UK direct-to-fan platform appoints Australian A&R head

UK-based platform Music Glue has appointed Neil Robertson as Head of A&R in Australia.

Robertson spent a decade as International Label Manager at V2 Recordings, Cooperative Music and Mushroom. He worked with acts as Bloc Party, Phoenix, Faith No More, Interpol, alt-J and CHVRCHES.

Before that, he managed Scottish band Belle & Sebastian for ten years. This included running the merchandising and ecommerce business for the band, whom many consider to be the pioneers of direct-to-fan ecommerce.

Mark Meharry, founder and CEO of Music Glue said, “I met Neil a few months ago and instantly knew he would not only fit perfectly into the Music Glue culture, but would add to it immensely. Integrity is everything to us and I am proud to have Neil on board flying our flag in Australia.

“The foundations of every successful business are always the people involved, and the strength of our foundations continues to grow with the addition of people of his calibre.”

Robertson added, “I’ve always been impressed with Music Glue’s ability to empower artists and to give them and their managers the chance to have really meaningful creative and commercial conversations with their fans.

“As the industry focuses on the best ways to generate revenue outside of traditional sales of recorded music, Music Glue’s technology makes it ideally placed to lead the way and this new role as part of a passionate and motivated team is really exciting.”

Music Glue is used by artists, labels, merchandisers and venues worldwide to sell music, merchandise, tickets and experiences to fans from one customisable website.

It was founded in 2007 by Australian-born Mark Meharry as “sticking two fingers up at the industry”. The idea behind Music Glue was to allow artists to maximise their commercial revenues and protect their fans from exorbitant fees.

It was an important step for unsigned musicians. By cutting out as many middlemen as possible, it allowed them to make more money, control their careers and avoid the control and financial overheads of having a label.

As a result, Meharry says, “We have plenty of small artists that are making a good living and do not have to work a normal job anymore… and they are not signed to a label and make very little from exploitation of recorded music.

With its headquarters in London and with offices in New York City and Sydney, its clients have included Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Enter Shikari, Ash and Billy Bragg.

Its Australian client list includes Flume, Ball Parl Music and SAFIA as well as New Zealand’s Ladyhawke.