New Signings & Team-Ups: Banoffee signs to Dot Dash / Remote Control; US deal for King Gizz; AMW gets a blast of Canada; Katy Steele lands new management; G-Unit signs TV & film pacts

Violetta star lands record deal

Disney Music Group’s Hollywood Records is developing the music fan base of actress and YouTube star Martina Stoessel. She plays the musically-talented female lead of the telenovela Violetta, about a teen who returns to her native Argentina with her father after living in Europe.

Developed by Disney Channel two years ago, Australia is one of 140 countries it broadcasts in. Each episode introduces new songs. The series has 1.4 billion YouTube views, sold 3 million soundtracks, 7 million books and 4 million diaries. The 2015 Violetta Live Concert tour sold over 1 million tickets in Europe, Middle East and Africa alone, and over 400,000 tickets in Latin America.

DMG President Ken Blunt calls Stoessel “a fantastic talent and even more impressive as a person” and that her new music will expand her global appeal. Stoessel added, "I couldn’t be more excited to begin my journey with Hollywood Records, a company I’ve always dreamed of working with. I can’t wait to take my music to the next level."

Dot Dash / Remote Control Records adds Banoffee

Dot Dash / Remote Control Records will globally release Banoffee’s second EP Do I Make You Nervous? in October. Banoffee is the solo project of Melbourne singer and producer Martha Brown. First single With Her was produced by long time collaborator Oscar Key Sung. Banoffee is also a sought after style figure and featured in magazines as Vogue. Last year saw her showcase at CMJ in New York, nominated for Best Song and Best Female Artist at The Age Music Victoria Awards named Best of 2014 by Indie Shuffle and earmarked as ‘one to watch’ by Tumblr and Spotify.

CREO inks management and booking deals

Sydney-based quartet CREO have inked deals withUpstairs Music (Kim Churchill, Halcyon Drive) for management, as well as Adrian Gidaro at The Harbour Agency for bookings. The band recently releasing their third single Light It Up and are set to tour withBorn Lion throughout September and October.

US deal for King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard

On the eve of a 20-date American tour, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard have signed a US deal with guitarist Dave Matthews’ ATO label. ATO’s impressive roster includes David Gray, Alabama Shakes, The Bronx, John Butler Trio, Kaiser Chiefs, My Morning Jacket and Rodrigo y Gabriella.

Their next album Paper Mâché Dream Balloon, out in Australia in mid-November, gets a US release in early 2016. The band’s US dates kicked off on the weekend at the FYF Festival in LA, and hits cities including San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, New Orleans and winds up in New York City on September 16.

Australian Music Week gets a blast of Canada

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) and East Coast Music Association partner up for the inaugural Australia Music Week in Sydney. Four acts, two from each association, will showcase at an afternoon showcase party called Canadian Blast. Some of the acts will also play at other AMW events.

50 Cent company signs film, TV, touring pacts

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson’s burgeoning acting career gets a boost, Billboard reported. His G-Unit production and touring companies is represented by APA for film, television and touring. Jackson’s movies as Southpaw, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Home Of The Brave and Righteous Kill saw him share screen space with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law. His G-Unit Film & Television, Inc. executive produces the drama Power.

123 Agency pricks itself with The Pinheads …

Melbourne’s 123 Agency added Wollongong’s The Pinheads to its roster. Agent Harry Moore who was “overwhelmed” by their live show, has booked them for their first East Coast tour behind their debut I Wanna Be A Girl EP. The six-piece (sometimes seven) who played their first show on Record Store Day last year, signed in blood with the Farmer & The Owl label in their hometown.

… and Opiuo

123 Agency also signed New Zealand “funkadelic bass music” producer Opiuo who is now based in Australia. His first stab at international recognition began in 2010 when the Robo Booty single was a finalist for Best Dance/Electro Release at the Australian Independent Music Awards. He’s racked up 8 million SoundCloud plays, performed at festivals around the world including Coachella and Glastonbury, had five wins at the 2013 UK Glitch-Hop Awards while his Meraki won Best Electronica Album at the NZ Music Awards 2014.

Katy Steele lands new management

On the eve of the release of her debut album, which she says has been scrapped a number of times before she was happy with the direction, former Little Birdy singer Katy Steele is now managed by Brisbane’s Mucho Bravado.

New PPCAS agreement for CBAA members

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has finalised a new PPCA music licensing agreement for its members. In addition to the stations getting the rights to broadcast sound recordings (as well as for use in music-for-hold on their phone systems), the new deal includes an option for a simulcast licence if stations also stream their broadcasts online. CBAA members get a lower rate for PPCA licence than other community stations.

Stan Walker in Air New Zealand safety video

Australian/ NZ R&B singer Stan Walker’s high profile in New Zealand with chart topping albums and as a judge on The X-Factor NZ, landed him a role in Air New Zealand’s latest inventive safety video. The video, screened before take-off, is a team-up with Sony Pictures and is a parody of the Men In Black franchise. Using Will Smith’s theme song, it includes singing and rapping cameos from members of the All Blacks rugby team, two of the Men In Black cast (Rip Torn and Frank The Pug), and sports greats as the Wallabies’ David Campese, former England captain Martin Johnson and Argentine captain Agustin Pichot.

The video has already scored 2 million YouTube views. Last year to mark the finale of the Hobbit trilogy, the airline adopted a Middle Earth theme with Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood and has been viewed 14.7 million times online.

Association team for Live Music Frontiers panel

Music Australia, the Live Music Office, Sydney Fringe and MusicNSW present a free panel discussion called Live Music Frontiers on September 6 from 3pm at Erskineville Town Hall in Sydney. Panellists include Mark Gerber (Oxford Art Factory), Bill Cullen (OneLouder), Damian Cunningham (Live Music Office), Sybil Bell (UK’s Independent Venues Week) and Yvette Myhill (AAM).

Australian-run iFlix Asia gets MGM investment

Video streaming service iflix, set up by Australian entrepreneur Patrick Grove and run by former Nine Entertainment head Mark Britt, have Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) as a new investor.

The two companies already have close ties, with MGM’s Chairman and CEO Gary Barber on its board, and with a long-term film and TV content licensing partnership. iflix, based in Kuala Lumpur, claims its library comprises 20,000 movies and television episodes. As reported previously in TMN, after launching in Malaysia and the Philippines, iflix is this year rolling out in a number of Southeast Asian markets including Thailand and Indonesia.