COOKING VINYL ANNOUNCES NEW SIGNINGS
Leading UK-based independent label Cooking Vinyl has announced the signing of three acts, including Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., Underworld and The Charlatans. The trio of deals marks an expansion of the company’s service deal capability, which sees leading acts releases fully marketed and promoted for a share of sales revenues as opposed to a royalty-based agreement.
The signings follow the company’s success servicing albums by Groove Armada, Suzanne Vega and The Prodigy, whose Invaders Must Die was the best selling independent release in the UK and Europe in 2009.
Underworld’s new album, Barking, recorded in Essex and co-produced with (among others) Paul van Dyk, Dubfire, Mark Knight & D Ramirez and High Contrast among the collaborators, is the band’s first output since 2007’s critically acclaimed Oblivion With Bells. Released on September 13 on http://underworldlive.com, the lead single “Scribble,” released June 28, has already received heavy rotation and Hottest Record In The World status from BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe.
Also released on September 13 is the Charlatans’ eleventh studio collection, Who We Touch. The campaign will see lead single “Love Is Ending” released across all formats on July 19.
Released a week earlier is the third studio album from the critically acclaimed Sam Duckworth, aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. The campaign began with the first track, “Morning Light,” from the as yet untitled album being made available as a free download. The band kicks-off a number off festival appearances and a short UK tour with an evening gig at Glastonbury’s Leftfield Stage on Friday June 25.
Mike Gillespie, co-manager Underworld, stated, “It’s great to be working with the Cooking Vinyl team on our new record. Martin, Anette and Rob lead a highly motivated enthusiastic team of ‘do-ers’ - very refreshing and so no surprises they’re as hot as they are right now!”
Paul Bonham, manager Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., commented, “It’s pleasant to work with a team who genuinely understand the important role they play in providing a service to enable the facilitation of music to fan bases both new and old. Too many labels currently are forgetting the record. You can tell Cooking Vinyl loves them and wants to sell them to you.”
Cooking Vinyl Founder Martin Goldschmidt added, “The success of the Prodigy record has really helped us attract some great artists. I like the services model because it aligns our interests with the artist and creates a strong partnership. The accounting is very transparent and everyone knows how much all parties have made or lost from the deal.”
|
GERMAN EXECUTIVE GETS KEY UNIVERSAL ROLE
|
|
Frank Briegmann
|
One of the Universal Music Group’s most successful European executives has been promoted to an international post. With effect from July 1, 2010, Frank Briegmann will become President, Universal Music Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Deutsche Grammophon.
The appointment was announced last week by Lucian Grainge, Chairman and Chief Executive of Universal Music Group International (UMGI) and Max Hole, Executive VP, UMGI. UMGI is the division which manages its businesses in more than 50 countries outside North America.
Mr. Briegmann has been President and CEO of Universal Music Germany for the past six years. It is the No.1 company with a year-to-date current album market share of 40.6% in 2010, compared to 28.4% in 2004 – and with a domestic-artist market share which has grown by more than 40% during the past six years. The company’s success is attributable to such new artists as Tokio Hotel, Ich+Ich, Adoro, Semino Rossi, Unheilig and the exciting young winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Lena.
Mr. Briegmann will take over operational responsibility for Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s most renowned classical music company, and for Universal Music companies in Austria and Switzerland. He will continue to lead the No.1 music company in Germany. Mr. Briegmann joined Universal Music in 2004 from the Bertelsmann Music Group.
At Deutsche Grammophon, President Michael Lang will continue to head this flagship classical label, working with Mr. Briegmann to grow its business and pre-eminence internationally. Hannes Eder, Managing Director of Universal Music Austria, and Ivo Sacchi, Managing Director of Universal Music Switzerland, will continue the success of their companies under Mr. Briegmann’s leadership.
Lucian Grainge said, “This promotion recognizes the significant growth and dynamic leadership which Frank has brought to our Germany business. Not only have he and his team increased our market share in a challenging, competitive environment, but they have also led the way in developing new business strategies, especially in the digital arena, and in breaking new artists.”
Max Hole commented, “The sensational Eurovision result is a perfect example of Frank’s accomplishments, with Lena’s single ‘Satellite’ now breaking across Europe and with album sales already exceeding 400,000. What’s more, Universal Music Germany has delivered first-half success this year with domestic artists such as rock crossover act Unheilig, soul/funk/hip-hop act Jan Delay and hip-hop/dancehall combo Culcha Candela. Frank’s team continues to outstrip the competition.”
Frank Briegmann added, “I am grateful to Lucian and Max for the trust placed in me. I am looking forward to the increased responsibility, and I am confident that our artists will benefit from the synergies of even closer cooperation with the teams around Hannes in Austria and Ivo in Switzerland. In particular, I am looking forward to working with Michael and his team and the internationally successful artists associated with Deutsche Grammophon. It is a company with a historic tradition and a reputation for the highest standards of excellence in the classical field.”
|
VIRTUALLYINTERNATIONAL MUSIC
ARTIST: Zebra & Giraffe
SONG: “The Knife”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: South Africa
LABEL: Just Music (South Africa)
AVAILABLE FOR: signing, licensing, publishing, booking
WEB: www.zebraandgiraffe.co.za
CONTACT: Karl Anderson karl@justmusic.co.za
Zebra & Giraffe is an alternative rock band from South Africa. The cleverly named act began as the 12-lettered pseudonym of Johannesburg music genius Greg Carlin, but has now evolved into a five-piece live band that has toured all across South Africa. Since its release in May 2008, the debut album Collected Memories has produced six hit singles - including “Oxymoron,” which reached No.1 on College Radio, Top 5 on 5FM and No.1 on MK in South Africa. The band played at the 2008 Coke Zero Festival, a music festival that took place in Johannesburg and Cape Town with headliners Snow Patrol, Oasis, and Panic at the Disco. In 2009 they supported The Killers on the South African leg of their tour in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Zebra & Giraffe was also nominated for four SA Music Awards (SAMAs) in the categories “Best Newcomer,” “Best Rock,” “Best Album Packaging” and MTN “Record of the Year” for “The Knife.” Collected Memories took home the award for Best Rock Album. Another song that is featured on their US EP is “In My Eyes,” which is quickly becoming a fan favorite. The band is currently working with producer/mixer/engineer Cenzo Townshend (U2, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Editors) on their forthcoming full-length.
ARTIST: The Shoos
SONG: “Distance”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Ireland
LABEL: unsigned
AVAILABLE FOR: signing, licensing, publishing, booking
WEB:www.theshoos.com
CONTACT: Edison Waters edison@vibemusicmanagement.com
The Shoos are a four-piece from Dublin, Ireland and the most unlikely set of musicians to be thrown together in any room. They possessed one of the most positively received songs played during “Play Us Your Hits” panel at MUSEXPO Europe last week. The Shoos were featured in the A&R Worldwide newsletter a few weeks ago and have since signed a licensing deal with Universal (Ireland only). Last September they released their debut single, “Yeah,” which received a lot of national and regional airplay in Ireland, such as FM104’s “Strawberry Pick of the Week,”Spin 103.8FM, 98FM, 2FM and Newstalk 106FM. At the start of 2010 they were invited to New York to showcase the music from their forthcoming album. By the end of the trip they had not only gained a fan base in a New York minute, but were asked to join OneRepublic on their tour of Ireland. The Shoos continued to move forward by releasing the single “Distance” last month, picking up a lot of support from previous radio champions, resulting in a rare invitation to perform on the Pat Kenny Radio Show for an audience of over 425,000 listeners. Even though the single was released independently, that didn’t stop it from reaching the top of the charts in Ireland. The Shoos have July 14 circled on their calendars as they are opening for Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters at The Academy in Dublin.
ARTIST: Euphoria Audio
SONG: “Gravity”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LABEL: unsigned
AVAILABLE FOR: signing, licensing, publishing, booking
WEB:www.myspace.com/wearethecheek
CONTACT: Erika Lee erika.lee@blueyonder.co.uk
Euphoria Audio is a hardworking 21st Century rock/pop band from Wakefield, UK. Formed in 2003, Matthew Shirtliff, Ben Lloyd, Ben Hughes and Daniel Wood have now been writing, rehearsing, touring and recording with each other for over half a decade. Considered “one of the best up-and-coming groups in the country” back home in the UK, Euphoria Audio is also making a name for itself in the USA after recently being announced as “Artist of the Week” by freelance Billboard reviewer Menox. Euphoria Audio has worked closely with producers Stuart Epps (Oasis, Robbie Williams, Jimmy Page) and Steve Levine (Culture Club, The Beach Boys), and most recently recorded in Trondheim, Norway with Universal’s D-sign Music (Kylie Minogue, Joe Cocker). Euphoria Audio recently secured a sponsorship deal with Tesco Digital, one of the largest worldwide distributors of music at the moment. They have completed their first music video with Flynn Productions (Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol) and are using this to boost their profile even further. Euphoria Audio plays all over the country relentlessly and has supported acts such as Iglu & Hartly, Saxon, Twin Atlantic and People in Planes as well as being booked for several festivals for the summer. The band is known for its strong live performances and is touted by some music pundits as the best British rock act to emerge since Bush.
ARTIST: Dan Parsons
SONG: “Firestarter”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia
LABEL: Unsigned
AVAILABLE FOR: signing, licensing, publishing, booking
WEB:www.thenakedandfamous.com
CONTACT: Rick Chazan ideasm@bigpond.net.au
At just age 22, it’s somewhat surprising that Dan Parsons has already been on the music scene for a couple of years, having made his foray into the musical world with his heritage-flavored debut release, Old Brown Shoe, back in 2007. In 2008, he bravely scrapped his next lot of release-bound recordings and decided to start from scratch. After six months of demoing and experimenting in his one-man-band style, Parsons had himself an album’s worth of new material. Soon after, he enlisted the help of Melbourne producer John Castle and collaborator James O’Brien (The Boat People) to complete the transition. With his debut album all but complete, flagship single “Run With Me” is the opening taste of grander things to come. Parsons’ ongoing journey still sees him respectfully employing the intimacy and lyrical depth of the artists that encompassed his childhood world. His single “Firestarter” emanates musical nuances that fans of Bob Mould and Foo Fighters will thoroughly enjoy thanks to its raw rock edge, melodic harmonies and intelligent lyrics. Dom Alessio from Triple J Radio gives Dan Parsons 4/5 stars and says, “Nailed it on this little indie-pop gem. I like the spacious, Fleet Foxes-esque production, and the melodies - both on guitar and vocally - are fantastic!”
|
BEGGARS MUSIC STRIKES DEAL WITH NATIVE TONGUE
Native Tongue announced that it has been appointed the Australian and New Zealand sub publisher of Beggars Music, a new publishing venture formed by UK publishing veteran Andy Heath, XL Recordings Founder Richard Russell and Beggars Group Founder Martin Mills.
Beggars Music is a full-service music publishing company and will consolidate the directors’ existing music publishing interests, including Heath and Mills’ interest in Mattitude Music, a New York City-based publishing partnership with Matador Records.
The new company will also be aiming to acquire and exploit both new and existing copyrights; at launch its roster included works by Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Holy Fuck, Air France, Cold Cave, Esben and the Witch, Times New Viking, Pete and the Pirates and Chaz Jankel, to name but a few.
Andy Heath, Managing Director at Beggars Music, said, “Our aim with Beggars Music is to create a full service independent music publisher that delivers the best results for its clients and adds significant value to their work and career. We have put together a great team and are in an excellent position to apply our extensive experience to this new venture.”
Martin Mills added, “This is a tremendous opportunity for Andy and I to bring together our various publishing interests and, with the addition of Richard's unique skills, shape a great new creative and proactive publishing business.”
Richard Russell stated, “I'm interested in all aspects of the creation of music, and songwriting is amongst the most special. I'm looking forward to helping the writers we sign to grow and develop their abilities. XL will be making all of its resources--including its studios--available to our new writers."
Native Tongue Managing Director Chris Gough said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to work with one of the most successful creative groups in the record industry. If they can bring a fraction of the creativity and enterprise to publishing that they have brought to the record industry it will be a very successful enterprise and one to which we look forward to making a contribution.”
Heath commented, “We are very excited at the prospect of working with Native Tongue, we have been very impressed with their approach and are very confident that it will be a great working relationship.”
|
MUSEXPO EUROPE RADIATES OPTIMISM FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY
The third annual A&R Worldwide-produced global music gathering MUSEXPO Europe radiated a strong sense of optimism during its opening keynote in London, England last week.
The UK’s most respected and influential music industry publication, Music Week, was on hand along with other media and wrote:
Panel members for MUSEXPO Europe’s opening keynote included UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey, BBC Radio 1 Head of Music George Ergatoudis and EMI Music’s Head of New Music for North America and the UK Nick Gatfield, with the overall message for delegates that the UK music business is in a strong state and will continue to improve as the industry comes to grips with concepts such as direct to fan and social media things.
These new ways of connecting with fans may mean everyone has to work a little harder but panelist Rob McDermott, worldwide manager of Linkin Park, asked, “What’s wrong with that? That’s what’s managers have been doing for ages.”
Sharkey said that “overall the music industry in pretty good shape” and that “in many ways if there has been a downturn over the last several years then I think we’ve seen the bottom of it,” adding that he is “phenomenally optimistic about the industry.”
EMI executive Nick Gatfield said he sees UK music acts making greater inroads into the US market and that with the arrival of more legitimate online music services he feels that the industry has arrived at a tipping point.
Gatfield added music consumers are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to purchasing online and are now looking more and more for added value products such as boxed sets.
The live section of the industry was represented by AEG Live Managing Director Jessica Koravos, who explained that the greatest impact on the industry recently has come through the arrival of online and social media.
What is more, she said top price tickets are actually selling fastest despite the economic slowdown, as audiences attending shows are treating the event as a special occasion.
Showcases included Australian buzz acts Hungry Kids of Hungary, 26 and Drawn From Bees, as well as the UK’s Rubylux, Norway’s Montée, Canada’s The Respectables, Denmark’s The Blue Van and Australia’s Little Red (signed and presented by Temper Trap A&R executive Damian Slevinson from Australia’s Liberation Records).
|
|
POSITIVE VIBES REIGN AT MUSEXPO EUROPE: Sharing their optimism (l-r) are: Ajax Scott (Founder, Woodshed Media), Jessica Koravos (Managing Director, AEG Live), Nick Gatfield (President New Music, EMI, N. America, UK & Ireland), Rob McDermott (worldwide manager Linkin Park), George Ergatoudis (Head of Music, BBC Radio 1) and Feargal Sharkey (CEO, UK Music).
|
|
|
THE FUTURE OF ARTIST DEVELOPMENT: The future models of artist development were discussed at MUSEXPO Europe (l-r) by: Safta Jaffrey (Managing Director, Taste Music), Shabs Jobanputra (President, Virgin Records), Ted Cockle (co-President, Island Records), Nick Raphael (Managing Director, Epic Records), Ron Spaulding (President, Fontana Distribution), Jim Chancellor (Managing Director, Fiction Records), Caroline Elleray (Head of A&R, Universal Music Publishing) and Sat Bisla (President, A&R Worldwide).
|
|
|
THE EVOLUTION OF MUSIC IN TV PROGRAMMING: One of Europe’s most influential TV executives, Elaine Bedell, Director of Ent’t & Comedy, ITV (pictured left) gave an in-depth overview of music programming within UK TV with moderator Jonathan Shalit (CEO, ROAR Group).
|
|
|
GLOBAL MANAGERS UNITE AT MUSEXPO EUROPE: Pictured (l-r) are Ajax Scott (Founder, Woodshed Media); Ulysses Hüppauff, Founder, Halbe Miete Mgmt, Germany (Apocalyptica); Danny Rogers, Partner, Lunatic Entertainment (The Temper Trap); Cerne Canning, Supervision Management (Franz Ferdinand, The Kaiser Chiefs); Sarah Stennett, Partner, SSB/Crown Management (Ellie Goulding, VV Brown) and Bruce Garfield (Founder, Monster Management).
|
|
|
THE LIVE INDUSTRY spoke candidly about the current and future challenges and opportunities in their respective sector. Pictured (l-r) are Greg Parmley (Editor, IQ Magazine), Martin Elbourne (Booking Agent, Glastonbury/The Great Escape), Jason Carter (Editor, BBC Radio 1 Live Music, BBC 1Xtra Live Music & BBC Introducing), Toby Leighton-Pope (Vice President of Promotions, LiveNation UK); Barry Dickins (Co-Founder, ITB); Steve Strange (Partner, X-Ray Touring) and Ben Turner(Founder, Graphite Media/Co-Founder, Association of Independent Festivals).
|
|
|
RE-DRAWING THE DIGITAL MAP: Discussing the future of all things digital (l-r) were David Courtier-Dutton (CEO, Slicethepie/SoundOut), Morgan Donoghue (Head of Music, Vodafone Group Services), Patrick Parodi (Board Member, Shazam & Mobile Entertainment Forum), Oleg Fomenko (Founder/CEO, mflow), Cliff Fluet (Partner, Media, Brands & Technology, Lewis Silkin, LLP), Stephen King (Managing Director, Believe Digital, UK) and Alisdair George (Director, Edge Investment Management).
|
|
|
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS FROM THE TOP: PRS For Music Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft shared the future of performance rights for a captivated audience at MUSEXPO Europe.
|
|
|
SHARING THEIR THOUGHTS ON RADIO’S FUTURE (l-r) are: Alex Jones-Donelly (Director, Tear The Roof Off Media), George Ergatoudis (Head of Music Policy, BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra), Matthias Matuschik (Radio Broadcaster, Bayern 3 Radio, Germany), Paul Williams (Editor, Music Week), Clive Dickens (COO, Absolute Radio) and Mike Walsh (Head of Music, Xfm Radio Network).
|
|
|
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SONGS: Sharing their thoughts on the future of copyrights (l-r) were music journalist Emmanuel Legrand, Stephen Navin (President, Music Publishers Association), Tony Moss (Managing Director, BMG Rights Mgmt), Jeremy Lascelles (CEO, Chrysalis Music Group), Rakesh Sanghvi (Managing Director, Sony/ATV Music Publishing), Julie Horton (Executive Vice President, Realsongs) and Rudy Holzhauer (Founder, Progressive Publishing).
|
|
|
MONETIZATION OF MUSIC IN VISUAL MEDIA: Discussing new ways to monetize licensing and brand integration of music (l-r) were Steve Knill (President, The Radiate Group), Dominic Caisley (Director, Strategy & New Business, Platinum Rye), Kyle Hopkins (Music Supervisor, Xbox/Microsoft Acquisitions), Kenneth Chen (Director, Phase 1 Events, India) and Jack Horner (Founder/Creative Director, Frukt).
|
|
|
GERMANY CALLING: Sharing their thoughts on the German music market (l-r) are: Safta Jaffrey (Managing Director, Taste Music), Deville Schober (CEO, Brainstorm Marketing Corp.), Matthias Matuschik (Broadcaster, Bayern 3 Radio Germany), Björn Teske (Managing Director, DEAG Entertainment), Kai Kirchhoff (Program Director, Yavido TV), Henning Wehland (CEO BLX Music & Entertainment) and Thomas Scherer (International Repertoire, BMG Rights Management, GmbH).
|
|
|
SELECTING THE INT’L MUSIC HITS and finding a few gems (l-r) were Wally Van Middendorp (Sr. Vice President Int'l, Roadrunner Records); Rob Swerdlow (Manager, The Kooks), Blair McDonald (Managing Partner, Nettwerk One Music, Ltd.), Emma Banks (Agent, CAA), Paul Samuels (VP Int'l A&R, Atlantic Records), Kyle Hopkins (Music Supervisor, Xbox/Microsoft Acquisitions), Mark Findlay (Music Director, Capital Radio), Mel Medalie (Founder, Champion Records) and Ajax Scott (Founder, Woodshed Media).
|
|
|
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA’S 26 who have had their music featured on the NBC TV show “Life,” stun The Borderline with their strong performance.
|
|
|
THE BLUE VAN: Danish sensation The Blue Van (signed with Iceberg Records) rocked The Borderline with their electrifying performance.
|
|
|
THE HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY did Australia proud with their dazzling performance in London.
|
|
|
NORWAY SHOWS THE FULL MONTÉE as the talented outfit woos the audience at MUSEXPO Europe.
|
|
|
ENGLAND GOT A MUSICAL STING as it woke up to the captivating sounds of Brisbane, Australia’s Drawn From Bees.
|
|
|
EARNING EVERYONE’S RESPECT was the electrifying performance from Montreal, Canada’s The Respectables.
|
|
|
AUSTRALIA’S LITTLE RED delivered a colorful performance at this year’s MUSEXPO Europe.
|
|
GLOBAL NEWS UPDATES…
A&R Worldwide-championed artist Mads Langer, a multi-talented singer/songwriter from Denmark, has signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music Entertainment. Langers’ UK-based manager Sue Whitehouse (from Whitehouse Management) tells A&R Worldwide that the deal was confirmed last week.
The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), one of the USA’s leading providers of copyright, licensing, royalty distribution and outsourced technology services for the music industry, announced last week that it has entered into a ringtone licensing agreement with Zed, a multiplatform digital entertainment company and one of the leading mobile value-added services (MVAS) playerd in the world. Zed offers ringtones to 40 million wireless users in the USA and will now be able to tap HFA’s catalog of over three million songs. The agreement covers ringtones offered to consumers in the US and its territories.
A&R Worldwide-supported Swedish act Niki & The Dove, who are represented by the same management team (including Adis Adamsson) behind Erik Hassle, has signed a deal with the independent UK label Moshi Moshi. Stephen Bass A&R Moshi Moshi tells A&R Worldwide that the first single will be “DJ Ease My Mind,” which has been garnering exclusive support on the syndicated Passport Approved radio show since the beginning of this year.
EMI announced some major restructuring last week, combining its successful publishing arm with its recorded music division. Former EMI Publishing head Roger Faxon has been tapped as EMI’s Group Chief Executive and Charles Allen, formerly non-Executive Chairman of EMI Recorded Music, will become an adviser to EMI and its shareholder, Terra Firma.
Lily Allen has signed the UK’s Summercamp (not to be confused with the former Santa Barbara, CA-based act) to her new independent label. Summercamp is managed by Empire Management’s Neale Easterby, who was Lily Allen’s former manager (both Lily and Neale remain good friends).
Platinum-selling UK artist Adele is currently in the studio recording her sophomore effort with producers Rick Rubin and Paul Epworth. Adele’s new album is slated for release later this year; she’s managed by Jonathan Dickins.
Unsigned and unpublished Australian artist Ronit is in the midst of securing a worldwide publishing deal after her recent performance at MUSEXPO Europe in London. The talented singer/songwriter captivated music industry executives during her performance at one of the several MUSEXPO Europe networking events.
|
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Darcus Beese, Ben Mawson, Evan L., Kevin Williamson, Marc Geiger, Daniel Lieberbeg, Tom Sarig, Jon Cohen, Keith Wozencroft, Tim Riley, Alex Patsavas and John Lenac.
|
|
