaker 1>was on the board of Columbia Pictures. Uh, obviously, and

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<v Speaker 1>that business was there. Um. You know, for all the

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<v Speaker 1>years that Columbia Pictures owned arist I was on the board.

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<v Speaker 1>I was intimately involved. May I say, as my documentary

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<v Speaker 1>graphically points out David Boston's documentary currently graphically point out

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<v Speaker 1>in making The Bodyguard. So although I was not a

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<v Speaker 1>producer there, I really it. Being Whitney's first film, it

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<v Speaker 1>was important. Um. And so that when the first cut

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<v Speaker 1>of that film came in. Uh, it had very little music.

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<v Speaker 1>It was just a pure mystery for our You have

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<v Speaker 1>no idea why Whitney needed a bodyguard, And um, I

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<v Speaker 1>really wrote a long letter, okay, and Kevin Costner and

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<v Speaker 1>the director mc jackson and said, look, I know him,

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<v Speaker 1>the head of the of which these record company you

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<v Speaker 1>might expect. This time, I'll let her from the head

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<v Speaker 1>of her record company. But I'm saying to your film,

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<v Speaker 1>you have got to show why she needed a bodyguard.

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<v Speaker 1>To drama of the two of them connecting the way

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<v Speaker 1>they did will be far more uh compelling. And Kevin

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<v Speaker 1>cuts the board into it, and to his credit he

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<v Speaker 1>David Foster myself, we just picked in and came up

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<v Speaker 1>with all the other storms that have made Bodyguard the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest song soundtrack album in history to this day. And um,

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<v Speaker 1>I've been very much involved with Waiting to Excel, which

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<v Speaker 1>is second film with the tim score. When I thought

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<v Speaker 1>first saw that the time score was Johnny Mathis, James Taylor,

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen Bishop, and it didn't promotely speak for the subject matter.

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<v Speaker 1>What's wrong with that picture? What's wrong with that picture?

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<v Speaker 1>And so I suggested, and I think he was sharing. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>who's such a wonderful, pioneering, brilliant woman movie had um

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<v Speaker 1>we brought in baby face and um he wrote classics

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<v Speaker 1>all for each character we had, you know, sitting in

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<v Speaker 1>my room by Brandy and Ah, I couldn't hurt the

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<v Speaker 1>Mary Jane plage number one with me had too. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean it was the plastic film using Musing as the

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<v Speaker 1>bodyguard to become a huge world uh sellers. So that

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<v Speaker 1>I've been involved, you know, really with every Whitney and

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<v Speaker 1>film as well as a number of bus so it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a strange area for me. Do I like it? Yes?

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<v Speaker 1>I have a mission here. I have a mission to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure that for all time that the full picture

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<v Speaker 1>would be used in his capture uh in the nohul

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<v Speaker 1>board film. But musically rich that chose her genius U

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<v Speaker 1>and chose more for a character than the public has

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<v Speaker 1>that alert today you must have had. Your phone must

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<v Speaker 1>be overflowing with people calling wanting to pitt you actors,

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<v Speaker 1>to p a Whitney. It's such a plum, such a

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<v Speaker 1>great role. Well, the one thing that we know of

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<v Speaker 1>because we have not said a word, and no has

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<v Speaker 1>there been any effort to cast her yet. But the

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<v Speaker 1>one thing we know as distinguished from the Aretha bio

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<v Speaker 1>as distinguished from the eight part TV Genius series where

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<v Speaker 1>Sane Fa Hudson things as a wreatha or since a

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<v Speaker 1>revote things as a wreatha. In the Whitney Bio book,

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<v Speaker 1>it will all be with UM. So we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>to go if there is any if there is any

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<v Speaker 1>UH vocalists out there that could capture a Whitney, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not sure there is. UM. It won't be necessary for

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<v Speaker 1>the artists that portrays or to say, because it's going

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<v Speaker 1>to all be Whitney, including performances that have not been

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<v Speaker 1>on record, UH, so that it will not just be

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<v Speaker 1>all of the greatest. It's better be musically rich in

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<v Speaker 1>so many ways. Tell me, how how did you go about?

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<v Speaker 1>You must have had to approach Sony for them for

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<v Speaker 1>the rights to the catalog? Was that? Are they involved

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<v Speaker 1>in the film? How did that go down? No? What

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<v Speaker 1>happened was that Anthony and I've been a year together,

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<v Speaker 1>me making sure that this great writer, the Academy Award

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<v Speaker 1>connected writer that so many of the actors in his

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<v Speaker 1>films have won Academy Awards as well as UH the

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<v Speaker 1>films that he has written that he'd be educated and

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<v Speaker 1>um and so that uh. We decided, both he and

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<v Speaker 1>I that we would not just have an outline or

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<v Speaker 1>taught through, but have the actual script. And so we

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<v Speaker 1>do have the actual script. We went to all the

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<v Speaker 1>studios we have obviously, so people have the soundtrack album

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<v Speaker 1>because of the masters and all the masters that it does. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>but we did go competitively. There are four producers here

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<v Speaker 1>actually certainly mentioned the estate who was thrilled I would

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<v Speaker 1>produced back Houston and in the spell bouh of the

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<v Speaker 1>Whitneys in this day to Anthony. They spent time together,

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<v Speaker 1>um and um. We went and there was a fierce competition.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm happy to say the reaction to the script,

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<v Speaker 1>to use the word of almost every studio head that

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<v Speaker 1>called me their passionate. They know that Whitney has been

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<v Speaker 1>captured and that the opportunity here it is so special

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<v Speaker 1>and you need when you started with Anthony working on

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<v Speaker 1>the script, did you write the check to get him going?

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<v Speaker 1>Did you finance the early development of this project yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>I did not view getting me as importantly as I

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<v Speaker 1>view getting him. He knew that it wasn't that I

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<v Speaker 1>just signed with he knew that it wasn't that I

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<v Speaker 1>was there from her entire life and how close we were.

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<v Speaker 1>I collaborated with her on every song that was joke.

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<v Speaker 1>I would narrow down my hundreds. I would to the

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<v Speaker 1>ten she and I met, no matter what who she

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<v Speaker 1>was involved with, a marriage, Bobby parents who never she

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<v Speaker 1>never would let anyone else there. So that in the

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<v Speaker 1>entire selection of music, all the hits, all the background

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<v Speaker 1>of her sul stories. Um that, Um, I can pay

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<v Speaker 1>a penny to him. He didn't pay a penny to me.

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<v Speaker 1>We just hit it off. We've spent a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>time at dinners. He came to my home right for

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<v Speaker 1>him quarantine right now, and where I live in Manhattan.

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<v Speaker 1>We've really spent a lot of time together going through

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<v Speaker 1>different um you know, uh drafts of this of the

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<v Speaker 1>script as he got more and more indicated here. So

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<v Speaker 1>that no, I didn't finance, and I think in the

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<v Speaker 1>annivers anybody. We hit it off and the tour was said,

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<v Speaker 1>let's do it together. We said that on two projects,

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<v Speaker 1>the second one we haven't even talked about what we

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<v Speaker 1>did legally commit to each other. Um. We agreed that

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<v Speaker 1>there still could be a great film on Janus chocolin,

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<v Speaker 1>so we said of either of us would never be

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<v Speaker 1>get involved with Janus Chocolate. We would do that together

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<v Speaker 1>as well. But we have done no nothing on on

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<v Speaker 1>that point. But I was happy to introduce him uh

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<v Speaker 1>to Pat Houston, to LARRYM. Mistell. They spent time with them.

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<v Speaker 1>By that time we had the craft of the close

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<v Speaker 1>to final draft of the script and they were thrilled.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's how it happened. What do you think it

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<v Speaker 1>was that allowed you to make such an important personal

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<v Speaker 1>and business connection with Whitney? Why we Why were you

0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:43.520
<v Speaker 1>so important in her life? Do you know? It began

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<v Speaker 1>from the very beginning. I was not the first one

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<v Speaker 1>to see Whitney used. I was told about Whitnan, had

0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:58.080
<v Speaker 1>heard about Whitney from UH they and R man that

0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.680
<v Speaker 1>worked for me, Jerry Griffith. I've heard about her from

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<v Speaker 1>Luther Vandros because she had done some studio background singing,

0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:12.280
<v Speaker 1>but um other labels. I know that I think Elector

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<v Speaker 1>of Epic had seen her before me. But I do

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<v Speaker 1>vividly remember, no matter what the passing of he is,

0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.760
<v Speaker 1>when I saw her at a club, Sweet Boarders, where

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<v Speaker 1>she was doing backgrounds from for her mother. Sissing, and

0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:38.960
<v Speaker 1>she stepped out to do two solos. One was Home

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<v Speaker 1>from the Whiz. That was clearly I had never matter.

0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:49.040
<v Speaker 1>She chose Home from the Whiz. The other was the

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<v Speaker 1>Greatest Love Wall Now. That was the song I had

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<v Speaker 1>commissioned eight years before for the Life of Mohammed Ali,

0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.960
<v Speaker 1>and I got Michael Ansome uh he wrote that, and

0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:08.000
<v Speaker 1>we had the soundtrack to the Greatest was the film

0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:14.000
<v Speaker 1>called on Mamad. Joe Benson at the top ten record

0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:19.560
<v Speaker 1>with Never Going to Me auditioning was young eighteen to

0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:23.480
<v Speaker 1>nineteen year old teenager and it was though I had

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<v Speaker 1>never heard the song before, she found meaning in her

0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:36.920
<v Speaker 1>read of it. It honestly is the genius of with Me.

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<v Speaker 1>Before I met her and um clearly there was competition,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was she and her parents and her lawyers

0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:57.280
<v Speaker 1>who made a request of me that I have never

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<v Speaker 1>given in my career to any artists before ward me

0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:08.679
<v Speaker 1>or any artists afterward me, because it's so uncomfortable. And

0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:14.840
<v Speaker 1>that request was, I will sign with you if you

0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:20.639
<v Speaker 1>give me one clause. I said, what's that? If you

0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:26.360
<v Speaker 1>ever leave the company, I can leave with you because

0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.320
<v Speaker 1>I know what you did for my cousin Deale moment.

0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:34.560
<v Speaker 1>I know what you did for the long time relationship

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:40.000
<v Speaker 1>my mom Sissy have with the REFA Franklin. I need

0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:45.760
<v Speaker 1>that personal commitment from you. But whatever you've done for Dion,

0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.800
<v Speaker 1>whatever you've done for a Refa, you will do for me.

0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.600
<v Speaker 1>And if for any reason you leave the company, now

0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:59.120
<v Speaker 1>that's a tough I could not give up that. I

0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:03.320
<v Speaker 1>had to go to the parent company and that year

0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:09.800
<v Speaker 1>in three and involved r c A and general electorate,

0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:16.879
<v Speaker 1>and I had to say, I know the conflict here.

0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.719
<v Speaker 1>I can make this decision. Give me a lot of

0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:26.199
<v Speaker 1>quote power if she becomes big. And they asked me

0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:31.560
<v Speaker 1>one question, are you passionate about her? I said, I

0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:37.240
<v Speaker 1>am deeply passionate about her. We got the approval, she

0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:43.560
<v Speaker 1>got the key mand goals, so that that connection. I

0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:47.800
<v Speaker 1>did whatever I did do for Dion with I'll Never

0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:53.639
<v Speaker 1>Love this way again, Djabel and Heartbreaker that put friends

0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:58.240
<v Speaker 1>of form with the reef Or at the beginning, and

0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:02.480
<v Speaker 1>so to two years that I knew how you need

0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.479
<v Speaker 1>and special I had. I didn't take anything for granted.

0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:13.479
<v Speaker 1>I had auditions for the biggest songwriters in the world

0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:19.120
<v Speaker 1>in New York, in Los Angeles, I said she does

0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:24.000
<v Speaker 1>not write she wants the best material. I want the

0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:31.080
<v Speaker 1>best material bar And that's how we assembled the material

0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:36.920
<v Speaker 1>for that first album with my good friend Michael Massa.

0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.760
<v Speaker 1>Tractically passed with a few years ago, but I've got

0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:49.280
<v Speaker 1>father to daughter um from kaush On orished artist to

0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:55.320
<v Speaker 1>name Jackson got involved and that is the background of

0:21:55.400 --> 0:22:00.480
<v Speaker 1>the assembling of the material two years before the debut

0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:05.359
<v Speaker 1>album came out. Five is the with the physical product,

0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.480
<v Speaker 1>the physical music product, with sales of those dwindling. We

0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:13.200
<v Speaker 1>we know from artists that the digital revenue just isn't

0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:16.560
<v Speaker 1>making up the same amount of income that they once

0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:21.119
<v Speaker 1>got from recorded music. Do you think that the the

0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:26.160
<v Speaker 1>shift in artists the real money making potential for artists

0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.560
<v Speaker 1>is so often in touring. Is that changing the whole

0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:32.160
<v Speaker 1>nature of the business. Do you think do you think

0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:38.480
<v Speaker 1>that that artists are um that recorded music is less

0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:43.400
<v Speaker 1>of a potential, you know, profit center for artists than

0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:49.280
<v Speaker 1>it than it once was. I think, but we're still

0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:58.760
<v Speaker 1>is an early transitional period um streaming as an electrifying

0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.600
<v Speaker 1>effect on the easy business. All of us in it

0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:08.760
<v Speaker 1>are greed so grateful that you know, music is more

0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:13.359
<v Speaker 1>on the present all over the world than ever, and

0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:19.639
<v Speaker 1>as it develops, um, and it's really still in the

0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:27.560
<v Speaker 1>process of developing. I'm hopeful that it's electrifying growth will

0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:34.000
<v Speaker 1>end up where artists can indeed, autists, writers can make

0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:41.879
<v Speaker 1>more money from digital uh, certainly than has been in

0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:47.040
<v Speaker 1>the past. H And get back to that. But touring

0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:52.320
<v Speaker 1>is very much a part of that's attorning during this

0:23:52.440 --> 0:23:59.639
<v Speaker 1>quarantine period. You know, we're all human, we're all known. Um.

0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:03.000
<v Speaker 1>You know we've got a presidential race in November on

0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:06.720
<v Speaker 1>this issue as to we have to respect. We've got

0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:09.760
<v Speaker 1>to get better first. Okay, I'm on the side of

0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:15.240
<v Speaker 1>those Let's say, before we returned to normal, let's get

0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:20.040
<v Speaker 1>healthy and make sure we stay healthy rather than push

0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:26.520
<v Speaker 1>it and have sacrifice by human beings in the process. So,

0:24:28.280 --> 0:24:37.880
<v Speaker 1>but in Seane before the quarantine, stadium to us like

0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:44.880
<v Speaker 1>we've never seen before. Uh, it's been astonishing, um, how

0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:48.080
<v Speaker 1>as I said, and a cheering can be playing with

0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:53.239
<v Speaker 1>stadiums and just not just a big artists or not

0:24:53.359 --> 0:25:02.080
<v Speaker 1>just the best selling artists, the older established iconic artists. Uh,

0:25:03.119 --> 0:25:07.000
<v Speaker 1>it's been amazing. So touring, Uh, it is bigger than

0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:12.600
<v Speaker 1>ever when normal and told it returns to normal, and

0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:15.320
<v Speaker 1>I know in this in this period where it's not

0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:18.640
<v Speaker 1>normal and people can't tour. I know you've been involved

0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:23.840
<v Speaker 1>with this, with the really wonderful industry based fundraising effort

0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:27.399
<v Speaker 1>called Quarantine that has done a lot of good for

0:25:27.680 --> 0:25:34.320
<v Speaker 1>great organizations focused on COVID been relief. Um, what is that?

0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:38.320
<v Speaker 1>What have those Zoom concerts? What have those taught you

0:25:38.440 --> 0:25:41.080
<v Speaker 1>or what do you think those reflect about what music

0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:46.400
<v Speaker 1>can do for people, particularly in in troubled times. It's

0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:54.720
<v Speaker 1>been truly an unexpected amazing experience for me. When Richard White,

0:25:55.680 --> 0:26:00.960
<v Speaker 1>who we had t people William Mors told me about

0:26:01.160 --> 0:26:04.760
<v Speaker 1>what he and his daughter de Me were planning on

0:26:05.000 --> 0:26:13.000
<v Speaker 1>Zoom for charity. UM, I went on board. I said

0:26:13.160 --> 0:26:20.199
<v Speaker 1>I would help out right from the beginning, not at all, um,

0:26:20.320 --> 0:26:26.000
<v Speaker 1>anticipating the magnitude of what it would grow to, and

0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:30.879
<v Speaker 1>so that we've now raised over ten million dollars for

0:26:31.040 --> 0:26:38.960
<v Speaker 1>charity and for me, I've freached back and over this

0:26:39.320 --> 0:26:45.320
<v Speaker 1>few months period, whether it was Rod Stewart, whether it

0:26:45.560 --> 0:26:50.720
<v Speaker 1>was Barren Madelon, I've gone back to speak to artists

0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:56.520
<v Speaker 1>that I haven't spoken to sin end decades, but I

0:26:56.640 --> 0:27:01.720
<v Speaker 1>can think of as a lie, are they golf Uncle?

0:27:01.920 --> 0:27:04.880
<v Speaker 1>Whom I did be too. They've all done it. If

0:27:04.920 --> 0:27:09.240
<v Speaker 1>I called them called the Simon friends of mine, Elvis Costello,

0:27:09.400 --> 0:27:16.200
<v Speaker 1>Brian Adams, UM, Jennifer Hudson, UM, They've both done it.

0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:21.359
<v Speaker 1>They loved doing it. A few have done it more

0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:24.840
<v Speaker 1>than one. Clive, let me ask you, if you were

0:27:25.400 --> 0:27:29.320
<v Speaker 1>giving advice to your younger self, if you were coming

0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:33.040
<v Speaker 1>out of Harvard Law School today, in the music and

0:27:33.160 --> 0:27:38.280
<v Speaker 1>entertainment industry today, what direction do you think young Clive

0:27:38.400 --> 0:27:40.680
<v Speaker 1>Davis would go? Would you think you would you still

0:27:40.680 --> 0:27:43.840
<v Speaker 1>go into music as an executive? Would you go into

0:27:43.880 --> 0:27:47.320
<v Speaker 1>talent management? What? What would be your interest you think

0:27:47.440 --> 0:27:52.560
<v Speaker 1>if you were starting today, well, personally correct an impression

0:27:52.680 --> 0:27:56.800
<v Speaker 1>when I get out of publics, the perfect thing from

0:27:56.880 --> 0:28:02.240
<v Speaker 1>my mind? What's that I would ever go into the

0:28:02.320 --> 0:28:07.879
<v Speaker 1>music business. I like music. I was. I was listening

0:28:07.960 --> 0:28:13.560
<v Speaker 1>to the biggest station at that time of You and

0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:18.359
<v Speaker 1>the W Martin Black as a pan, But I wasn't

0:28:18.440 --> 0:28:22.480
<v Speaker 1>consumed by it. I had no thought of a career direction.

0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:26.080
<v Speaker 1>Uh in that I got into a ba accent. I

0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:29.720
<v Speaker 1>was just trying to survive. I had no money. My

0:28:29.840 --> 0:28:37.000
<v Speaker 1>parents died after my first man year. Coincidentally, tradically traumatically

0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:41.320
<v Speaker 1>um so I had four thousand dollars to my name.

0:28:42.240 --> 0:28:45.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm the only way that I would rise upon my station.

0:28:45.400 --> 0:28:51.320
<v Speaker 1>My father was an electrician, high settled. It was the law.

0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:57.920
<v Speaker 1>So by luck my law firm that I was accepted

0:28:57.920 --> 0:29:02.800
<v Speaker 1>by represented womb be a record. By luck. Two years

0:29:02.880 --> 0:29:08.200
<v Speaker 1>later they needed a chief counsel. I never thought I

0:29:08.280 --> 0:29:14.080
<v Speaker 1>could discover artists, never thought I could find songs and

0:29:14.240 --> 0:29:25.959
<v Speaker 1>our artists repertor. So I didn't say that to myself today. Today.

0:29:26.120 --> 0:29:29.120
<v Speaker 1>I had to face this simply a few years ago

0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:33.240
<v Speaker 1>because because of the fact that I got through Colorge

0:29:34.320 --> 0:29:39.920
<v Speaker 1>and law school to the beneficence of others via scholarship.

0:29:41.360 --> 0:29:45.160
<v Speaker 1>When I could give back, I'd give him back through

0:29:45.480 --> 0:29:51.120
<v Speaker 1>music education of endowed at the Cloud David's Institute of

0:29:51.200 --> 0:29:57.120
<v Speaker 1>Recorded Music, they get the degree. We were attracting so

0:29:57.240 --> 0:30:04.760
<v Speaker 1>many young artists, writers, produces who really want a career

0:30:05.080 --> 0:30:12.120
<v Speaker 1>in music. So to get to your question, before streaming,

0:30:13.760 --> 0:30:19.040
<v Speaker 1>we were in tough shape. Music had dropped dramatically when

0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:23.200
<v Speaker 1>people thought they were entitled to it free ofthing, and

0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:29.920
<v Speaker 1>and now with assurance, I am encouraging all of them

0:30:30.440 --> 0:30:36.120
<v Speaker 1>to pursue music as their career. And it became unexpected

0:30:37.440 --> 0:30:41.680
<v Speaker 1>to me my block, but I poured myself into it

0:30:42.640 --> 0:30:47.320
<v Speaker 1>and found a career that keeps from impassionate if you

0:30:47.400 --> 0:30:52.640
<v Speaker 1>will to this day. And um, it's a wonderful life.

0:30:52.640 --> 0:30:58.720
<v Speaker 1>And music. Uh, it's so important to everybody, so important

0:30:59.000 --> 0:31:02.600
<v Speaker 1>in times like ease and good times bad times, if

0:31:02.640 --> 0:31:08.440
<v Speaker 1>you will, um, So my advice would be, if music

0:31:08.640 --> 0:31:15.000
<v Speaker 1>rings through you, go for go for apply, whether it's

0:31:15.040 --> 0:31:18.520
<v Speaker 1>in my school or Monty ben Dian's at Syracuse or

0:31:18.640 --> 0:31:25.040
<v Speaker 1>ovens now around the country, study it. Keep that work

0:31:25.120 --> 0:31:28.760
<v Speaker 1>at the card. For me, they don't play your records

0:31:28.800 --> 0:31:32.480
<v Speaker 1>because you discover drop on those bring sticks. You gotta

0:31:33.120 --> 0:31:36.440
<v Speaker 1>you gotta be there right with it. Keep your ears

0:31:36.440 --> 0:31:41.200
<v Speaker 1>from I still listen to every taught record when it

0:31:41.280 --> 0:31:46.600
<v Speaker 1>comes out to see how music is changing. If you

0:31:46.680 --> 0:31:50.200
<v Speaker 1>still love it and you still feel it, you never

0:31:50.280 --> 0:31:55.920
<v Speaker 1>want to go over the hill. And so, um, those

0:31:55.920 --> 0:31:59.880
<v Speaker 1>are my tenants and that's my advice. My goodness, when

0:31:59.880 --> 0:32:02.640
<v Speaker 1>I just think about all the incredible artists that you are,

0:32:02.880 --> 0:32:06.200
<v Speaker 1>that you have intersected with over the years. Pattie Smith,

0:32:06.360 --> 0:32:10.280
<v Speaker 1>who was pretty much you know to this day, remains

0:32:10.320 --> 0:32:12.680
<v Speaker 1>my idol. When I was a teenager, I played that

0:32:12.800 --> 0:32:15.440
<v Speaker 1>I played that horses, I played the grooves out of

0:32:15.560 --> 0:32:18.440
<v Speaker 1>out of horses, and that just think of all the

0:32:18.560 --> 0:32:21.760
<v Speaker 1>artists over the years and that you are still putting

0:32:21.760 --> 0:32:25.640
<v Speaker 1>together movie projects and moving it forward. Uh. I'm so

0:32:25.720 --> 0:32:28.720
<v Speaker 1>grateful that you spent time talking to me today. It's

0:32:28.800 --> 0:32:32.080
<v Speaker 1>really been a pleasure. And uh, you know, thank you

0:32:32.120 --> 0:32:35.080
<v Speaker 1>for all the good work that you do. Much pleasure,

0:32:35.240 --> 0:32:45.200
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, thank you, thank you. Thanks for listening.

0:32:45.560 --> 0:32:48.360
<v Speaker 1>Be sure to leave us a review at Apple Podcasts.

0:32:48.520 --> 0:32:51.200
<v Speaker 1>We love to hear from listeners, and be sure to

0:32:51.280 --> 0:32:54.120
<v Speaker 1>tune in next week for another episode of Strictly Business.