New Signings & Team-ups: August 17
UNIVERSAL MUSIC, EMI & OPTUS BRING MOVE IN THE CITY TO SYDNEY
Universal Music Australia, EMI Music Australia and Optus brought the Move In The City party to Sydney on Wednesday night.
The event showcased international and local acts on the two labels for 600 Optus winners, invited VIP guests and media.
It was hosted by US comedian, actress and YouTube identity Anjelah Johnson who’s currently on an Australian tour.
Headliner Alison Wonderland gave a preview of what to expect on her national tour (which begins in late September) with tracks off her US dance/electronic chart-topping Awake.
After blasting Growing Pains and Scars to Your Beautiful, 22-year-old Alessia Cara brought on Zedd (who’d just finished his performance that night with Katy Perry) for their collaboration Stay which is now 4 x platinum in Australia.
Thundamentals’ heavy soul set previewed tracks off their September-due I Love Songs as well as hits as Think About It, Sally and Something I Said all which helped towards their total tally of 70 million streams and three gold tracks.
LA-based emerging Aussie act Jess Kent opened the showcase with new single Bass Bumps, her reggae-infused alt-dance-pop groove Get Down and new jams Puff Puff and Girl.
She has been working on tracks with Justin Tranter (Gwen Stefani, Selena Gomez, Years & Years).
Among guests on the night were Birds of Tokyo, Thandi Phoenix, Nicole Millar, actresses Alli Simpson and Phillipa Northeast, YouTube identity Cartia Mallan, celebrity trainer Alexa Towersey and GWS Giants players.
MAJOR NAMES FOR HEART ST KILDA BENEFIT
The 11th annual The Heart of St Kilda Concert fundraiser features Archie Roach, Kate Ceberano, Tex Perkins & The Fat Rubber Band, Anne Edmonds, CDB, Linda Bull & Sime Nugent: Stardust, Bob Franklin, The Cartridge Family, Thando, Nath Valvo, Alma Zygier, Margret RoadKnight, Loose Tooth, Rebecca Barnard, Billy Miller & The Caravan Choir and The Meltdown.
It is at the Palais Theatre St Kilda, on Tuesday, October 23.
The annual event supports the work of Sacred Heart Mission and its Meals Program, which provides up to 400 meals daily to those in Melbourne experiencing homelessness, social isolation and disadvantage.
The Mission serves over 160,000 meals each year out of its dining hall in Grey St, St Kilda and proceeds from this year’s concert will help to continue this work.
Once again, RocKwiz co-presenter and ABC Melbourne broadcaster Brian Nankervis will MC the evening.
BMG: ISSUING RICHARD ASHCROFT’S SOLO
A new team-up with Richard Ashcroft’s own RPA label sees BMG release the singer songwriter’s latest solo album Natural Rebel in October.
The one-time Verve frontman’s past solo albums – including These People, Alone With Everybody, Human Conditions and Keys to the World have done extremely well in the UK.
Ashcroft said: “For me this is my strongest set of songs to date. All my favourite sounds distilled into something that will hopefully give my fans lasting pleasure. It is for them. Music is power.”
LINDA PERRY JOINS PEERMUSIC
Linda Perry – the one time 4 Non Blondes member who went on to write hits for P!NK, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera – is now represented globally by peermusic.
Peermusic also revealed it entered a joint venture agreement with We Are Hear Music — a record label, publishing and management company that Perry runs with business partner Kerry Brown — to represent publishing.
BAKED BEANS GO FLIGHTLESS
Geelong garage psych outfit Baked Beans who’ve been building up a live following in their hometown and in Melbourne, release their debut album Babble today (Friday) through Flightless Records.
BY THE TIME WE GOT TO BIGSOUND
Perth-based Tapped by Otherside is giving a $3,500 grant to an emerging WA band manager to get them to BIGSOUND in Brisbane next month.
It’s the first time it’s offered the grant, to cover flights and accommodation.
Deadline is today (Friday, August 17) with the winner announced on Friday, August 24. Apply here.
Otherside Brewing Co. director David Chitty says other grants provided by his company to help WA’s music scene also covers performers and those working behind the scene.
In the meantime, six emerging artists from Queensland have received bursaries to attend BIGSOUND, thanks to QMusic’s donor community, The Saints.
Dylan Lindquist (Clawmachine), Laura Bamford (Laura Louise), Rob Bryant (Big Foot Mafia), Sam Krzewina, Tom Gillespie (Venice on Fire) and Victoria Jenkins (Fragile Animals) have their flights, accommodation and purple passes covered.
TRAVIS SCOTT EPS NBA GAME SOUNDTRACK
Big time basketball fan Travis Scott is named executive producer the soundtrack to 2K Sports’ NBA 2K19 game.
The chart-topping musician will also be appearing in the video game.
“It’s dope. I always like a chance to be able to curate music,” he says.
“I play 2K all the time, play with my homies mostly. I picked up 2K a year or two ago, but it became a super addiction.”
Scott handpicked two Aussie artists to feature on the soundtrack, Ball Park Music‘s Hands Off My Body and Alison Wonderland‘s Cry appear on the lineup.
Woke up this morning to find @trvisXX has put us in the fucking NBA 2k19 soundtrack.
Feeling cool as fuck today ??
? HANDS OFF MY BODYYYY ? pic.twitter.com/LkLqSg3F3n
— Ball Park Music (@ballparkmusic) August 16, 2018
UNIVERSAL MUSIC PICKS UP YOUTUBE’S LELE PONS
Universal Music Group offered a recording deal to YouTube content creator Lele Pons.
The Venezuelan-born, Miami-raised, bilingual and bicultural creator’s comedy videos has amassed 26.6 million Instagram followers, over 10 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and billions of views.
INTERNATIONAL TV DEAL FOR MSO
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra secured an international TV distribution agreement with UNITEL, a producer and distributor of classical music for TV, DVD & Blu-ray, cinema and new media.
The MSO is the only Australian orchestra to be included in UNITEL’s stable, which includes the Vienna Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris and Statskapelle Dresden.
From 2019, a selection of MSO concerts each year will be distributed via UNITEL to media outlets throughout Europe, America and Asia. The agreement – which accommodates the MSO’s existing distribution agreement in Australia and New Zealand with Foxtel Arts and the ABC – is for an initial 10 year period (2019-2029).
EDM MANAGEMENT CHANGES
Swedish House Mafia parted with their manager of 14 years Amy Thomson.
She already advised them in May she was moving on, now revealing, “I wish them so much joy and happiness and success and I will be watching proudly but the era of me with the boys is at an end.”
She added, “We changed the game so many times through everything from brave hearts to sheer blindness. What a ride.”
Reports from overseas are that Mark Gillespie’s LA-based Three Six Zero has taken over management of DJ superstar Tiësto
The company also manages Calvin Harris, which means they manage the #1 and #3 ranking DJs of Forbes’ latest ‘World’s Highest Paid DJs’ list.
Both earn a total of $80 million a year, which is quite a commission to collect.
MILLION DOLLAR SPINS AT FALCONA
Adelaide DJ Luke Million assigned his bookings to Sydney-based booking and management agency Falcona.
JANDS GETS IN WITH BOSCH
Jands has become an Australian distributor partner for Bosch Communications Systems
Bosh are the leading manufacturers and suppliers of professional audio and commercial communication brands including Electro-Voice and Dynacord.