southern vermont:
making music
Iain Pirie
Iain Pirie has guided the careers
of some of the most important
names in music, first with RCA
Records UK; then for 17 years
at 19 Entertainment (ultimately
as executive vice president);
and most recently as founder
of Tritone. Pirie has worked
across records, producer and
songwriter management, music
publishing, TV production, and
artist management. After initial
work for Spice Girls and Pop Idol,
he subsequently managed the
audition process and the entire
music part of the American Idol
franchise from Seasons 1 through
13, overseeing the creative of the
Iain Pirie in the Live Room at Old Mill Road Recording
most successful artists to have
launched their careers from the show, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie
Underwood, Fantasia, and Adam Lambert. Tritone currently represents
the producers/songwriters Jim Jonsin, Broken City, and Gannin Arnold.
In addition, Pirie is a management and music consultant to Simon
Fuller’s XIX Entertainment. Current projects include Annie Lennox’s
daughter, Lola, and Now United, an exciting new multiplatform multi-
national music entertainment brand.
On Experience
“I guess everything really worthwhile that you learn in life is very
experiential. You know, you can teach theory in all sorts of different
ways. But there’s nothing quite like getting out in the midst of things
and feeling the pain (and the consequences) of mistakes—and not even
your own mistakes sometimes. Sometimes, it’s the mistakes of others
or the consequences of certain decisions that get made. I learned the
importance of anticipating consequences for everything, because if you
are very well prepared and you think ahead, you can stop some of those
problems from happening.”
On Artists
“Artists are often quite emotionally sensitive people, and understanding
the importance of that and protecting them and encouraging them is
crucial. And that applies to producers as much as it does to the actual
singers and musicians.”
50 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine.com
“There’s nothing quite
like getting out in the
midst of things and
feeling the pain (and
the consequences) of
mistakes...I learned
the importance
of anticipating
consequences for
everything, because
if you are very well
prepared and you
think ahead, you
can stop some of
those problems from
happening.”
– Iain Pirie