#rob stringer

I think we can see it two ways.

1. Was Louis honest in describing his emotional response to the group meeting about hiatus? Probably yes, with some revision in hindsight.

Steve Bartlett asked whether they met on their own, or whether there were “representatives.” Louis replied tellingly, “It might as well have been representatives.” What representatives? They didn’t have individual managers. Who were these people that Louis was talking about?

Louis used the words “empty” and “cold.” The opposite of these adjectives would be “full” and “warm.” Contrast them to the usual narrative of “arm-in-arm, arm-in-arm.” Louis was describing an emotional scenario when, as a group, they no longer trusted each other to be honest. Louis’ intellect may have suspected something like “hiatus” was coming, but his emotions couldn’t accept that the Harry had changed. Harry had begun looking at his bandmates as commodities, as competition for revenue and fame— the same way that labels did. In hindsight, one could argue that Harry’s “representatives” taught him to see the band this way.

2. Why is Louis telling this story now? Why is he creating a narrative that it was “only the boys” who made the decision about hiatus, and that Sony and Syco let them do whatever they wanted?

Again, thoughts from a mutual below.

It’s funny for Louis to imply that the 1D guys could decide how long the hiatus would be. No forward planning needed by Sony. No shareholder concern over lost revenue while the guys messed around with solo stuff until they all failed and decided to come back, or succeeded and didn’t come back. No concern that the label and fans would move on. Supposedly they didn’t even have their own non-imposed management, but they were making the big decisions about $billions in corporate profit? It’s a fanfic view of the music industry where artists make the choices and helpful labels exist to enable them for their art.

In this telling, the 1D boys take the fall. They were naive; they made bad decisions; maybe they weren’t “brave enough,” maybe they were dishonest. The clowns— Simon Cowell and Modest Management— look foolish but not evil. Does any music exec come out of this badly other than the old bogeymen? Modest Management, not the Azoffs. Simon Cowell, not Rob Stringer. The powerful slip away.

I'm curious to see if this is a one off or an album gf bc if it's a one off I've got a theory 👀

VERY interesting. i reckon the kiss was something they had in their back pocket in case people freaked out too much about H and L being at glasto together, but after L's like of that reel they decided to post it hours later as damage control.

Because I remember he mentioned in the same interview he wrote AIW at Strjnger house, and LOML at one his friends house. But I think at one show, he thanked Rob for letting him use his house to write both songs.

Hi nonnie!

It would really seem so based on what we know so far.

So, during the interview he did with Zane Lowe & Apple Music on 16 May 2022, Harry explained why he used a friend's house to record rather than a studio. He said:

“I’ve spent a lot of time there. I knew it was really peaceful and I wanted to be away from everything and be able to go outside. I’ve always enjoyed doing that. I don’t love distractions.”

It was later confirmed that this friend was Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. And we know this because it's Harry himself who said this when introducing “Love of my Life” at One Night Only NY on 20 May 2022.

"[Rob Stringer] also lent me his house to make this album. He continues to be incredibly generous to me; allows me to make what I wanna make. The next song was written in his house, the ringtone in the background is his."

And then again, on 11 February 2023, when he accepted his award for Song of the Year at the BRITs, Harry said:

“Hello! This album and this song was the most fun I ever had making music. I wanna thank Rob Stringer for lending me his house to record this in, write this in. I wanna thank Tom and Tyler, and everyone, all my friends who supported me. [To Tom] Do you wanna speak? [Tom declines] Okay. Thank you to everyone who listened and…Thank you Lewis[Capaldi].”

However, it was Kid Harpoon, interviewed for Consequence on 5 October 2022, who confirmed that As It Was was also recorded at Rob Stringer's house:

Also, did anyone actually believe it? Because it doesn’t make sense to me. Harry is Sony/Columbia's most profitable artist, so it would be too risky to give total freedom to someone generating that much money. Quite the opposite, a lot of his public image seems manufactured.

“There’s not an element of what we’re doing with Harry now that’s manufactured. He has all the attributes of a true artist, and what’s coming next is even more exciting.”

Rob Stringer on Harry (x) - 03/04/22

This was during the Harry’s House promo a couple of years ago, and it was so scripted. Harry had been repeating the same lines about finally having the freedom he wanted to create his album. Which, honestly, sounds pretty depressing when you consider how much creative freedom he didn’t have in comparison to his previous works. Maybe he did have more freedom with Harry’s House, and that’s why this sort of talk because, well... he knows how to play the game and chooses his words carefully, doesn't he.

So, when it comes to Harry, I do think he was being honest. But again, I believe he was referring to creative freedom and the ability to fully release something he truly believes in. But Stringer’s statement is just pathetic. I totally agree with you, any artist worth millions and millions of dollars, like Harry, is still completely in the hands of the label. And Stringer is at the top of the food chain. Marketing and PR continue to play a huge role in all of this.