May 2025: Richard Burgess, president and CEO of A2IM. Independent dependency: with a background in electronic music (he was a member of Landscape), music production, artist management, music technology and […]
Tag: PIAS
Posted inNews
Impala calls for regulators to investigate PIAS acquisition
There are warm words for the co-founders of PIAS in European indies body Impala’s statement on this week’s news of the independent firm’s full acquisition by Universal Music Group. PIAS […]
Posted inNews
PIAS founders sell remaining shares to Universal Music Group
When independent music firm PIAS announced a ‘strategic global alliance’ with Universal Music Group in 2021, the message was that PIAS “remains fully independent”. UMG acquired a minority stake as part of […]
Posted inNews
Universal Music Group buys 49% stake in indie group PIAS
Independence is still being stressed, with Gates and fellow co-founder Michel Lambot retaining majority control of PIAS.
Posted inNews
Pias says it stays ‘fully independent’ despite UMG deal
More consolidation of the independent distribution sector by the major labels? Well, not quite, but Universal Music Group’s ‘strategic global alliance’ with independent firm Pias is an intriguing move as […]
Posted inCampaigns
Behind The Campaign: Maxïmo Park
For their seventh studio album, Nature Always Wins, British alternative rock band Maxïmo Park released it via their management company’s record label (in partnership with PIAS). They teased the new […]
Posted inNews
Record Labels explain what they want from music/tech startups
Whether major or independent, music labels are keen to talk to any startup who can help them find new ways to deliver music, build audiences for their artists, and make their businesses as efficient as possible.
For the majors and larger independents, there are dedicated teams who focus on reaching out to startups (and fielding incoming interest) and figuring out how they might work together.
This video sees some of those people – Universal Music’s Glenn Cooper, Sony Music’s Victoria Cruz, PIAS’ Adrian Pope, and Warner Music’s Scott Cohen – explaining what they’re looking for, and how they think startup/label relationships can work best.
Posted inSandbox
Sandbox Issue 240: Music Marketing’s Wellness and Fitness Drive
Lead: Wellness and health have never been more culturally central than now – which is clearly a good thing. And within this, music is playing its part as acts soundtrack […]
Posted inSandbox
Sandbox Issue 228: Marketing on a Budget
Lead: You can throw cash at a campaign and make headlines for how much you actually spent. But what about the other end of the spending spectrum where there is […]
Posted inNews
Music analytics in 2018: ‘Data will tell you what’s hot, but not what is good’
Tied to the publication of the new report from British industry bodies ERA and BPI (Magic Numbers: How Can Data & Analytics Really Help The Music Industry?) and written by Music Ally, an afternoon of presentations and panel discussion on the current state of music analytics / data and their future was held at the BPI’s office in London yesterday (9 July).
Lucy Blair, from the artist and label marketing team at Spotify UK, opened with a presentation on what the streaming service is doing in terms of data access to artists, labels and managers as well as where it is evolving next.
“There were more than 100 updates in a few months last year,” she revealed of the data tools Spotify opens to registered partners. Blair worked through the range of data sets open up to the music industry, giving tips on how best to read them and indicating what are the most accurate metrics of success and engagement.
Posted inNews
Facebook strikes more deals focusing on independent labels
Facebook announced its latest set of music-licensing deals on Friday, with independent labels the latest frontier for its (currently) UGC-focused efforts.
Beggars Group, PIAS and Ingrooves were the latest partners, as well as indie licensing agency Merlin. As with Facebook’s major label and publishing agreements, the deals cover Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Oculus VR for videos uploaded by users that feature copyrighted music by the licensors.
“Independent artists and labels are an important part of a rich music tapestry. Each of their voices and sounds matter to people,” wrote Facebook’s head of music business development and partnerships Tamara Hrivnak in a blog post. “Independent labels have been at the forefront of innovation and have embraced new opportunities on our platforms.”
Posted inAnalysis
A&R in the digital age: ‘Learn with your artist and be open to admitting your mistakes’
In a world of streaming, social networks and the ability for any artist to get their music up on digital platforms, how is the role of the label A&R evolving?
A panel at AIM’s Indie-Con conference in London today addressed the topic of ‘A&R in the digital age’. The speakers included Vidhi Ghandi from Ninja Tune; Darius Van Arman from Secretly Group; Achal Dhillon from Killing Moon; Jane Third from PIAS; and Will Headlam-Wells from Believe. The moderator was Tim Ingham from MBW.
Dillon kicked off by talking about the value of A&R input into an artist’s career: it can be as much about “serving the record” as developing the artist – the happiest scenarios see those two co-incide – and it can be a very long-term process lasting years, rather than just the early period of the partnership.
