Dami Im reveals dramatic Sony boardroom showdown in new memoir Dreamer

Pop star Dami Im has revealed the trials and frustrations of her rollercoaster career in her new tell-all memoir.

Pop star Dami Im has revealed the trials of her post X Factor win in her warts-and-all memoir Dreamer.

The 34-year-old classically trained pianist, who won Australia’s heart during the 2013 season of the defunct reality television talent quest, waged a six-year battle with the label she was signed to after her win to record her own songs.

The fight for control over her pop career reached an impasse in 2019 after agreeing to make two covers albums – the top 3 gold-selling Classic Carpenters in 2016 and the 2018 jazz-inspired I Hear A Song.

With one more album left on her contract, Sony executives rejected her request to finally make another album of original songs which would be her first since 2014’s Heart Beats.

She was told she would be dropped from the label if she didn’t deliver another collection of covers.

Im, a classically trained pianist, wanted to record her own music.

Im said the resulting boardroom showdown with a phalanx of “men in suits” was intense. She had the final word, shocking them when she politely thanked them for their support but finished with “I guess this is it.”

“That was probably my one of my best memories of being in the building. It was intense, but it felt really good to finally just be able to stand my ground and say what I needed to say without emotion, just being calm,” she said.

Im’s frustrating experience of pop life in the major label system after a reality TV win is dishearteningly common.

Every decision was a battle, from the choice of singles and photos, to videos being shelved without her input, resulting in the artist having to bear the costs – tens of thousands of dollars – and left with nothing to show fans.

The singer says every step of her journey after X Factor was a battle. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Im confessed her naivety of the pop world – she cut her teeth as a performer on the Korean Christian Church circuit – and was still figuring out who she was as an artist so trusted their experience.

But it was at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest she realised, “my label might have had a different agenda from mine”.

Like every Eurovision artist does, she tweaked her performance of Sound of Silence at each rehearsal in Stockholm and her powerful vocals had put her in contention to win the coveted prize.

Just before she was about to compete in the semi-final, she received a message from Sony HQ in Sydney to revert to the version as recorded.

“I wanted to do the best in the competition. What they wanted was to sell the record and whether I came first or lost, they didn’t really care. They just wanted the song played,” she said.

The memoir casts a light on double standards facing female artists. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Dreamer memoir also highlights the vexing double standards faced by female artists who are dogged by constant questions and speculation about when they are going to have a child and how that will affect their career.

Im confesses she harboured fears about pursuing her musical dreams as a mother and still wrestles with those insecurities since the arrival of her and husband Noah’s son Harry five months ago.

But she has big plans for new music - she signed with ABC last year, who released her My Reality record.

“I did a gig three weeks after giving birth! It was so funny, I was limping because I was in pain,” she said, laughing. “I didn’t realise you should rest for longer!”

Dreamer is published by Hachette Australia on November 8.

Read an exclusive extract from Dreamer by Dami Im in Stellar today (Sunday).