It’s been a great summer so far for Maisie Peters.
The UK singer-songwriter launched her second album, The Good Witch (Atlantic/Gingerbread Man), on the day she played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival. The album went on to debut at No.1 last Friday (June 30) with opening sales of 20,760 (Official Charts Company), a 116.8% increase on the week one sales for 2021 debut You Signed Up For This.
The video for Run dropped on the day that The Good Witch charted at No.1.
Maisie Peters plays TRNSMT this weekend, followed by more festival dates and a North American tour. The UK tour at the end of the year includes a sold-out OVO Arena Wembley (November 3). Her agent is Summer Marshall at CAA.
Peters’ was signed to the Gingerbread Man label by Ed Sheeran, which is overseen by his management at Grumpy Old Management. The label partners with Atlantic, which is home to Sheeran.
Read on for the inside story on the chart-topping campaign with Atlantic co-presidents Ed Howard and Briony Turner, along with general manager Liz Goodwin…
This was an impressive week one result across formats - how did you achieve this result?
Briony Turner: “We were thrilled to see The Good Witch first week number come in at double that of her debut album in the same time period. This is down to many factors – firstly the hard work and determination put in by Maisie, not only in release week but throughout everything she’s been doing since the release of her debut, her manager Bobby [Havens] and the teams at Atlantic, Warner Music and Grumpy Management.”
Liz Goodwin: “We have also created some great opportunities to build her community in the UK and globally in the last 12 months – the Ed Sheeran stadium tour, releasing a lot of new music and content, really getting to know and understand her growing fanbase with personalised formats, multiple pop-up shows and regular community initiatives in platforms like Discord, album listening parties pre-release – the list is endless!”
How important was Glastonbury to kick off the sales week? How did you react to that performance for the campaign?
Ed Howard: “It felt like a really magical moment to launch The Good Witch on the same day Maisie played the biggest festival show of her life on the most iconic stage in the world – the Pyramid at Glastonbury. Not only did she receive amazing coverage on the BBC and iPlayer, she did an acoustic pop-up show later on in the weekend and the content from both were some of her best performing across all of her platforms in release week. Our international partners loved to see it and it had an impact globally too.”
It felt like a really magical moment to launch The Good Witch on the same day Maisie played the biggest festival show of her life
Ed Howard
LG: “Shout out too to Kirsty, a fan who was given a broomstick to take from the Banquet show all the way to Glastonbury and onto the Pyramid stage at Maisie’s request! It was a lovely moment to capture.”
How has Atlantic - and Ed Sheeran - helped to develop Maisie into a chart-topping star? How has she progressed creatively since the debut?
BT: “Maisie has an impressive modern approach to creativity, having released three singles in-between album one and two which coincided with her touring with Ed, whose label she officially joined in 2021. Paul Samuels and I originally signed her to Atlantic in 2018 – as well as co-A&Ring both her records – and from the beginning she has always been an incredibly prolific, smart and emotive story teller and songwriter. Having Ed’s involvement has only fuelled her naturally very proficient output of music. He has become a wonderful musical mentor to Maisie and we know how highly she values their relationship, as we all do.
“In terms of the writers and producers on The Good Witch, there are a great mixture of creatives involved – Maisie has again worked with Joe Rubel [who has credits with Ed Sheeran], Brad Ellis, Two Inch Punch and Jez Ashurst and also formed some newer relationships – working with Matias Tellez [Girl In Red], The Nocturnes, Elvira Andertjard, Tove Burman and Oscar Gorres from MXM. Ines Dunn has also been an important collaborator on the record and co-wrote key songs on the album.”
New single Run has dropped - how will you look to maintain the campaign through the summer?
EH: “We’re very excited about the pick-up we’re now getting across multiple tracks on the album – Lost The Breakup is now A-List at Radio 1, Run is starting to connect globally on streaming and we have an incredible body of work to help us find a broader global audience for Maisie. She’s performing at summer festivals across the world including TRNSMT, YNot, Lollapalooza and Summer Sonic and touring the US & Canada from August to September – including Radio City Music Hall in New York!”
Ed Sheeran has become a wonderful musical mentor to Maisie
Briony Turner
What are the international streaming opportunities on this campaign?
EH: “We have worked really closely with Victor Aroldoss, Olivia Spring and the international marketing team from the day Maisie was signed to ensure we were building a global footprint which is growing every day. This is both reflected in global chart positions (No.4 Australia, No.7 Ireland, No.9 New Zealand, No.18 Germany, Top 5 Billboard heatseekers) and can be seen in the international share of Maisie’s streams.
“We intend to keep building in Australia, mainland Europe, the US and Asia, where we have been particularly focused in our approach – Maisie has been in these markets for promo several times as well as touring. We are also looking into further opportunities in LATAM, China and emerging markets. Maisie clearly has a global and active audience and it’s our job to make sure that she is connecting to them at a local level, as we continue to awaken the mainstream.”
Wembley is sold out - how is Maisie's live business doing in the UK and beyond? And what are the expectations for that show to be a landmark moment?
LG: “We are so proud to now call Maisie an arena artist! Big shout out to Summer Marshall and the amazing team at CAA – they are such amazing partners to work with. Maisie is ready to command bigger and bigger venues and stages with her incredible live show – we can’t wait to all be down the front at Wembley Arena in November and we have a lot more planned to keep Maisie and The Good Witch going from strength to strength in the coming months.”
Subscribers can read our Music Week Interview with Atlantic co-presidents Briony Turner and Ed Howard.
Photo Credit: Sophie Scott
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