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An industry listens: Metropolis invites the cream of the trade’s A&R machine to monthly music night PowerDown
NEW LIVE EVENTS THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
23.11.12 Music Week 23
METROPOLIS’ NEW MANAGEMENT have become canny in using their astonishing venue for live events in recent months. The main effort in this world is PowerDown, which takes place on
This diversity of Metropolis’ business – both in
terms of client and range of service – is clearly working. In the four years Brenchley has worked at the Group, topline revenues have climbed every year. In 2012, they jumped by their biggest-year-on- year margin yet, up over a third. And the work on modernising Metropolis won’t
stop there. International expansion into Qatar and Los Angeles is under way, with new studio complexes expected to be ready in 2013. “The decline in the industry and the recession is
tough for everybody,” says Brenchley, “but if you look hard enough, it presents you with great opportunities – at home as well as abroad.”
It might be a much more multi-layered, expansive business than the extravagant studio that Freddie Mercury called home all those years ago, but the Metropolis Group 2012 refuses to be hamstrung by history – whilst being extremely proud of its heritage. “Maybe there was a feeling that Metropolis was a
bit stuffy or elitist in the past,” admits Brenchley. “These days, nothing could be further from the truth. The new guard here doesn’t believe in any of that. We’re laser focused on the client – and quite frankly we’re so much more about the client than any other rival facility I know about. “And the best bit of all? We haven’t even really gotten started yet.”
the first Tuesday of every month. Three or four unsigned acts play to the cream of British A&R, with around 150 music industry execs turning up to the trade-only nights each time - furnished, of course, with a drink or too from Metropolis’s in-house bar. “We’ve had four people get major label record deals from
PowerDown in the last 18 months,” says Ian Brenchley (pictured). “We’re very selective about the acts and we get managers, producers, record companies, A&R guys and more through the door. “For me, the music industry doesn’t do enough exciting things
anymore. We want people to hang out; we’re the nearest and biggest entertainment hub to all the majors and lots of the indies.” Another big live event for the studio will be an independent mini-
festival in January, backed by AIM. “A lot of our clients are independent, so we’ve decided to offer unprecedented rates in the studio to encourage new indie bands to come and record here who might not typically have the budgets,” explains Brenchley.
Bucks Music Group would like to congratulate
Metropolis Group
for their past successes and we look forward to working together on future projects developing and nurturing creative projects with the Metropolis Publishing Arm.
Onward House | 11 Uxbridge Street | London | W8 7TQ | UK
www.bucksmusicgroup.com
020 7221 4275
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