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News October 27, 2015

New Signings & Team-Ups: Lurch & Chief sign to Illusive; Sony Aus announces Music For Nation schedule; Pharrell strikes Happy deal

New Signings & Team-Ups: Lurch & Chief sign to Illusive; Sony Aus announces Music For Nation schedule; Pharrell strikes Happy deal

Lurch & Chief sign to Illusive

Melbourne’s stoner-psych-rock six-piece Lurch & Chief released their track Fading Out, the lead single from upcoming EP Breathe (due March 2015), via Mushroom Group’s Illusive imprint today.

The band are currently supporting Kingswood on their national tour, which will see them perform metro and regional dates until the end of March.

The Agency Group picks up Columbus

Brisbane punk trio Columbus has inked a deal withbooking agent The Agency Group for their North American bookings. The band joins fellow Aussies Caligula's Horse,Illy,The Paper Kites, The Amity Affliction and Tkay Maidza.

Columbus, who are booked locally by 123 Agency will berepresented by booking agent Chad Lehner.

The Agency Group hasoffices in Los Angeles, London, Miami, Nashville, New York, Toronto and Malmo, and provides live representation to more than 2,000 artists worldwide.

Sony Music Entertainment Australia announces Music For Nation schedule

Sony Music Entertainment Australia announced the release schedule for UK metal, rock and prog label Music For Nations which has been revived after ten years. Aside from reissuing classic titles, it will also source and develop new acts in the genres. In April comes Liverpool-based Anathema’s back catalogue including a 3CD/1DVD box set. Back catalogue and individual reissues will come from Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, Opeth, Spiritual Beggar and Hardcore Superstar.

Vodafone and Stan seal mobile deal

With new Australian Communications and Media Authority data indicating a high Australian rate of video/music streaming on mobile devices, Vodafone stitched up a partnership with Fairfax / Nine’s subscription video on demand (SVOD) platform Stan. Details are light, one guess that it’s similar to the one with Spotify last October where users get the service’s $11.99 monthly sub as part of their Vodafone package. Another is that Vodafone customers get free or discounted access to Stan content while adding to their monthly data limits.

Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood predicts that since Stan’s January 26 launch, it is on track to hit 100,000 subscribers by late March. Its “early adoption is exceeding expectations” and subscriber sign ups are running three months ahead of target, he said. The question is, how many of the 100,000 actually paid, and how many arrived through free deals and promotions?

Coopers extends major festival sponsorships

South Australia’s Coopers Brewery extended its support for three SA festivals through March – WOMADelaide (which it has been with since it began in 1992), Adelaide Fringe and The Garden of Unearthly Delights. Coopers is already a long time sponsor of the Adelaide Festival. “Coopers has enjoyed a close association with cultural events in this State for many years and we look forward to working with organisers to help make the events even bigger and better,” said National Sales and Marketing Director, Cam Pearce.

Presto arrives on iPhone and Android phones

A month after Presto TV landed on Android tablets, it’s available on the iPhone 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus and select Android devices from Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony and ZTE.

Shaun James, Foxtel’s Director of Presto and On Demand called it an “initial rollout” indicating more models will be included.

Madman Entertainment back with Initiative Melbourne

Rights management and theatrical / home entertainment distribution company Madman Entertainment returned its media account (estimated at $2 million) to its original agency Initiative Melbourne. Madman gave Initiative the heave-ho when it was acquired by retailer and wholesaling business Funtastic and switched to its agency Huckleberry.

Madman bought back its ownership late last year, after which it re-evaluated media strategies and sourced new suppliers. Madman handles Australian film, world cinema, TV, kids, anime and sports while its rights management covers theatrical distribution, as well as licensing for television, video-on-demand, hotel, airline and merchandise.

Pharrell strikes Happy deal

Pharrell Williams has a Happy deal with Putnam Books For Young Readers to deliver four picture books. The first, based on his hit song Happy, will be out in September with a first print run of 250,000. It will feature photographs of children from around the world "celebrating what it means to be happy."

Bellusira finalise US deal with Pavement Entertainment

Expatriate Melbourne band Bellusira signed an artist deal with US rock and metal label Pavement Entertainment. It will release their fourth album The Gold In Every Fall mid-year. The signing comes after the band’s 21-date US tour.

After living in the US for the past 12 months, the band has decided to make its Stateside stay permanent. After slotting in a last minute Australian tour (March 6 to 22 over four states), the band returns to the US for 40 shows in the North East. Signed to M7 booking agency for USA last August, they expect to play five to six nights a week in the US for the rest of 2015.

Throwing Darts at Rice Is Nice

Moody Melbourne guitar band Darts linked with Sydney’s Rice Is Nice Records. Their bedroom-recorded debut album Below Empty And Westward Bound is out mid-March (as in 15.5.15). The band is Ally Campbell-Smith, Paige X. Cho, Jessie Fernandez and brothers Angus and Andrew Ayres.

Piercing Europe

Melbourne duo The Pierce Brothers plan to spend more time in Europe, following a UK and Europe deal with Sony Music Netherlands via the RCA imprint. They’re booked for two London club shows in May. Their second EP produced with Jan Skubiszewski is out this year. Their first sold 40,000.

Kobalt acquires CEG Rights

Kobalt purchased movie music rights administration business CEG Rights from film score financiers Cutting Edge Group which set it up in 2013.

CEG Rights’ catalogue, which includes scores for films as Drive, The King's Speech and Whiplash, is estimated to have grossed a total US$2 billion at the box office. It is Kobalt's first acquisition of a publishing administration business as it develops its film and TV admin business.

It will use its technologies for the scores’ worldwide publishing, collection and administering of their master recordings. Kobalt already administers the music catalogues in Australia for National Geographic and Disney which includes Pixar and Marvel properties and the Frozen soundtrack which by last July sold over 5 million worldwide.

Cody Simpson’s Facebook tie-up

Gold Coast expatriate Cody Simpson struck a deal with Facebook whereby he used its Hollywood studios to cut four video performances for posting exclusively for his 5 million Facebook followers.

Barry Weiss launches record label with SONGS Publ.

Former Jive/Zomba CEO Barry Weiss is teaming with SONGS Music Publishing for new hybrid record label/publisher, sources told Billboard.

Weiss helped Clive Calder build Jive/Zomba in the ‘80s into a multi-billion dollar company with relentless smasheroonies by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Steps and '’Nsync. He stayed on with Sony after Calder sold the label to BMG in 2002 for $2.7 billion. After he was passed over for the top job following the Sony-BMG merger, he went to Universal Music Group. However, Weiss’ new company is rumoured to be distributed through Sony. SONGS is a hot revenue-earner signing up Diplo, Lorde and The Weeknd.

Australia’s Derek Muller signed to WME

Australian-born Canadian-raised science communicator, filmmaker and television presenter Derek Muller was signed to America’s giant WME (William Morris Entertainment) agency. Currently based in Sydney, the 33-year-old became an online sensation through his YouTube channel Veritasium (which has 2 million subscribers) and has been presenting the Australian TV show Catalyst since 2011.

Muller’s WME pacting came as the agency beefed up its representation of names which made an impact on social media, including comedian Bart Baker (his take on Miley’s Wrecking Ball had 63 million views and has given him a subscriber base of 5 million), Chile’s German Garmendia (21 million YouTube subscribers), Brazilian makeup artist Camila Coelho (1.8 million subscribers), gamer and social parody merchant Jordan “Captain Sparklez” Maron (8 million subscribers) and American 16-year-old vlogger sensation Anthony Quintal, aka Lohanthony who has 1.3 million YouTube subscribers and 1.4 million Twitter followers and gets mobbed every time he goes out in hometown Boston.

SWAM:MO to expand opportunities for WA managers

The Singapore-West Australian Music Exchange (SWAM) has since 2013 provided showcasing and networking for WA and Singaporean acts. SWAM:MO (Managers Opportunity) is a new initiative where two WA-based music managers can attend the Music Matters conference in Singapore May 20 to 23.

Support from the Department of Culture and the Arts allows the WAM association to cover all expenses for the two. One will be mid-high level, the other emerging. Deadline for applications 5pm Tuesday March 10.

STC gets REA in for Artistic Director search

Sydney Theatre Company (STC) engaged Richard Evans of cultural advisors, REA Consulting, to help in its search to find a new Artistic Director to succeed Andrew Upton after his eight years at the helm.

Farmer & The Owl Festival adds names for The Imaginarium concept

Aside from its growing list of music acts, Wollongong’s Farmer & The Owl Festival announced names for its The Imaginarium concept to add to the event’s free-spirit vibe via other mediums. David Stratton will curate a number of 1920s silent movies, Sydney art gallery Space 44 will present large scale interactive works designed for the festival-goer, Sydney artist and My Sydney Riot underground music movement founder Raymond Lalotoa to provide a series of live art installations, Zender Bender for onstage projections and graphics, and Sydney artist L.A. Early for video projection and moving collage art. Street art teams Short-Black86, Ransm, Jimmy, Bafcat, Gumball & Swamp Monster and Hugo Ramirez get a room to graf in.

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