New Signings & Team-Ups: Nov 10
Image: Mumford & Sons
Simon Cowell’s Syco extends Sony deal for six years
Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment extended their Syco Entertainment 50:50 joint venture by six years. Syco, set up in 2002, covers music, film and TV production. It is the label home for Labrinth, One Direction, Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Little Mix, Il Divo and Fifth Harmony. It also produces The X Factor (now watched by more than half a billion people with local versions commissioned in 45 countries) and Got Talent formats, among others.
Last year Syco generated £77 million (A$165.5 million) in revenue. Of that, Cowell’s share is estimated to be £24 million ($51.2 million), including £900,000 ($1.9 million) pay, while Sony received £51 million ($109 million).
Mumford team with Aussie brands for charity
Mumford & Sons(pictured) are working with two Australian companies to raise money during this tour here this month. Young Henry’s Brewery is hosting a ’Gentlemen Of The Road’ photo exhibition at its Newtown, Sydney, headquarters November 13-15. The band-on-tour pictures are for sale.
Banjos Down Under has custom-made four Goodtime Banjos for each of its four ANZ shows. Proceeds go to the Australian Red Cross Qld Flood Relief Appeal in Brisbane, White Ribbon in Sydney, Feed Melbourne in Melbourne and Auckland City Mission in Auckland.
Whist in Sydney the band are alsoheaded to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern, to play a charity soccer tournament. They will be going head to head with The Vaccines, Bondi Rescue stars, the Dungog Boomerangs, a team of youth leaders from the NCIE, as well as music industry teams from Dew Process, Sony, I Oh You, Purple Sneakers, Stoney Roads, UndrCtrl + more.
Chaos Divine lands international management, booking
Perth progressive metal band Chaos Divine snared a management and booking deal with IntroMental Worldwide. The band, which was on the 2014 Soundwave bill, released its third album Colliding Skies through Firestarter Music after a $15,000 crowd-sourcing campaign. First single Soldiers shot to #1 on the Australian iTunes metal charts.
ORB in flight
Geelong trio ORB are signed to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s own label Flightless, which is out through Remote Control. They just released their debut 7″ Migration / Migration 2 online. The one time neighbours started ORB as a doom-metal band but gone for more shad since, releasing a cassette wrapped up in heavy chains. They’re currently on the road until December 9, some of the nine dates with their new label bosses as well as Swedish band Goat.
Queensland songwriters show ANZAC spirit
Over the past 18 months, a group of Queensland songwriters spoke to 100 women – aged from 25 to 104 years old – whose husbands served in conflicts from WW2 to current day deployments through Asia, the Pacific and The Middle East. Their stories of grief, anxiety and financial suffering were turned into songs, which were shared to let the wider Australian community of their sacrifices, with assistance from the Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund.
These have been performed at venues including Brisbane Powerhouse, Woodford Folk Festival and most recently a sold out performances at Sydney Opera House and Canberra Street Theatre. The artists involved were AMP nominee Jackie Marshall; Roz Pappalardo (Women in Docs); Bertie Page; Sahara Beck, Emma Bosworth, country blues artist Kristy Apps and Deb Suckling (Lucy Star Satellite).
Now the songs are released on an album The Soldier’s Wife, through Brisbane label Sugarrush Music. All proceeds go to Legacy and other ex-service support organisations.
Guvera links with Australian hotel group
Music streaming service Guvera has linked up with another brand, this time Australia’s Toga Far East Hotels chain. The chain is targeting a millennial audience with playlists with different moods and travel and lifestyle tips. The first roll-out from the deal is the Vibe Hotel Canberra Airport.
Kaiser Chiefs sign new publishing, records
As Brit band Kaiser Chiefs return to the studio to record their sixth studio album with Brian Higgins (Pet Shop Boys, Kylie Minogue), they’ve extended their record deal with Fiction Records/Caroline.
They pacted a global publishing deal with Imagem UK, which began working with them in 2008 when it acquired Rondor Music which had their original publishing. The new deal represents future copyrights, in addition to existing copyrights in the UK and Europe. Kim Frankiewicz, MD of Imagem Music UK stated, “Our history with the Kaisers goes back to the very beginning at Imagem. As a band they have evolved and the spirit of their songwriting has an unbound energy.”
Pandora turns talk radio network
Streaming service Pandora has becoming streaming partner for breakout podcast Serial. Created by This American Life, its first season was a phenomenal success with 8 million people downloading each episode. Pandora will make Season One available from November 24 to its 78 million listeners, aimed at those who don’t listen to podcasts. Only 17% of Americans tune in.
Jack Daniel’s marks Sinatra’s 100th
To celebrate Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday on December 2, Jack Daniel’s has released the limited Sinatra Century 100 proof. Of 12,000 litre bottles released globally, Australia gets 900, individually numbered. The $1,000 price tag includes a USB tie pin containing previously unreleased recordings of Sinatra at The Sands in 1966 and a hardbound tribute book about the man, the music, and the whiskey. Sinatra was an avid imbiber of Jack Daniel’s and buried with a bottle.
The whisky was developed in association with the Sinatra family and matured in 100 hand-crafted ’Sinatra’ barrels.
Rdio chooses City Calm Down
Rdio selected Melbourne-based indie pop band City Calm Down as its Artist To Watch this month. The band followed up its Movements EP with its debut album In A Restless House this month through I OH YOU. First track Son was streamed exclusively through Rdio. The band also provides an insight for Rdio listeners with exclusive playlists featuring songs that inspired them. Launched in Australia this year, Artist To Watch has tapped Hiatus Kaiyote and Last Dinosaurs.
Daddy don’t preach
Daddy, the duo comprised of actor James Franco and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Keefe, signed a worldwide multi-year deal with Kobalt. Its upcoming album / film project Let Me Get What I Want takes heavy inspiration from The Smiths. The title is from the seminal British band’s 1984 song Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, and the album features Smiths bassist Andy Rourke on each track. Other projects, including “art space and beyond” will follow made possible by the Kobalt tie-in, Franco said.
LISTEN takes message to Hobart
LISTEN, the Melbourne-based national advocacy group, has teamed with Hobart music festival Hobart + Music = Yeah! for a showcase at the Grand Poobah on November 21. The event got a community grant from the Hobart City Council. The seven-hour event will feature LISTEN founder and singer songwriter Evelyn Morris, Love of Diagrams, Sarah Chadwick, Ela Stiles / The Rangoons, CoverGirl, Julia Drouhin and Zoe Zac and The Native Cats.
LISTEN has been a key association in formulating the Victorian Government’s new sexual taskforce strategies. Recently, at its inaugural two-day conference during Melbourne’s Darebin Music Feast, eight panels anecdotally outlined problems faced by women, LGBTQIA+ and non-white people as they work in, and attend events by, the music industry. More important, the conference offered a number of solutions to the problem.
Tiga jumps the Counter
Canadian musician, DJ and producer Tiga has signed to Counter Records, which will release his third album in 2016 through the Ninja Tune imprint. The spiritually-inclined Tiga, who was last touring Australia in March, said, “It’s a natural fit – I’m the original Counter. I count RESULTS.”
Australian Music Week expands Canadian connection
Australian Music Week and Canada’s East Coast Music Association (ECMA) will jointly present the AUSCAN Music Spotlight in Canada next April during East Coast Music Week festival and conference (ECMW). ECMA was set up 27 years ago to promote the music industry of Atlantic Canada. The ECMW is a five-day showcase of acts from the region, which next year is held in in Sydney, Nova Scotia
It draws 2,000 delegates and 50 global music and media executives looking to sign up or promote acts who are export-ready. The AUSCAN Music Spotlight has two Australian acts performing. Submission forms at https://marcatoapp.com/forms/amw2015/ecmw/new, with deadline being November 30.
Blue marks the spot
Above The Blue is a new compilation album from the Sunshine Coast which aims to tackle depression, start debate and raise funds for services for people suffering from the black dog. The country, blues and roots project was started by songwriters Paul Richardson and Col Finley who have gone through it themselves. Finley declares, “Like many people, I have a ’mate’ called anxiety … he turns up at the worst possible times.” Contributors to the album include:Kelly Cork, Luke O’Shea, Kevin Borich, Carolyna Lovely and Lou Bradley. It is launched at Maleny Showgrounds on November 14 with a gala dinner and show, with support from Maleny Apex and all proceeds to Beyondblue. Full details of the project at http://abovetheblue.org/.