Inertia Music label group is rebranded [PIAS] Australia

A touch over four years after changing hands, indie label stronghold Inertia Music is rebranded to [PIAS] Australia.

Through this reset, the Inertia Music group’s record company activities in Australia, including the [PIAS] in-house labels and the co-operative label roster, will come under the [PIAS] Australia umbrella.

Along with these changes, Mari Stuart is named as the Label Group’s Head of Marketing, following two years as Marketing Manager at Inertia.

Stuart reports to Inertia’s Managing Director Colin Daniels.

The new-look [PIAS] Australia also welcomes Steve Holcroft to the team as Marketing Manager.

It’s a sort of homecoming for Holcroft, who got his start as an intern at Inertia back in 2010.

His CV includes an eight-year stint in marketing at Sony Music Australia from 2012, where he worked on releases from the likes of David Bowie, Cosmos Midnight, RÜFÜS DU SOL and LCD Soundsystem.

Holcroft joins the independent music company from Serenade, the online performance platform that launched in 2020.

At [PIAS] Australia, Holcroft will work alongside publicists Fiona Priddey and Aisling Kissane and Digital Manager Harry Hayes; Sophie Brown, who takes on newly A&R and Label Coordinator post; and Anthony Goddard, who oversees D2C and retail strategy in a newly-formed Product Manager role.

The PIAS Australia team

“We couldn’t be more excited for this new chapter of our Label Group,” says Daniels in a statement, unveiling the changes. “We are proud to launch [PIAS] Australia with an incredible roster of artists and labels, cementing our place within [PIAS]’s unrivalled global network of world-class independent music. We look forward to continuing to build on the legacy of Inertia Music as we celebrate its 21st birthday this year.”

[PIAS] Australia launches with a stable of local artists including Jesswar, Annie Hamilton, Mildlife, Shady Nasty and FRITZ, and, as part of the global [PIAS] network, such international acts as Arlo Parks, Black Pumas, Claptone, John Grant, Lord Huron and Two Door Cinema Club.

Founded by Ashley Sellers and Justin Cosby in March 2000 as a cutting-edge label and a distributor of fine tunes from overseas, Sydney-based Inertia expanded as it matured by offering a suite of services to artists and labels across sales, marketing, publicity, touring and merchandise.

[PIAS] (or Play It Again Sam Group) was established in Belgium in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot and grew into one of Europe’s leading independent music groups.

[PIAS] made its move into Australia when it acquired Inertia Music in a deal that took effect on April 1, 2017.

Two years later, in 2019, [PIAS] Australia partnered with its first local cooperative label Astral People Recordings, now home to Stevan, Milan Ring, Wave Racer and Skeleten.

And just last week, [PIAS] unveiled the re-branding of its distribution business to [Integral] Distribution Services, retaining the Inertia Music brand in Australia.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.