Music Industry Moves: Capitol Records Launches in China
Universal Music Greater China, a division of Universal Music Group has launched Capitol Records China as a new frontline label focused on signing and developing Chinese music talent, alongside the launch of a new standalone International division, dedicated to supporting UMG’s global talent roster across Greater China. The launch of Capitol Records in China brings the iconic label to Asia for the first time.
The launch of these new divisions is supported by executive management appointments, with Tom Tang (唐勇), a 20-year music executive who joined UMG in 2019, appointed as GM and Yvonne Yuen, who joined UMG in 2005 after holding posts at Warner and Sony, as SVP of marketing & head of international, effective immediately. Both divisions will report to chairman & CEO Sunny Chang.
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In making the announcement, CMG chair-CEO Michelle Jubelirer said, “We are in a global industry, and it is hugely important to Capitol that audiences around the world are able to engage with our artists and their music. The formation of Capitol Records China and the naming of such talented members to the label’s executive management team means that Chinese audiences will have better access to domestic repertoire across China under Tom, as well as our diverse roster of international superstar talent under Yvonne. This is a tremendous and fitting advance of Capitol’s 80-year legacy.”
Tang, said, “I am so honored to have been given the opportunity to launch the iconic record label – Capitol Records in China. This is an exciting and dynamic time for music in China, with an explosion in possibilities across cultural creativity and digital innovation. Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to build global careers for our homegrown musicians.”
+ Three Six Zero have announced the signing of NFT Franchise, Creepz as a management client. Creepz is a multi-season NFT experience based on
lizards that have been secretly living amongst us.” Founded by Joe and Dom, it is an expansive ecosystem intertwining community, narrative, and digital experiences together.
In the first six weeks since launch, Creepz has had break-out success with sales volume upwards of $170 million, according to the announcement. Three Six Zero will work with the Creepz team to expand their presence in the entertainment and commercial space.
“It is such an exciting opportunity to be working with the Creepz team. Seeing the explosive creation of the next generation of entertainment franchises in the web3 space is so exciting to us as a company.” said Milo Mitchum, Partner, Three Six Zero.
“We are incredibly excited about working with Mark, Milo, Karan and the team at Three Six Zero and helping the Creepz brand expand further into real life,” said the Creepz founders.
+ Warner Chappell Music publishing has promoted David Goldsen to head of A&R, Australia and vice president of creative. Goldsen will be relocating from New York to WCM’s headquarters in Los Angeles, where he’ll lead the A&R strategy for Australia while continuing to support the publisher’s U.S. and U.K. efforts. He will report to WCM co-chair-CEO Guy Moot and work closely with Matthew Capper, managing director of WCM Australia, in addition to Ryan Press, president, North America and Shani Gonzales, managing director, WCM UK.
Goldsen joined Warner Chappell in 2009 and has worked closely with Tones and I, Cavetown, Nathaniel Rateliff, Vance Joy, Mitski, Two Feet, and the Knocks, among others.
Moot, along with Warner Chappell’s co-chair and COO, Carianne Marshall, said: “With music becoming increasingly more global, we’re prioritizing our A&R efforts in Australia, which is exploding with incredible talent. David has already built an internationally recognizable roster with acts like Tones and I, Vance Joy, and Cavetown, so his transition into this role is a natural one. His relationships and creative expertise will bring exciting international opportunities to both our current Australian hitmakers and future signings, connecting them with our global roster and beyond.”
Goldsen said, “Australia is home to so many fantastic songwriters and artists, and I’m very grateful to Guy and Carianne for entrusting me with growing such an important market. This is an incredible opportunity to help local songwriters broaden their reach and collaborate with different artists, writers, and producers across borders and genres. I’m equally as excited to continue working closely with Ryan and Shani to introduce our U.S. and international writers to Australia’s explosive music scene and exceptional talent.”
Wednesday, March 2
In a scene that he probably wouldn’t even have written into one of his films, Oscar-winning writer, director and producer Cameron Crowe will serve as keynote speaker during the Entertainment Law Initiative’s program during Grammy Week in April. Crowe, of course, is the screenwriter-director of the classic rock film “Almost Famous,” as well as “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Say Anything,” “Jerry Maguire” and the music documentaries “Pearl Jam Twenty” and “The Union.” As previously announced, the 2022 Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award will be presented at the event to Susan Genco, co-president of the Azoff Company.
In addition, the winner and runners-up of the annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Contest have been chosen by the ELI’s panel of attorney graders, for which first prize is a $10,000 scholarship and a $2,500 scholarship to the two top runners-up:
Winner:
Sona Sulakian, J.D. Candidate
USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles
“Protecting the Artist: Licensing in an AI-Generated Music Market”
Runner-Up:
Chelsea Cohen, J.D. Candidate
Loyola Law School. Los Angeles
“Welcome to the Metaverse: Solving Old-World Licensing in a Whole New Universe”
Runner-Up:
Michael Harrigan, J.D. Candidate
Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, Florida
“Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: How Blockchain Technology can Shift the DMCA’s Burden of Notification Away From Copyright Owners”
+ Capitol Music Group has named Rebecca “Dimplez” Ijeoma senior VP of digital marketing & content development, company president Arjun Pulijal announced Wednesday. She is based in Los Angeles and reports to Pulijal.
In her new position, will Ijeoma co-lead the company’s digital department with CMG SVP Nicholas Osborne. She comes to CMG after four years as head of her own, eponymous marketing agency, which will continue under her former partner, John King; she was previously with CMG in 2017-18 and held roles at Yo! Raps Magazine and worked as a freelance writer and publicist.
CMG chair & CEO Michelle Jubelirer and Pulijal said in a joint statement, “Dimplez is a culture-builder and thought-leader in the digital space, and she is bringing to CMG all of the qualities that are synonymous with our new era: She is an artists-first executive who is highly innovative, creative, resourceful and inspiring to all who have the pleasure of working with her.”
+ Ultra Music Publishing, a leading independent publisher founded in 2004 by Patrick Moxey, has announced a strategic alliance with Warner Chappell Music. The agreement will see Warner Chappell Music becoming Ultra’s sub-publisher in the U.K. and responsible for collecting the company’s digital income across the U.K. and the rest of Europe. Ultra will also explore new collaborations and opportunities for its extensive roster of writers and producers with those represented by Warner Chappell Music. Ultra’s 36,000-copyright catalog includes releases from Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, Future, Kygo, Migos, Madonna, Diplo, the Weeknd and David Guetta, among others.
+ Jaime Rosenberg will join BB Gun PR after 11 years at Warner Music Group, effective next week. She also has moved to Austin, Texas.
Tuesday, March 1
City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S., will honor Republic Records founders Monte and Avery Lipman (pictured above, R-L) at its 2022 Spirit of Life Gala in the fall. The prestigious award will be presented to them at a gala dinner — the first Spirit of Life Gala since 2019.
According to the announcement, the Spirit of Life Award is City of Hope’s most prestigious honor and is presented to an esteemed community of industry leaders around the world who have made a significant commitment to improving the lives of others through the advancement of research and clinical innovation and the delivery of personalized, compassionate care. Past Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Group recipients include Sylvia Rhone, Jon Platt, Mo Ostin, Clive Davis, Quincy Jones, Frances W. Preston, Shelli and Irving Azoff, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Doug Morris and Lucian Grainge. The Lipman brothers are continuing a 49-year tradition of support from the industry, which collectively has raised nearly $125 million for research.
“City of Hope remains one of the most important organizations in terms of diagnosis, treatment and providing care for those in need,” commented Monte Lipman. “Their groundbreaking research for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases continues to save many lives. To be recognized by City of Hope is an exceptional honor, and we are fully committed to raising even more awareness for this incredibly worthy cause.”
“We’ve marveled at City of Hope’s tireless work for many years,” adds Avery Lipman. “Evan and the board have furthered a very important mission that has made the world a better place in the process. As far as we’re concerned, this is one of the most important honors we could ever receive.”
This announcement kicks off a year-long fundraising initiative for City of Hope that includes marquee events, such as the Taste of Hope Wine Dinner and Auction and Songs of Hope event.
+ Atlantic Records has named Brian Dackowski to the newly created position of executive VP of viral marketing & analytics, GM Paul Sinclair and West Coast president Kevin Weaver announced on Tuesday. Dackowski, who joined the label in 2004, will be overseeing a marketing analytics team as well as the video content team, and will join the marketing senior leadership team alongside our other department heads.
“Over the years, Brian has been incredibly thoughtful in how we try new strategies, first in digital marketing, then in launching and building The Shop our artist development incubator to launch many of our promising new artists, and most recently in partnering with A&R and digital marketing to significantly amplify opportunities on our viral records across the various platforms,” Sinclair and Weaver said.
+ U.K.-based marketing agency Deviate Digital has promoted Stef Pascual to general manager. Before joining Deviate in 2020, Pascual held roles at Crown Talent, the Orchard, Sony Red and Essential, and also lectured at Berklee School of Music and owns the label Silent Cult. Deviate also promoted Alex Rusted to digital marketing director, and hired digital marketing managers Meg Parker, Manny O’Donnell and Tommy Parker.
Along with new hires and promotions, Deviate, which was founded in 2017 by British digital exec Sammy Andrews, also announced that its premium advertising services are now available to artists and managers directly. Andrews said, “The music business has fundamentally changed and it’s vital that artists and managers have direct access to the best in class ad products globally with an expert team to advise them. We’ve served global advertising for so many top 10 records this last year and after each success, we had interesting approaches from managers. Whilst everyone has access to basic services most have no access to premium ad products or relationships directly outside of label and promoter media buys. Today we are opening this service to the wider music business community.”
+ 10K Projects has promoted Molly McLachlan, one of the company’s first employees, to executive VP of global marketing.
“From the day Molly took on oversight of international at 10K, we saw an immediate positive effect on the success of our artists outside the United States,” said Zach Friedman, co-president of 10K Projects. “She continues to evangelize for our artists overseas in powerful ways and we are pleased to be able to offer her this expanded role at the label.”
+ Primary Wave Music has acquired all rights of Regent Music Corporation and Jewel Music Publishing, which includes such songs as the surf classic “Pipeline,” works by jazz giants Lionel Hampton, Thelonious Monk, and Django Reinhardt (including “Minor Swing”), and “Apache,” one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop. The companies were founded in the famed Brill Building by music publishing luminaries Gene Goodman and his late brother, Harry. Other Regent and Jewel hits include “More Today Than Yesterday” (written by Pat Upton and made famous by Spiral Starecase), songs by soul and R&B legend, Jackie Wilson (including his first hit, “Lonely Teardrops”), folk anthem “Abraham, Martin and John”, the pop hit “Silhouettes”, and “Do You Hear What I Hear” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”
+ Wasserman Music has hired agents Matt Elam and Sahil Mehta, and promoted Stephanie Aristakesian, Zach Berkowitz, Alex Guaraldi, Daniel Lee, Leigh Millhauser and Jeff Molek to agent. The agency has also promoted Antonio Dell’Aglio to director of touring and Mohammad Shah to manager of touring.
Elam, who will be on Brent Smith’s team at Wasserman Music, joins following a decade at WME, where he represented D Smoke, Allen Stone and Hobo Johnson, among others, and signed Best New Artist Grammy nominee Baby Keem with Smith. Mehta joins from Madison House, where he has developed a roster of primarily electronic music artists over the last three years.
“We’re excited to have Matt Elam and Sahil Mehta join our team, and we expect they’ll do great things here,” said Wasserman Music EVP & managing executive Brent Smith. “They’re both agents we’ve known and respected, and they’re the right fit for our culture and ethos as an agency focused on artist discovery and long-term development.”
+ South Carolina-based TrueScale Records has enlisted ADA Worldwide for global distribution. According to the announcement, the company, which was founded by Phillip Michael Gilchrist, is “looking to focus on the Black creative experience and offer full artist development services as the centerpiece to young artists,” he says.
“As we celebrate Black History Month in February and the significant contributions of entertainment and music legends in the Civil Rights movement, we are thrilled to have Phil and our catalog of artists join the amazing teams at ADA and their vast footprint in the music market space” says Steve G, ADA’s VP of business development.
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