New Signings & Team-Ups: September 6

Alex Lahey signs with US agency APA

Fast rising Melbourne singer-songwriter Alex Lahey, currently getting kudos for her debut EP B-Grade University through Caroline Australia, has signed with American booking agency APA, repped by Bruce Solar and Joan Lee. She said, “Touring the Americas is a lifelong dream of mine and I genuinely feel I am in more than capable hands with Bruce and his passionate team to help my songs and live show reach a broader audience in those territories.”

APA’s Bruce Solar, added, “APA is thrilled to welcome Alex Lahey into our family of artists that include a great variety of talent from Modest Mouse to Dolly Parton to Brian Wilson. When we initially heard Alex’s music, the storytelling songwriting, and melodic guitar riffs hit us hard, and we knew immediately that she is a very special artist.”

Lahey kicks off a national B-Grade University Tour tomorrow, starting off with three showcases at BIGSOUND in Brisbane. The 15 dates, until October 8, includes clubs and a number of festival slots including the Maroochy Music & Visual Arts, Sounds of the Suburbs, Sad Grrrls andBirregurra Festival & Arts.

European record release for Tinpan Orange

After a number of tours through Europe and North America, Melbourne nui-folk trio Tinpan Orange are set to release their critically acclaimed album Love Is A Dog abroad. It is set for an October 29 release in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and possibly the Netherlands through Hamburg-Germany-based Pop Up Records. The label flipped when it heard the record. Pop Up also works with Bright Eyes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and Lou Rhodes.

After a BIGSOUND showcase, Tinpan Orange will join The Cat Empire in Europe. Made up of Emily Lubitz (vocals), Jesse Lubitz (guitar) and Alex Burkoy (violin), they do 17-dates across Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France and Belgium between October 27 and November 19. They are also in negotiations with different agents and promoters in other territories in Europe and the USA. Their management Hear Them Holler tell us the trio plans to attend Folk Alliance International next year with a tour in US/Canada following.

Niche now booking Sampology

Niche Agency is now handling the booking for Brisbane audio-visual innovative producer Sampology (Sam Poggioli). He has toured the world extensively, including India, China, Germany and North America. Now he has developed a new live production for an Australian tour from October 21 to early November through Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. A 6-track EP Natural Selections is out on September 23 via Brisbane label Soul Has No Tempo.

According to Niche, “Sampology’s new live show has transcended visually to become an original art production, juxtaposing animations developed from the EP artwork by his mother Sue Poggioli with footage throughout.”

Vevo gives SCA the Australian exclusive

Southern Cross Austereo has secured the exclusive rights to Vevo content and digital inventory within Australia. The music video and entertainment platform and delivers over 176 million video streams and 9 million unique Australian users across desktop, TV, and mobile per month.

The media statement said, “This license strengthens the entertainment company’s digital portfolio and enhances its ability to provide a premium product for advertisers. Vevo is the #1 video destination for people 18- 34, and its music videos have an 88% completion rate, 14% above industry the norm.

“Vevo is the home of 6 of the top 10 most viewed videos on YouTube. SCA’s exclusive deal means media buyers won’t be able to target Vevo when they buy YouTube content. Many music clips made just for the premium entertainment platform cost more than blockbuster films on a per minute basis and brands will able to target pre-roll inventory direct by age, gender, geography, device, artist and music genre with beyond compare completion rates.”

SCA’s Chief Sales Officer Brian Gallagher said, “The advantage that this product has over others is that the Vevo audience is highly engaged – they are there to consume on demand and they’re really passionate about it. It’s an effective video environment now exclusively available through SCA and we are thrilled at the opportunity this presents us and our clients when it comes to advertising solutions.”

Melbourne’s The Pretty Littles set up third album

Melbourne band The Pretty Littles are setting up the release of their third album Soft Rock For The Anxious, out this week with a distribution deal with Caroline Australia and a vinyl version on Side Stare Music. It follows Mash and Gospel, which they followed up with national touring. With the latest record, they do a 10-date East Coast regional and metro run beginning at Kennedys Creek Music Festival on October 22 The single Pride is currently aired on triple j and community radio, with Sleeping In Water picked as the second single.

Tyler The Creator gets own show

Six-month-old US cable network Viceland is moving into the late night space with a number of shows. One of these is by rapper Tyler The Creator. It is based on a show from his Golf Media App which is produced by Whalerock Industries, which is behind the Kardashians’ mobile empire.

Another show is from Desus vs. Mero, who’ve achieved global recognition through their daily talk web show of that name and the The Bodega Boys podcast about two friends growing up in New York’s Bronx district.

UNFD to Void Of Vision: chrome if you want to

UNFD pacted with Melbourne metalcore outfit Void Of Vision, releasing their debut album Children Of Chrome on September 30. The label says the record “(channels) all their rage and disillusionment with the world… (and) is Void Of Vision’s statement for people who give a fuck in a world intoxicated by power, greed and hatred.”

The first cut comes via // featuring Drew Dijorio from Stray From The Path, a band who have helped shape Void Of Vision into what they are today. Singer Jack Bergin explains, “We share very similar ideals relating to the condition of this world. His section of the song, in particular, is a satirical take on the current inadequate immigration policies put in place by the Australian government. To have passion for what you’re singing about is such a crucial component of this genre and Drew’s part of the song does that justice, coming across exactly how it was intended to.”

Regurgitator donates to asylum seekers

Regurgitator’s latest tour, accompanied by fellow Brisbane act Jeremy Neale, will donate a few dollars from each ticket sold to the Melbourne-based Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (https://www.asrc.org.au).

The band said, “The history of the world is one of human distribution, movement, and migration and we feel it is important in the face of a dispassionate and inhuman government policy to extend egalitarian support where possible to the many displaced peoples currently in need of any helping hand. We hope you all support such endeavours given the majority of us at some point in our lineage came from somewhere else.”

Rice Is Nice go loud with Den

Rice is Nice signed Sydney post-punk outfit Den, releasing their self-titled debut EP on November 11 and lead-off single Poltergeist. The band is this week in Brisbane playing a number of BIGSOUND showcases, including tonight’s (Tuesday, September 6) free Rice Is Nice V Spunk pre-BIGSOUND Party at the Black Bear Lodge from 10.30 pm.

Warner/Chappell taps club producer

Warner/Chappell Music announced it has signed UK house and bass writer and producer Kideko. The act, based in Brighton, has risen to prominence in the last 18 months. Aside from his two club smashes The Jam and Crank It he’s also remixed tracks for Disciples, David Guetta, John Newman and Imany.

Absolute Label Service expands classical talent

Absolute Label Services will provide its services to four UK classical artists – Carly Paoli on Ablah Records, Parker on Gateway 12 Records, Jonathan Antoine on Cavendish Records and Gavin Greenaway (Tenuto Records).

Believe Digital, DRM, sign for NZ market

Global fully independent digital distributor Believe Digital struck a digital deal with the ten-year-old Digital Rights Management New Zealand (DRM). The statement read: “Through the partnership, DRM and their clients will benefit from Believe’s distribution technology, analytics and extensive global network of 36 offices and 350 international digital music industry experts to develop the reach and visibility of New Zealand artists and labels internationally.”

Believe will distribute their catalogue to all stores. DRM, with its roots in NZ’s independent music scene, will continue to work directly with the local offices of Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and Google Play.

Australia to get voice-controlled speakers

A tie-up between home audio system maker Sonos and Amazon’s Echo devices will see Australians soon able to control the music and song selection and receive track information through voice control. There is no Australian release date as yet.

Targeting multi-cultural cinema audiences

In a move to grow the number of Asian-born Australian patrons to 1 million over the next 12 months, Val Morgan Cinema Network is working with specialist multicultural marketing and insights agency Red Elephant.

Their first joint initiative is Access Asia, which has launched to target the local Indian and Chinese speaking population with 130 releases. Val Morgan’s Director of Marketing and Strategy pointed out, ‘Multicultural cinema is rapidly growing in Australia. In the last 12 months, the Chinese movie box office market in Australia has doubled and ticket sales to Bollywood movies have increased by over 60%.”

Pirate Dinosaurs go global

The Australian animated pirate-dinosaur comedy adventure series Captain Flinn And The Pirate Dinosaurs which premieres this week in Australia has been sold worldwide. The series is produced by Australia’s SLR Productions and international partners Telegael, Super RTL, Network Nine, Top Draw Animation and ZDF Enterprises.

ZDF has sold it to the UK’s Pop Channel (to screen daily at 8.30am and 6.30pm), China’s JY Animation Inc, Vietnam Content JSC, MediaCorp in Singapore, Portugal’s Radiotelevisa o Portuguesa (RTP), SVT Sveriges Television AB in Sweden and CSC Media Group for Africa. The series is based on the award-winning picture books by Giles Andreae and Russell Ayto.

HSBC customers get Hoyts treatment

From this month, HSBC Australia customers can access 2-for-1 movie tickets every Wednesday at any Hoyts cinema when they purchase tickets with their HSBC Visa Debit or Credit Card. The two will also deliver co-branded assets across the Hoyts network including cinema foyers screens, pre-show messaging, and digital presence across website and social media.