#celebrityaccess

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Kobalt’s recording arm AWAL has hired Thomas Fiss as Vice President, Strategic Marketing, North America.

In this new role, Fiss will oversee creative multichannel marketing, including conceptualizing and producing content offerings and partner integrations for AWAL artists, to grow relationships with brands, media outlets and other external organizations.

Fiss joins AWAL with more than 10 years of music industry and partnership marketing experience. Most recently, he served as a department head at Life is Beautiful Music Festival, where he managed brand partnerships, including strategy and execution. He is also the co-founder of Partner.ly, a software platform that simplifies the artist and brand partnership process. Prior to beginning his marketing career, Fiss was a recording artist signed to Capitol Records in the US.

Commenting on their latest hire, AWAL President, North America Ron Cerrito said: “We are reimagining the construct and type of services artists and labels should have access to in the modern music industry. We sought someone with Thomas’ brand partnership expertise and agency approach to help us innovate what next chapter music marketing should look like and to help our artists create unique content offerings for their fans.”

Michael Pukownik, AWAL SVP Artist Marketing, North America, added: “Thomas is a highly creative, forward thinking, data-driven executive. His experience will be integral in helping shape our new-school marketing and brand integration strategies. The entire team is eager to work with him to deepen AWAL’s relationships with partners that can help take our artists’ careers to the next level.”

Fiss said: “I am honored to be joining Kobalt Music Group and would like to thank Willard Ahdritz, Lonny Olinick, Ron Cerrito, Michael Pukownik and the entire AWAL team for this incredible opportunity. My passion is to seek out and implement strategic partnerships and alliances that allow artists to target key audiences and create lasting impressions, supported by data and analytics. I cannot think of another company that further embraces win-win principles, creativity, and innovation more than AWAL. I look forward to crafting partnerships that impact cultural relevance and behavior.

Fiss will be based out of AWAL’s LA office.

The post AWAL Hires Thomas Fiss As Vice President of Strategic Marketing, North America appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

PERU (CelebrityAccess) – Warner Music has officially opened its doors in Peru, hiring Angela Sarmiento Vera to head up operations in one of Latin America’s fastest-growing music markets.

Sarmiento Vera joins following a six-year tenure at Warner Music Colombia, where she held various marketing roles including as head of press and TV. She will be based out of Warner Peru’s brand new Lima office and report to Maria Mercedes Montejo, general manager, Warner Music Andean Region.

Commenting on the label’s latest move toward expanding its global impact, Montejo said in a statement: “Peru’s an essential destination for artists from across Latin America and it’s also developed its own incredible local music scene. Growing digital and neighbouring rights income means the market in Peru is as commercially sustainable as it’s creatively sparkling. It’s a great moment to open an office in Lima.”

Iñigo Zabala, president of Latin America and Iberia at Warner Music, added: “The music market in Peru is surging as more people sign-up to digital services. This has opened up huge opportunities for our existing artists, who are traveling there in increasing numbers. Angela has the experience and skills to help them build deeper relationships with local influencers and fans alike. We’re also excited about building our A&R team so we can nurture some of the amazing local talent there.”

Sarmiento Vera said: “I’m honored to be taking up the new role of general manager of Warner Music Peru. I look forward to welcoming our international artists to Lima, as well as working with local talent as we grow the business.”

Sarmiento Vera began her career at Grupo Editorial Norma, a Colombia-based book publishing company. She also worked for Bogotá-based PR agency Fabiola Morera before joining Warner Music Colombia in 2012.

The post Warner Music Launches In Peru, Hires Angela Sarmiento Vera As GM appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

INDIA (CelebrityAccess) – Global music streaming giant Spotify has agreed to remove all works belonging to India’s oldest record label, Saregama, from its platform within the next 10 days.

The decision follows a copyright infringement suit against Spotify brought by Saregama and heard by Delhi’s High Court.

In the lawsuit, which is available for viewing here, Saregama claims that, although it entered into negotiations with Spotify for a copyright license and permitted Spotify to upload its content a month ahead of the platform’s launch in India, the two parties never actually finalized their deal.

Subsequently, Saregama, alleges that it requested Spotify block all of its work on the app, however, the streaming platform had not complied until now.

Established in 1901, Saregama is India’s oldest record label and music publishing company. With a catalog that generated over a billion streams worldwide in calendar Q4 last year, according to MBW, the firm began operations as a branch of EMI, later becoming The Gramophone Company. Today it is owned by RPG Group.

Spotify launched in India on February 27, and has since welcomed millions of regional users to its platform.

The post Spotify To Remove India’s Saregama Catalog Amid Copyright Infringement Lawsuit appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

LONDON (CelebrityAccess) – Arctic Monkeys, Hozier and George Ezra are among the nominees for the 2019 Ivors, which were announced earlier today (April 24).

Now in their 64th year, The Ivors celebrate, honor and reward excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composing across categories for songs, albums, film, TV and video game scores. Works eligible for this year’s awards were commercially released in the UK in 2018 and have a British or Irish songwriting or composing contribution of at least a third.

“The works nominated for The Ivors 2019 are brilliantly diverse, and we’re delighted to see so many first-time nominees recognised,” said Ivors Academy chair Crispin Hunt in a statement. “As the only peer-nominated music award in the country, they are a fantastic reflection of the exciting emerging talent of British and Irish music creators today. Our congratulations to all nominated.”

This year’s winners will be revealed during a ceremony at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London on May 23, sponsored by PRS For Music.

The full list of 2019 Ivor Novello Awards nominations is as follows:

BEST SONG MUSICALLY AND LYRICALLY

Four Out Of Five Written by Alex Turner Performed by Arctic Monkeys Published in the UK by EMI Music Publishing

Nica Libres at Dusk Written and performed by Ben Howard Published in the UK by Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Limited

Nina Cried Power

Written and performed by Hozier Published in the UK by Sony/ATV Music Publishing – The Evolving Music Company

BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG

Black Rose Written by Ghetts, Kojey Radical, Daniel Miles, JoJo Mukeza and Jaime Naldo Menezes Performed by Ghetts ft Kojey Radical

Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management and EMI Music Publishing – Stellar Songs

Blue Lights Written by Guy Bonnet, Dizzee Rascal, Roland Romanelli and Jorja Smith Performed by Jorja Smith Published in the UK by EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Love It If We Made It Written by George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy and Ross MacDonald Performed by The 1975 Published in the UK by Good Solider Songs

PRS FOR MUSIC MOST PERFORMED WORK

Breathe Written by Jax Jones and Ina Wroldsen Performed by Jax Jones ft Ina Wroldsen Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing and Reservoir Reverb Music

Shotgun Written by George Ezra Barnett, FRED and Joel Pott Performed by George Ezra

Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management and Sony ATV/Music Publishing – Promised Land Music

These Days Written by Julian Bunetta, Dan Caplen, Macklemore, John Ryan and Jamie Scott Performed by Rudimental ft Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen Published in the UK by Big Deal Music – Peermusic UK, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing

BEST ALBUM

Cocoa Sugar Written by Kayus Bankole, Graham Hastings and Alloysious Massaquoi Performed by Young Fathers Published in the UK by Just Isn’t Music Limited

I’m All Ears Written by Jenny Hollingworth and Rosa Walton Performed by Let’s Eat Grandma Published in the UK by Blue Raincoat Songs

Joy As An Act of Resistance Written by Jonathan Beavis, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan and Joseph Talbot Performed by Idles Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE

American Animals Composed by Anne Nikitin Published in the UK by Accorder Music – Peermusic UK

Phantom Thread Composed by Jonny Greenwood Published in the UK by Warner/Chappell North America Limited

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Composed by Daniel Pemberton Published in the UK by Sony/ATV Music Publishing

BEST TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK

Flowers (Series 2) Composed by Arthur Sharpe Published in the UK by Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Happy New Year, Colin Burstead Composed by Clint Mansell Published in the UK by Decca Publishing – Universal Music Publishing

Requiem Composed by Natasha Khan and Dominik Scherrer

Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management, Du Vinage Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing

BEST ORIGINAL VIDEO GAME SCORE

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Composed by Michael Georgiades, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith

Q.U.B.E. 2 Composed by David Housden

Sea of Thieves Composed by Robin Beanland

In addition to the above award categories, the following Ivor Novello Awards will be presented in recognition of a contribution to UK music:

INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OUTSTANDING SONG COLLECTION PRS FOR MUSIC OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO BRITISH MUSIC PRS FOR MUSIC SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD SONGWRITERS OF THE YEAR THE IVORS JAZZ AWARD THE IVORS INSPIRATION AWARD

The post Arctic Monkeys, Hozier & George Ezra Among The Ivors 2019 Nominees appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CelebrityAccess) And then, in a puff a smoke, when nobody was looking, Ticketmaster’s older connection to its patrons – communication via telephone – was no more.

According to a small article in The Vindicator, reporting on future shows at Youngstown, Ohio’s venues such as the Covelli Centre, Packard Music Hall and The Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, “Ticketmaster has discontinued its telephone ticket ordering service.” Instead, all tickets must be purchased by the newfangled World Wide Web, namely at Ticketmaster.com.

Ironically, shows at the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, can be picked up at this thing called a “box office” located at 1703 Mahoning Ave., NW.

Well, roll over Beethoven and tell Fred Rosen the news: people don’t pick up the phone to order tickets anymore. Ticketmaster was founded in 1975 in Phoenix and was built on licensed computer programs based off of a purchase of Ticketron.

Or, as the one person to comment on the story said, “Ah no way, this is Bogus man! Now I gotta get a computer.”

    The post And Just Like That, Ticketmaster’s Telephone Service Was Gone appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

CHINA (CelebrityAccess) Live Nation Entertainment has appointed Song Ke, former chairman of Alibaba Music, as chairman of Live Nation China.

Song Ke will be basked in Beijing and is tasked with guiding Live Nation’s overall business in China. Song is expected to focus on domestic artist touring, artist management and venues. Live Nation’s international concerts business in China will continue to be led by managing director Edward Liu, based in Shanghai, according to a statement.

Song Ke founded Rye Music, one of China’s biggest labels, in the 1990s and spent time as head of Warner Music Group (China). He then founded Taihe Rye Music in 2004 where he worked with the big names of C-Pop.

Song Ke is the current chairman of the China Music Industry Committee.

Alan Ridgeway, Chairman, Live Nation Asia Pacific commented: “We have made great in-roads into China over the last few years by building up our international touring volumes, especially at the club and theatre level, and introducing both EDC and Creamfields festivals to multiple cities across China.  Song Ke’s vast experience in the Chinese music industry will now help propel our business forward into the domestic artist touring business and other growth areas.”

“China is a rapidly growing live entertainment market, and Live Nation with its expertise and international know-how is already contributing to the country’s live music ecosystem,” Song Ke said. “I look forward to helping Live Nation strengthen its core business and expand into new areas and opportunities.”

Recent shows brought to China by Live Nation include Troye Sivan, Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, OneRepublic, Tom Odell, Chris Botti, and Kodaline and upcoming shows include Kacey Musgraves, Jason Mraz, and LANY, with others to be announced.

  The post Song Ke, Former Chairman Of Alibaba Music, Appointed Chairman Of Live Nation China appeared first on CelebrityAccess.

Tyler Bacon (Position Music President and CEO), Emily Weber (VP, Creative Synch), Michael Franti, (Artist) Mark Chipello (VP, Head of A&R)

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Singer, songwriter, poet, filmmaker and humanitarian Michael Franti, frontman of the hip-hop/funk collective Spearhead, has signed a publishing deal with Position Music.

Through the publishing agreement, Position Music will seek sync opportunities for Franti’s music in film, television, advertising, and gaming.

“We are excited and honored to welcome Michael Franti to Position Music and look forward to working with him for a long time to come,” says Tyler Bacon. “Michael’s social conscience and ability to narrate and bridge the difficulties of life through music is what makes his body of work unique and appealing. We look forward to doing many great things together.”

Franti began writing music in the 1980s, including the standout project Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, where he made his mark as an activist on social justice issues. In 1994, Franti formed Michael Franti & Spearhead but it wasn’t until 2001 that the group cemented their position in the American music scene with the release of their seminal album Stay Human.

Michael Franti & Spearhead recently released their latest critically acclaimed album Stay Human Vol. II (via Thirty Tigers,) in addition to Franti’s award-winning, self-directed documentary Stay Human and are currently on the road performing a number of headlining dates as well as co-headlining dates with Ziggy Marley and supporting dates with Sublime with Rome.

The post Michael Franti Signs Publishing Deal With Position Music appeared first on CelebrityAccess.