Sony Music Entertainment secures entire Silverchair catalogue

The entire Silverchair catalogue is now under the control of Sony Music Entertainment Australia, with the label picking up the distribution rights for Young Modern (2007) and Diorama (2002).

The consolidation of the catalogue, announced today, reunites the band with Sony Music, and irons out some of the band’s previous issues with the label.

The band first signed to Sony’s Murmur in the mid 1990s after winning the national Pick Me competition with their demo of ‘Tomorrow’. As part of the prize, the band – then known as Innocent Criminals – recorded the song with triple j, and the ABC filmed a video.

The band changed its name to Silverchair in the process, and the song sparked interest from both Mushroom Records and Sony’s Murmur.

The three-album deal with Murmur saw the band release Frogstomp (1995), Freak Show (1997), and Neon Ballroom (1999).

When the deal with Murmur came to an end, the band joined indie label, Eleven, established by former Sony A&R manager, turned band manager, John Watson, for future album releases in Australia and Asia, which were distributed locally by EMI. They were signed to Atlantic Records for South and North American releases.

This arrangement saw the band release Diorama (2002) and Young Modern (2007).

Sony Music, however, released a best of album, The Best Of: Volume 1, in November 2000, after the band had ended its affiliation with the label.

At the time, band frontman Daniel Johns took issue with the greatest hits compilation, but now that the band has reunited with Sony some 20-odd years later, Johns is far more positive about his old stomping ground.

“It’s great to have the catalogue all under one roof at Sony Music, back where it all began for Silverchair,” he said in a statement.

Fellow band member, Ben Gillies, said: “We’re so proud of these albums and know that Denis and the team at Sony Music, as they always have, will treat our catalogue with love and respect. It just feels right.”

And Chris Joannou added: “We’re pumped to have all the Silverchair albums with Sony Music Australia where everything started for us 25-plus years ago. What a wild ride it’s been.”

Sony Music Entertainment’s chairman and CEO for Australia and New Zealand, Denis Handlin, said the trio will always be part of the Sony Music family, and their songs will live forever.

“26 years ago, three young boys from Newcastle burst on the scene with amazing music that captured the world. I am so delighted to have the band’s complete catalogue with Sony Music. We are really looking forward to some exciting opportunities in the years ahead.”

The deal with Sony Music also includes the audio-visual album Live From Faraway Stables, recorded in 2003.

The band went into indefinite hibernation in 2011, however their achievements still live on. Their first single ‘Tomorrow’ debuted at #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and remained there for six weeks. Frogstomp too debuted at #1 and was 4x platinum. It also made it onto the Billboard Top 10 in the US, the first Australian band to do so since INXS.

All the band’s other studio albums also debuted at #1 and they boast 21 ARIA Awards. Globally, they have sold in excess of 6 million records.