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THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC
www.musicweek.com NEWS 02 Jeff Price
“I’m really pissed off that the infrastructure to pay rights- holders doesn’t work”
INTERVIEW Labrinth
15
“I want to make innovative pop that says something new. Syco allow me creative freedom”
28.11.14 £5.50 REPORT
19 Artist services Leaders in the field discuss
its evolution and the future of artist power
Allen named MD of Decca U
LABELS ■ BY TIM INGHAM
niversal Music has appointed Rebecca Allen as MD of the UK’s
biggest home of classical music Decca Records - making her one of only a handful of females to run a frontline major record label. Allen has stepped up to
her new role after 15 years at Universal Music, in which time she has held posts as Decca’s director of media and, most recently, general manager. Allen now reports jointly to
Universal Music UK chairman & CEO David Joseph and ongoing Decca president Dickon Stainer, who was promoted earlier this month to the new position of president and CEO of Global Classics for Universal Music. Dickon Stainer said: “Becky
is an exceptionally skilled and versatile executive. Her outstanding drive and personality have taken Decca into new areas of repertoire globally, and this well-deserved promotion
heralds a new and ground- breaking era for the label.” Rebecca Allen said: “To
be given the role of managing director for a label of such historical importance as Decca is a huge privilege for me. We have a young and brilliantly talented team at the label and with their energy and ambition for our artists I feel confident about leading the company forward.”
After studying at the Trinity
College of Music in London, Allen started her career at the BBC where she worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and later the BBC Proms. She joined Universal Classics & Jazz in 1999 and remained with the label after it was re-named Decca Records UK in 2009, working closely with artists including The Lumineers, Rod Stewart,
Jamie Cullum, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Andrea Bocelli, Gregory Porter and Alfie Boe. Allen was promoted to general manager of the label in 2012. Decca has been the number
one classical record label in the UK for well over a decade. It has been selected as the official label partner of high profile events such as the 2011 Royal Wedding, the Queen’s Diamond
EXEC BECOMES ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF FEMALE MAJOR LABEL HEADS IN UK AND US
Jubilee in 2012 and the London 2012 Olympics. Female execs leading major
labels in the UK are few and far between, although Columbia co-president Alison Donald has enjoyed a successful year, taking a market share of around 7% on artist albums so far in 2014. In the US, Ethiopia Habtemariam is president of Motown Records, which was made a standalone label by Universal in April, while Julie Greenwald stands as COO/ chairman of Atlantic Records US. The current Decca roster
includes Cecilia Bartoli, Nicola Benedetti, Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe, Ludovico Einaudi, Gareth Malone and many others. Jenkins said: “I’m so happy for
Becky. We’ve worked together for ten years and it’s fantastic to see her receive such well deserved success. There are not many women at her level in the music industry and it’s therefore great for her to be recognised in such a prominent way.”
Black Butter uncloaks publishing company
A week after it announced a new deal with Sony Music’s Jason Iley, Black Butter has revealed new details of its publishing company to Music Week. A JV with BMG Chrysalis
UK, Black Butter Publishing was quietly established in early 2013 by the company’s co-founders Henry Village and Joe Gossa. Their roster now incudes writer-artists Jess Glynne, Aquilo, Bipolar Sunshine (pictured), Laura
Dockrill, Everything Everything and Kiko Bun. Alexi Cory-Smith, who
struck the JV with Gossa and Village told Music Week: “So far the results have been incredible. Together we have had shares in two No.1 singles from James Newman - Rudimental’s Waiting All Night and Calvin Harris feat John Newman’s Blame - and of course we have one of the biggest female artists
of the year, Jess Glynne, increasingly developing into a songwriter in her own right.” She added: “As a team, our
joint venture has proven itself strong enough to win some very competitive deals like Aquilo and Kiko, and Joe and Henry have formed a strong relationship with the BMG Chrysalis A&R team to help develop the writers - setting up sessions, liaising with managers and pitching for syncs.
“In fact, both James Newman
and Jess Glynne have done writing sessions in LA set up through our US office. “2015 should be a big year
[for Black Butter Publishing] with albums expected from Kiko Bun, Jess Glynne, Bipolar Sunshine, Aquilo, Elderbrook and James Newman - that really
is quite a line-up.” ■ Big Interview with Black Butter: Pages 9-13
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