Gelfand Rennert & Feldman managing directors Jeff Kaye and Ewen MacNeil have stressed the crucial role played by accountancy firms in the music industry.
Speaking to Music Week in the wake of retaining their crown as Accountancy Firm Of The Year (they also won in 2019 as as Skeet, Kaye, Hopkins), Kaye and MacNeil sought to lift the lid on what accountancy firms really do for the music business.
“We recognise as a firm that the music industry is a global business and we take the view with our clients that we can take them to that global business with our services and our reach,” said Kaye (pictured above fifth from left). “Whether that’s worldwide touring or worldwide royalties, we don’t have an introspective view of their business, we look outwards and look further afield.”
Kaye said that his company is adept at changing with the times, nodding to developments around data, technology, AI and beyond.
“The changing market is challenging, but we feel we’ve adapted to that and we give our clients the right space to grow and support them in a proactive, daily way and we’re very proud of that,” he said.
Flanked by a visibly chuffed team, fellow MD MacNeil (holding award) was eager to refute any misconceptions about music accountancy.
We do absolutely everything for a lot of our clients, whether it’s paying a dog walker or doing massive international tours
Ewen MacNeil
“We’re not just straight up accountants, we don’t just do tax returns and year end accounts, we do absolutely everything for a lot of our clients, whether it’s paying a dog walker or doing massive international tours,” he said. “So there’s a lot more to us than just a straight up tax return.”
As for specific industry issues currently causing concern for the company, MacNeil spoke in broad terms.
“It’s a very difficult environment,” he said. “We’ve seen festivals getting cancelled, the economic environment is difficult, the ethical environment is difficult, so there are a lot of elements that are out of our control that we’re having to manage.”
Nonetheless, he stressed the firm’s overall feeling is positive.
“We work with some incredible artists,” he said. “That’s the positivity, we get to live our lives through their eyes which is why when we wake up in the morning we’re all buzzing to get to work.”
We support our clients in a proactive, daily way and we’re very proud of that
Jeff Kaye
Asked what advice he would give to artists when it comes to establishing a viable business, MacNeil said: “Get the simple things right in the first place, then everything will fall into place along the way, but get a good accountant, definitely!”
MacNeil also made sure to praise his colleagues.
“It’s a massive team effort, it’s a great accolade and we’re very, very happy,” he said of their second consecutive Music Week Awards win. “It’s a huge amount of effort and a huge amount of work and it’s all vindicated by being seen by our peers that we’ve done a great job for them.”
Finally, he summed up the most challenging aspect of the job at hand at Gelfand Rennert & Feldman.
“Phwoar, there are many things,” he said. “It’s not a nine-to-five, it’s seven-til-12 generally, it’s non-stop. So that’s the hardest bit, but it’s very rewarding in many other ways.”
Catch up on all the winners from the Music Week Awards 2024 here.
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