Industrial Strength: New signings and team-ups – August 28, 2013

UMPG signs music catalogue of Warner Bros Entertainment

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has signed the past and present music catalogues of Warner Bros Entertainment to a worldwide administration agreement. It was previously handled by Warner/Chappell. The UMPG deal covers subsidiaries and affiliates of Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Television Production, Lorimar Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Productions.

The Warner Bros. properties include music from the Batman, Matrix, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings film franchises, Casablancaand A Clockwork Orange as well as TV series ER, Two and a Half Men, Smallville, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Chuck, Fringe, Privileged, The Big Bang Theory, Nip/Tuck, The Closer, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Without A Trace and The Mentalistamong others.

UNFD adds Saviour to list…

UNFD has added Perth hardcore merchants Saviour to its roster. Their album First Light To My Death Bed will be released on October 4. Saviour took part in UNFD’s East Coast Rampage Tour and this month’s national Loudfest. In September they do an East Coast run with Norhlane. Since releasing the video for Jaded and Morning on their own YouTube channel in July, they have amassed 150,000 views. UNFD A&R Luke Logemann stated, “Saviour is a perfect addition to the UNFD family. Recently we asked our fans on Facebook who we should sign next and 90% of the replies said Saviour. Our fans know us too well, so I guess we made another great choice. Our bands love them, our fans love them and we love Saviour too.”

… and get Taking Back Sunday, Bayside, Neck Deep 

UNFD also gets US bands Taking Back Sunday and Bayside and UK’s Neck Deep on its roster, due to a representation deal with California’s Hopeless Records. Neck Deep make their debut Australian tour in November, doing six shows along the East Coast. Hopeless has been successful in the past 12 months with The Used, All Time Low and Yellowcard.

Sultan Music launches with Electrik Dynamite 

After ten years as a tour manager and working on festivals as Soundwave, Simon ‘Shrimp’ Christian has set up band management, booking and tour company Sultan Music, based in Melbourne. He says being on the road taught him where some managers let their clients down – bad communication, failed campaigns and poor planning. Sultan’s first signing is Melbourne metal six piece Electrik Dynamite. “I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time,” he told us. “We got to talking and realised we had mutual goals.” The band releases new music this year. Christian is at [email protected].

Boomerang pacts imagineNATIVE, Media Arts Festival for film content 

The inaugural Boomerang festival in Byron Bay (October 4 to 6) has struck a deal with Canadian imagineNATIVE film and Media Arts Festival to bring screenings of indigenous performers to the festival never seen before in the Southern Hemisphere. Canadian filmmaker and actor Gail Maurice and producer Denise Bolduc have programmed a series of films and shorts that delve into a slice of life of Aboriginal Canada as part of the Boomerang International Indigenous Film Festival (BIIFF). With the theme Warriors, the films contain sci-fi, comedy, drama, documentary and animation from established and emerging filmmakers and multi-media artists. Maurice and Bolduc will be appearing at Boomerang to share their experiences and host a number of Q&A sessions. Boomerang festival director Rhoda Roberts said, “I have always loved the work of Marlon Brando, but seeing how instrumental he had been challenging the Academy Awards with Sacheen Littlefeather in Reel Injun made me see another layer to this complex man and his craft and indeed that of Clint Eastwood.” Click for full program.

Bliss N Eso soundtrack AFL final series campaign

Bliss N Eso teamed with 7 Sport and the Australian Football League to create 7 Sport’s 2013 AFL finals series campaign. It kicked off last Friday featuring the hip hop band performing their hit House of Dreams at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds with footage of football heroes. Here’s a taster of the two-minute ad which crank up as the Grand Final looms. The clip was posted on YouTube and was viewed by 10,000 in the first few days. One of the group tossed the coin at the GWS Giants game on the weekend. Bliss N Eso’s Circus In The Sky is the second fastest selling album in Australia this year after Daft Punk.

Waterfront secures Ewan McGregor for LG 

Sydney-based branded entertainment and celebrity sourcing company Warterfront secured actor Ewan McGregor to promote LG’s Ultra High Definition TVs. Waterfront researched compatible celebs and found McGregor ticked all the boxes. He was in Australia shooting Son of a Gun and extended his stay for LG commitments. Phillip Anderson, head of PR at LG revealed: “Waterfront helped us identify Ewan McGregor as the perfect ambassador for our new LG Ultra High Definition TV’s, then got straight to Ewan’s team and negotiated our partnership. They were there every step of the way, and are specialists in sourcing and negotiating celebrity partnerships.”

Suede sign publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis 

The reunited Suede struck a worldwide publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis for songwriters Brett Anderson, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling. It covers their work from their 1993 debut album Suedeonwards

New management for Richard Cuthbert Music 

Sydney singer songwriter Richard Cuthbert Music (ex- Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers) signed a management deal with Nathan Farrell Management as he starts work on his second solo record.

Team-ups for Bigsound showcases 

Spunk and Hand Games Music team up for a nine-act Bigsound showcase at Brisbane’s Alhambra Lounge on September 10. These include new Spunk signings (Shining Bird, Kieran Ryan, The Ocean Party), notables from Hand Games shows over the past year (Mining Boom, Bad//Dreems, Black Vacation), Bedroom Suck signings Full Ugly and Hand Games’ Fascinator.

Meantime, a collaboration by BANDS SA, Arts SA and Gorgeous Music sees four Adelaide bands – The Audreys, Tkay Maidza, Ride Into The Sun and The Aves – showcase at Stage SA (Jamie’s Espresso Carpark) on Wed September 11 from midday to 2 pm. The four also do their own showcases.

ARIA tapes Martini Media for awards 

ARIA has appointed Kylie Martin at Martini Media to manage all media relations for the 2013 ARIA Awards. She is at [email protected]. First details of the awards will be announced in early September.