New Signings & Team-Ups: January 24

KEITH URBAN SETS UP PUBLISHING FIRM BOOM

Keith Urban has set up a new publishing company Boom in partnership with Kobalt music services, along with two of his associates in Nashville. They are songwriter-producer Ross Copperman (who wrote two tracks on Urban’s Fuse album) and Universal Music Group Nashville VP of A&R Joe Fisher with whom the NZ-born Australian-raised performer worked with when his label Capitol/EMI merged with Universal. Boom has already signed songwriters Jordan Minton, Cali Rodi and Logan Turner.

One wonders if Urban will keep an eye on emerging 18-year-old singer songwriter Jessica Odgers, whom he invited onstage to sing with him at his first Brisbane show last month after spotting a sign held up by her mother, “Please sing with my daughter.” After showcasing in Tamworth this week, Odgers is off to Nashville to undertake a spell of songwriting.

NATIVE TONGUE LINKS WITH LANKS

Native Tongue has signed Melbourne songwriter and producer Will Cuming, aka LANKS. He released a six-track EP Viet Rose last October which included collaborations with Tom Iansek (Big Scary) and Airling, and is about to go on tour tomorrow with RÜFÜS. He attended a Native Tongue song camp in late 2016 and was taken up by the company’s “culture of making great art.”

Native Tongue’s MD, Jaime Gough, commented, “We’ve been big fans of Will’s music for a while now and are extremely excited about his future as a writer and producer. He’s a real talent and we look forward to playing a pivotal role in his development.”

GWEN STEFANI NEW FACE OF REVLON

Gwen Stefani is Revlon’s newest brand ambassador, joining names such as Ciara, Olivia Wilde and Halle Barry. The singer told WWD that she was drawn to Revlon’s “Choose Love” campaign. It is “full of choice and positivity and dreams and truth and I feel like that’s aligning exactly with where I’m at in my personal life in the last couple of years.”

MIDDLE KIDS INK WITH EMI, DOMINO

Sydney trio Middle Kids have signed with EMI Music for Australia and Domino for North America. This comes as their self-titled debut EP is given a February 17 release date, and the band head off to tour North America They will do 19 shows, starting in Seattle on February 21 and winding up in Toronto on March 22, taking in a SXSW showcase. They return to do three Australian shows in Melbourne (April 14), Brisbane (15) and Sydney (21).

Their debut single Edge Of Town, from May last year, got played on Elton John’s Beats 1 show, high rotation on triple j and 30 AAA/Alt stations in the US, and picked up 3 million Spotify streams. A video for the track’s American release was shot in Melbourne and directed by Josh Harris, while the video for their new Australian single Never Start was directed by Emile Freeman.

ARN STRIKES UP WITH CITY OF SYDNEY

Australia Radio Network struck an exclusive three year radio partnership with the City of Sydney. Its KIIS 1065, WS FM101.7 and The Edge will play major roles publicising events including Sydney Chinese New Year Festival (which kicks off January 27), Sydney Cycleways, Sydney Christmas and Sydney New Year’s Eve.

L’OREAL PICKS DANNII MINOGUE

Hair brand L’Oréal Professionnel appointed Dannii Minogue its Ambassador for 2017. Now sporting a blonde bob presumably as part of the partnership, the singer/actor is back in London for the BBC One TV show Let It Shine, where she is a judge alongside Take That’s Gary Barlow and Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp to find five performers for a Take That musical.

CENTURY MEDIA TURNS ON RADIO MOSCOW

Global hard rock label Century Media Records, which had its own office in Australia and was bought out by Sony Music Entertainment two years ago, has pacted Southern Californian rock trio Radio Moscow for a worldwide deal. Their classic hard rock licks caught the ear of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced their 2007 self-titled debut record.

WAM/ RAC WHEATBELT BACK ON THE ROAD

Western Australia’s Wheatbelt Touring Circuit – an initiative by the state’s peak music association WAM in partnership with RAC, and with support from the Department of Culture and the Arts and Royalties For Regions – heads out for its sixth instalment. Between February 17 and 19, it will hit Dowerin, Northam and Narrogin headlined by Daniel Susnjar Afro-Peruvian Jazz Group and pop act Bri Clark joined by a number of local performers.

The WAM and RAC team up has proven a success, with their joint road safety video receiving 20,000 views and the Circuit nominated for a Western Australian Regional Achievement and Community Award. The Wheatbelt WAMbassadors initiative involves Wheatbelt region musicians engaging with communities on road safety tips.

ETCETC EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL ROSTER

Sydney-based label etcetc signed New York producer and multi-instrumentalist Jnthn Stein (co-founder of the production collective Team Supreme), who drops an EP Changes this week. As a classically trained musician, the 25-year-old Stein weaves his inspiration from jazz, hip-hop and electronic music into his productions. He is also a vocalist, pianist, flautist, guitarist and violinist and an Ambassador for Ableton and their Ableton Push 2 controller.

JIM BEANZ GETS GLOBAL DEAL

US music producer and songwriter Jim Beanz’s publishing is now represented globally by New York indie Reservoir. He has written and produced songs for Britney Spears (Gimme More, Womanizer), Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado (Promiscuous, Say It Right), Shakira, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg and much of Fox’s musical drama Empire.

PEKING DUK LAUNCH THEIR TRACKIES

After Peking Duk appeared at last year’s APRA awards in tracksuits, they’ve taken it a step further with their own brand of the apparel with sports brand Kappa. They formally launched the range, available in Glue Stores, at the retailer’s Melbourne Emporium along with a live set.

DOWNTOWN PUTS BITE ON BIG YELLOW DOG

Downtown Music Publishing takes over administration duties for Nashville-based music publishing and artist development company Big Yellow Dog Music. Its roster includes Grammy winners Meghan Trainor (including All About That Bass), Josh Kear (My Church, Blown Away for Carrie Underwood) and Maren Morris who is up for a 2016 Best New Artist Grammy.

RICK ASTLEY CREATES OWN LAGER

50-year-old British crooner Rick Astley is working with Danish brewery to create his own lager. The singer, who toured Australia recently, teamed with the Mikkeller brewery in Copenhagen (which is found in 40 countries) for a fruity pilsner lager. His best known song Never Gonna Give You Up was #1 in 25 countries in 1987.

WARNER RAMPS UP VR

Warner Music Group (WMG) is growing its virtual reality activities with a partnership with VR specialist MelodyVR. Its acts will forge “new and immersive” ties with fans by releasing their recorded and live VR experiences on Melody’s Music Platform.

“Virtual reality presents tremendous, forward-thinking possibilities for heightened musical experiences and new forms of storytelling,” said WMG’s Chief Digital Officer, Ole Obermann.

ST KILDA FESTIVAL FLIES WITH TIGERAIR

Melbourne’s St. Kilda Festival has struck a partnership with Tigerair. It includes the airline creating a free afternoon beach chill-out zone with deck chairs or daybeds under umbrellas on the beach, massages and DJ entertainment. Tigerair crew will offer special deals, while a competition running between January 16 and February 28 offers entrants the chance to win a $1,000 Tigerair voucher.

AUST/INDON CULTURAL TIES

A deal between Adelaide Festival and Indonesia’s first creative agency BEKRAF (Indonesian Creative Economy) will see the two countries forge closer ties in performing arts, film, fashion, digital innovation, architecture and design.

The relationship will grow through the Adelaide Festival Centre and OzAsia Festival. There’ll be greater artist exchanges between the two countries, and strategies on how their respective sectors can grow.