UNIVERSAL CHANGES IN THE GERMAN MUSIC MARKET

    

The beginning of the New Year evokes many new resolutions and changes across the world, and the same is true of the rapidly changing and evolving global music business. The German market in particular (the world’s 4th largest music territory) has seen its fair share of changes in the past few months with a number of global acquisitions and partnerships announced by BMG, executive changes and hires at Sony and Warner Music Germany, as well as a significant change of tide (staffing-wise) at the Berlin-based headquarters of Universal Music Germany.

These changes were compounded by the growth of independent music publisher, Budde Music, who last year launched their first office in the U.S. in Los Angeles, led by successful British producer/songwriter and A&R executive, Felix Howard. Former BMG Germany MD, Maik Pallasch, as announced first in this newsletter, has taken on the role of Head of Germany, Shows & Editorial/Content & Creator for Spotify and A&R Worldwide has also learned of significant changes forthcoming at Imagem Music GmbH, as well as a slew of other activity in the Deutschland music market.

On the Universal front, over the past few months numerous staff have left the label, most notably Daniel Lieberberg who had been with the company since 2002 and, at the time of his departure last October, was Head of Universal Music Domestic’s Vertigo, Capitol (VEC) and Polydor, Island (PIL) labels. Lieberberg is said to be taking on a high-profile and influential role at Sony Europe in the very near future. Other recent departures at Universal Music Group Germany include Patrick Mushatsi-Kareba (General Manager; Marketing & Digital; Universal Music Germany); Jonas Weber (Director Strategic Development; Universal Music Germany); Fiete Klatt (Head of A&R; Vertigo/Capitol); Matthias Henning (VP, International Marketing); Alexander Kralisch (Sr. A&R Manager Polydor/Island Records); Anni Barsoe (A&R Manager Vertigo/Capitol); and Sigi Schuller (Director A&R, Polydor/Island/Vertigo/Capitol) who left Universal last September to become VP of Columbia Records GSA. In addition, various staffers from marketing and digital have also left the company. According to various sources, many of the executives have left the company as a response to the recently announced structural changes at the major.

Frank Briegmann, President & CEO of Central Europe & Deutsche Grammophon at Universal Music Group announced late last year that the company had decided to turn its specialized departments into business units, which would enable its staff to think and act like entrepreneurs.

Dirk Baur who was the Managing Director of the International Division was recently announced as President, Marketing Labs. Marketing Labs is poised to pool key digital activities and business intelligence to create new digital platforms. According to Universal Germany, Marketing Labs will create a single point of contact for print/online promotion, media agency, creative agency, digital partnerships and business intel, as well as consumer development.

In addition, all of Universal Germany’s domestic repertoire staff now reports to Tom Bohne who was promoted to President of Domestic Labels late last year. Also, UMG’s catalog department will be incorporated into its national and international divisions.

Additionally, Frank Hohenböken takes the helm as Managing Director Sales GSA, where he will continue to oversee all sales activities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and specialize in serving the physical business within the music and merchandising market. Philipp Zwez was named Managing Director of Music & Brands & Business Development of the Music & Brands division.

RON PERRY NAMED CHAIRMAN & CEO OF COLUMBIA RECORDS

Ron Perry

As expected, Ron Perry has officially been announced as Chairman and CEO of Columbia Records, previously led by Rob Stringer before he assumed his current role leading Sony Music in the U.S. Perry, who started his new position today, will be based in New York while reporting to Stringer and will lead overall management of Columbia. Perry, at 38 years old, also currently sits as the youngest executive leading a major label until Aaron Bay-Schuck assumes his Co-chairman and CEO role at Warner Bros. Records later this year.

"Ron is an immensely dynamic and forward thinking executive who excels at bringing the best out of artistic vision," Stringer said in a statement. "After his enormous success in recent years, we are thrilled to have Ron join Sony Music and lead the great team and unparalleled roster at the legendary Columbia Records label."

Perry had most recently been President at Songs Music Publishing, recently acquired by Kobalt Capital, in addition to being a large minority partner since its 2004 launch. While at Songs, Perry’s credits included signing Lorde, The Weeknd, Major Lazer and Diplo, as well as A&R-ing Lorde's Grammy-nominated Melodrama and putting together The Weeknd and Daft Punk on “Starboy” and “I Feel It Coming.”

“I want to thank Rob for the extraordinary opportunity to run the premier label in the history of music," Perry said in a statement. "To embark as the curator of this storied company is both the highest and most humbling career achievement I could imagine. Columbia Records has stood the test of time as the industry's marquee home for the world's greatest stars. Rob has handed off an extremely talented team at Columbia. I look forward to building on his successes, while developing culturally innovative new artists and extending Columbia's unprecedented run at the top into the future.”

JIM ROPPO NAMED EVP/GM FOR REPUBLIC RECORDS

Jim Roppo

Republic Records has announced the promotion of Jim Roppo to Executive Vice President and General Manager, it was announced last week by Founder and Chairman, Monte Lipman. In the new role, Roppo will oversee label operations for Republic and its various partners.

Lipman comments, “Jim has served as key architect for many campaigns over the years that not only yielded tremendous results, but also made an impact on pop culture. His drive, determination, and competitive spirit are intoxicating. In his new role, Jim will have even more latitude to help steer the company into uncharted waters. I’m thrilled about this announcement.”

“Republic has a world-class roster and team,” adds Roppo. “The leadership is incredible. Charlie Walk is a creative force of nature. Avery Lipman operates with unmatched finesse and foresight. Monte is the ultimate coach, pushing you to not only meet your potential, but exceed it. A company hallmark is its focus on breaking new artists. That’s what inspires me the most. My passion for the business centers around the idea of turning other people on to great music. Republic gives me the opportunity to do just that.”

A 20-year veteran of Universal Music Group, Roppo has been with Republic since 2012, most recently as EVP, Marketing & Commerce. At Republic, he’s been at the forefront of campaigns for acts such as Drake, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Post Malone, James Bay and most recently, Grammy nominee Julia Michaels, as well as others. Prior to Republic, Roppo spent 13 years at Island Def Jam Music Group, becoming Sr. VP of Sales and working on Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Rihanna and others.

MUSEXPO 2018 LINE-UP CONTINUES TO ADD INDUSTRY LEADERS AND
INFLUENCERS FOR LOS ANGELES EVENT

MUSEXPO 2018 will return to Los Angeles this year from April 29th - May 2nd at the W Hotel Hollywood. As the event gears up for its 20th edition globally, it continues to draw the attention of many of the industry’s most forward-thinking and successful executives and companies vested in the future of the evolving worldwide music business.

The event’s broad-ranging program will cover all aspects of the multi-billion dollar global music and media industry including live, A&R, publishing, brands, film/TV/videogames, management, marketing, mobile, automotive, digital media, streaming and more. As always, the heart of MUSEXPO will remain a passion for music and connecting like-minded industry professionals for creative and commercial opportunities.

Already confirmed to join 2018’s inspiring program are: Arnold Peter - Founding Partner, Peter Law Group; Barry Dickins - Co-Founder, Int’l Talent Booking (ITB); Ben Cooper - Controller, BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra & BBC Asian Network; Bob Shennan - Director of Radio & Music, BBC; Craig Kallman - Chairman & CEO, Atlantic Records Group; Chris Price - Head of Music, BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra; Colin Lester - Founder, JEM Music (worldwide manager Craig David); Ed Kershaw - CCO, 7digital; Gary Calamar - President, Go! Music Services; Ian Montone - Founder, Monotone, Inc.; Jake Wisely - CEO, The Bicycle Music Company; Janine Scalise Boyd - VP, Music, Creative & Business Affairs, Starz; Jay Cooper - Shareholder & Founder, LA Entertainment Practice, Greenberg Traurig LLC; Jo Charrington - Co-President, Capitol Records UK; Joe Belliotti - Head of Global Music Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company; Leron Gubler - President & CEO, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce; Mark Sutherland - Editor, Music Week; Michael Howells - British Consul General in Los Angeles; Mike Tunnicliffe - EVP/Head of Universal Music Group & Brands; Nick Raphael - President, Capitol Records UK; Paramdeep Singh - Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Saavn; Pelle Lidell - Co-Founder & President, EKKO Music Rights Europe; Pete Ganbarg - President of A&R, Atlantic Records; Pieter Viljoen - Assistant Editor, Rock Paper Scissors (Nike, Beats by Dre, Jaguar, Netflix); Ritch Esra - Publisher, The Music Business Registry; Rudy Chung - Partner, Hit The Ground Running (HTGR) & Founding Partner, Pusher; Sanken Sandqvist - Managing Director, BMG Scandinavia; Simon Katz - Sr. Director A&R/Staff Producer, Republic Records; Steve Schnur - Worldwide Executive of Music & Marketing, EA Games; Sunil Perkash - Film Producer (Enchanted, S.A.L.T., Premonition); Thaddeus Rudd - Co-President & Co-Owner, Mom+Pop Music; Tim Ingham - Founder & Publisher, Music Business Worldwide; Vijay Nair - CEO, Only Much Louder (India); Wendy Goldstein - EVP, Republic Records; William D. Simon - Global Sector Leader, Media/Entertainment/Sr. Client Partner, Korn Ferry; Zane Lowe - Head of Beats 1 Radio, Apple Music; and many more to be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information on attending MUSEXPO 2018 including registration, discount hotel information, partnership opportunities and showcase submissions, visit www.musexpo.net or reach out to Tyler Polzin at tyler@anrworldwide.com.

BBC RADIO 1 & RADIO 2 TO BE HONORED IN LOS ANGELES FOR 50 YEARS OF INSPIRATION

    

MUSEXPO Los Angeles is honored to host BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 as this year’s recipient for its esteemed and globally recognized annual “International Music Icon of the Year” award, being presented during a special awards luncheon event at the W Hotel Hollywood on Wednesday, May 2nd 2018. This is a first-ever for a global broadcast multi-media entity and honors the radio station’s invaluable and exceptional contributions to the communications business and to the worldwide music community over the past 50 years.

The awards presentation will include the unveiling of a special-edition commemorative publication recognizing the impact and achievements of both BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 during their five-decade history, an official awards recognition from the international music business, an official proclamation from the City of Los Angeles (the music and entertainment capital of the world), as well as special presentations from Michael Howells - British Consul General in Los Angeles and Leron Gubler - President & CEO, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

As part of MUSEXPO 2018’s official global honorarium of the 50 year milestone for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, the event has confirmed a very rare and special keynote interview with Bob Shennan, Director of BBC Radio, and one of the world’s most important and influential radio and multi-media executives. Shennan currently maintains daily oversight of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5 live and digital-only stations 1Xtra, 6Music, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 5 live sports extra and Asian Network, as well as the BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Proms, BBC Music and radio production, which impacts tens of millions of daily listeners and consumers across the UK and around the world.

For additional details about being involved at BBC Radio 1 & Radio 2’s special awards luncheon and honorarium, contact Tyler Polzin at tyler@anrworldwide.com.

GLOBAL NEWS UPDATES…

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has finalized a licensing agreement with Facebook following Universal Music Group’s recent comprehensive deal with the social media platform covering recordings and publishing. The multi-territory, multi-year deal marks the first between Sony/ATV and Facebook and provides Sony/ATV’s songwriters the ability to earn royalties from the use of their music across Facebook and Instagram. The agreement will see users able to upload and share videos on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Oculus, featuring compositions licensed from the Sony/ATV catalogue with the opportunity to also use the licensed tracks to personalize their music experiences.

Jimmy Iovine

According to sources, Jimmy Iovine is expected to part ways with Apple Music in August, coinciding with his Apple shares fully vesting. Iovine, formerly the CEO of Interscope, came to Apple in 2014 following the sale of Beats, which he co-founded with Dr. Dre, to the tech company.

Loud Records co-founder, Rich Isaacson, has been tapped by Def Jam Recordings as the label’s new EVP and General Manager. Isaacson, who had most recently been leading artist management firm RI Entertainment, is the first major appointment for Paul Rosenberg, Def Jam’s new CEO who assumed his new role last week. Loud Records, which Isaacson launched along with Steve Rifkind, became one of the most influential hip-hop imprints having signed Wu-Tang Clan prior to their debut release as well as acts such as Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, Xzibit and Dead Prez.

A BRIGHT 2018 FOR PICTURE THIS: Sat Bisla accepts a special award from multi-Platinum selling Irish act Picture This for A&R Worldwide’s key early support of Ireland’s most successful new band.

A&R Worldwide congratulates Dublin, Ireland’s Picture This on their continued success. The band were supported early on by A&R Worldwide after forming back in 2015. The world quickly responded to both their storytelling and songwriting, after an iPhone video of their very first composition, “Take My Hand,” went viral. The song has generated 4 million Spotify streams and over 3 million YouTube views since its independent release. Their 2016 independent self-titled EP impressed audiences and in 2017, they won “Best Music Act” at the Gossies and landed a deal with Republic Records’ A&R executive Jason Jordan, who was originally introduced to the band by A&R Worldwide’s Sat Bisla whilst he was at Imagem Music Publishing. Picture This spent time in Nashville recording their full-length debut album for Republic Records, which was released last summer, reached No.1 for four weeks on the Irish Albums Chart and was certified 2x Platinum. Last November, they released a deluxe version of the album with two brand new tracks, “Gritty Picture” and “Body and Mind,” in addition to their holiday song, “This Christmas.” Picture This have sold over 150,000 tickets in the U.K. and Ireland, which includes a sold-out tour with arenas, and they just announced their first stadium headline show. A&R Worldwide wishes Picture This and their manager Brian Whitehead continued global success in 2018.

Kobalt has promoted Lonny Olinick to lead their recordings division, including AWAL and Kobalt Music Recordings, as CEO while reporting to Kobalt’s CEO and Founder, Willard Ahdritz. In his role as Chief Strategy Officer, Olinick had led strategy and business development, as well as executive oversight for Kobalt’s recording division and was involved in Kobalt’s $89 million capital fundraising. At the same time, Kobalt Music has promoted David Wille to Sr. VP, Sync and Brand Partnerships U.K. and Europe.

Warner/Chappell has signed Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer, Fred Ball, including a writing catalogue that features collaborations with Madonna, Rihanna, Zara Larsson and Little Mix, as well as his own recording works. The signing also reunites Warner/Chappell MD Mike Smith and Ball after 15 years when Smith worked with Ball at EMI Publishing. Based in London, the Norwegian-born songwriter saw his production and songwriting career launch with his Pleasure project, which included collaborations with Brett Anderson, Justine Frischmann, Ed Harcourt and Cerys Matthews. Ball was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2015 Grammys for his work on Bernhoft’s full-length, Islander and, in 2016, wrote “Love On The Brain” which became a worldwide hit for Rihanna. Ball’s recent writing credits include “One Mississippi” (Zara Larsson), “Does She Know” (Astrid S), “Slow Me Down” (Jessie Ware) and “Deadwood” (Toni Braxton).

Spotify revealed last week that it had reached the 70 million subscriber mark as it continues to broaden its lead on competitors including Apple Music, which shared in September of last year that they counted more than 30 million paying subscribers. The announcement comes following reports of the streaming platforms plans for an IPO in 2018’s first quarter. Spotify’s reported valuation as of last month was at $19 billion which would make it one of the biggest consumer tech operations to go public in more recent years.

Stefan Blom

In other Spotify news, it was announced last week that Chief Content Officer Stefan Blom will be parting ways with his role at the streaming service. The Swedish executive was based out of New York and Spotify gave no comment on the reason for his departure.

The U.S. music business has experienced its third straight year of growth with overall consumption reaching 636.7 million equivalent album units in 2017, an increase of 12.5% from 2016’s 566.1 million, according to Nielsen Music. The growth continues to be led by streaming with overall on-demand streams increasing 43% to 618 billion (412 million streaming-equivalent album [SEA] units) from 432.2 billion streams (288.2 million SEA) in 2016. Audio on-demand streams saw growth of 58.7% to 400.4 billion in 2017 with video on demand increasing by 20.9% to 217.7 billion streams. At the same time, the U.S. industry also generated its first track to hit 1 billion streams in a single year with Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” (ft. Justin Bieber) reaching 1.3 billion total on-demand streams for 2017. Digital-album/CD sales decreased 19.6% with track sales falling 23.4%. Vinyl again saw growth, increasing 9% in 2017.

Universal Music Publishing Australia has signed emerging Melbourne-based artist Ecca Vandal to a worldwide publishing deal. Her self-titled debut album, features “Future Heroine,” “Broke Days, Party Nights” and “Your Orbit,” which earned her Triple J’s feature album of the week after having had six tracks added to rotation. The signing includes co-writer Richard Buxton for his work on Ecca Vandal's material. Ecca Vandal recently toured with Queens Of The Stone Age as a special guest for their Australian tour, and she recently wrapped up a string of U.K. shows supporting Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.

A&R Worldwide has learned that music licensing executive Colin Chambers will be parting ways with his role as Head of Sync Licensing with music marketing firm Terrorbird as he transitions to oversee licensing for Warner Music’s ADA catalog. With Chambers’ exit, Jasmine Flott assumes the role of interim Creative Manager during the transition. Flott’s background includes over ten years as a music supervisor with Agoraphone.

Virgin Radio has brought on Capital FM's Christian Smith as its new Head of Music. Smith has been with Capital for the past four years as Head of Music, having previously spent eleven years at Kiss. Commencing in March, Smith will oversee all music output for the station while reporting to Mike Cass, Virgin Radio’s Content Controller. The move comes on the heels of the station’s new branding, imaging and marketing campaign “it’s all about the music” and the launch of breakfast show duo, Sam and Amy.

IMPEL Collective Management Limited has rolled out to represent multi-territory online rights for independent publishers. Currently part of the MPA Group Of Companies, along with the MPA, MCPS and PMLL, IMPEL’s restructuring will see it becoming a standalone entity. Having previously been a trading name for various music publishers who have granted MCPS the ability to license and administer mechanical rights for their Anglo-American repertoire, IMPEL will now assume charge of the rights to facilitate licensing opportunities for its members globally, becoming a collection society owned by its U.K. and international members. MCPS and IMPEL’s boards plan to finalize the transition by April of this year. With nearly 50 publisher members, IMPEL represents songs recorded by Ed Sheeran, Drake, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Glass Animals, Rag’N’Bone Man and Camila Cabello.

Frontiers Music Srl has announced a physical distribution partnership in the U.K. and Eire with The Orchard U.K. The new agreement covers both catalogue titles and new releases. Frontiers' release schedule for 2018 includes Rick Springfields’ The Snake King, a new live album/video from Delta Deep entitled East Coast Live and a self-titled release from Norway's Ammunition, as well as heavy metal releases from Silent Assassins (Pawn & Prophecy), Lione / Conti’s self-titled debut and Labyrinth’s live album/video, Return to Live, recorded at the 2016 Frontiers Metal Festival in Milan, Italy.

The California Copyright Conference is preparing to convene next Tuesday, January 16th as it presents a panel titled “Welcome to the Jungle (Then and Now): Music, Money and Legalities of Bands that Ruled the Sunset Strip.” The panel will feature Wendy Dio - Manager, Niji Entertainment Group & Executor, Estate of Ronnie James Dio; Frankie Banali - Manager & Drummer, Quiet Riot;Mikael Maglieri - Owner, Rainbow Bar & Grill and The Whisky A Go Go; and Jack Russell - Jack Russell’s Great White. The session will be moderated by Sabrina Ment, Esq. - Attorney, LaPolt Law, P.C. For more information and to secure your spot at this nearly sold out event, click HERE.

After a long process, the Indian music community, including composers, lyricists and music companies, have amicably resolved their differences to join as one music industry. The result, is that the 48-year-old copyright royalty collection body IPRS (The Indian Performing Rights Society) has regained its official registration as a copyright society from the government making it the only official and functional copyright society for musical works and associated literary works in India. Originally formed in 1969, IPRS represents a majority of Indian composers, lyricists and music companies and is authorized and mandated to license copyrights in musical and literary works, in songs/background music for broadcast (TV and radio), hotels, bars, clubs, events, establishments and digital music streaming services; wherever music is played or sold, physically or digitally.

Tony Calder

Beatles promoter Tony Calder passed away last week at the age of 74 following a battle with pneumonia. Calder’s career began in the 1960s at Decca Records before he was hired to promote The Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do,” by manager Brian Epstein. With airplay difficult to come by, Calder personally sent 100 free copies to U.K. dancehalls with a note claiming the tune was a "guaranteed floor-filler," which resulted in success as the song entered the British singles chart at No.17. A year later, Calder joined forces with Andrew Loog Oldham, manager for The Rolling Stones, to launch music PR company IMAGE. Calder and Oldham also formed Immediate Records, signing a number of successful acts such as the Small Faces, Rod Stewart, PP Arnold, Nico (pre-Velvet Underground) and Fleetwood Mac. Calder is credited with producing Marianne Faithfull's top 10 U.K. hits “Come and Stay With Me” and "This Little Bird" and, in the 1970s and 1980s, worked with the likes of Black Sabbath, The Bay City Rollers, Eddy Grant and novelty pop act Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers as well as others.

Rick Hall

Iconic record producer Rick Hall passed away last week at 85 years old following a battle with cancer. Hall is widely-recognized for his work throughout the 1960s and ‘70s and is credited as a key player in helping the development of the “Muscle Shoals sound.” Hall formed FAME Recording Studios in 1959 and recorded a diverse range of acts such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, George Jones, Brenda Lee, Paul Anka and The Osmonds.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Jody Gerson, Will Botwin, Linda Perry, Kai Robøle, Amarpal Gaind, Adam Greenup, Michael Goldstone, Jeremy Yohai, Fraser Churchill, Josh Binder, Ron Fair, Mark Beaven and Ashley Newton.

JACKASS OF THE WEEK

Have you ever sent a personal IM to the wrong screen name, accidentally replied “send all” on an E-mail, or made a total ass of yourself? Yes, we’ve all had a jackass moment at one time or another in our life. It is a New Year and many around the world are making resolutions of all sorts. Click HERE to view the slip, fails and blunder New Year’s resolutions to kick-in a brand-new jackass year!

A&R WORLDWIDE’S "ARTIST OF THE WEEK" – ZACH WOLF

Portland, Oregon is the home of a number of successful artists, including Elliott Smith, The Decemberists, Everclear, Grammy Award winner Esperanza Spalding, 80s notables Nu Shooz and Quarterflash, and Portugal. the Man, who had the biggest crossover hit of 2017 with “Feel It Still.” The Pacific Northwest will be able to add another name to that list soon with Zach Wolf. Zach is a dreamer who aims to bring his message of hope to his fans and continue to create music that brings life and freedom to people. His single “Dark” was created in what he calls a “beautifully difficult” writing session, which describes an incredibly painful season in his life. Where some may want to forget the pain and move on, Zach wanted to face the darkness the best way that he knew how; by writing about it and taking the darkest moments of his life to bring purpose and light to others. Zach’s musical vision draws inspiration from alternative, hip-hop and dark-pop melded into authentic and riveting cinematic-style overtures and can be heard in “Dark.” Listen to the single HERE and contact info@anrworldwide.com as Zach Wolf is available for label, publishing, booking, synch and brand opportunities.

A&R WORLDWIDE’S "VIDEO OF THE WEEK" – FOREST BLAKK

Forest Blakk is a very talented singer-songwriter that brings a song to life with color, feeling and an undeniable connection. Together with Christoph Stiller, his production partner and touring keyboardist, they’ve created an exquisite work of art, which can be heard in the upcoming EP. The debut single “Love Me” was added to Shazam’s New Music Friday playlist on Apple Music while accumulating over 1 million plays on Spotify. In November, the track was chosen as the Amazon Weekly One and was the No.14 song overall in Prime Music. “Love Me” was included on Amazon’s Best of 2017 playlist and earned airplay on Sirius XM stations The Pulse and Train Tracks, while reaching No.1 on the Hype Machine Twitter Music Chart. The video for “Love Me” won Best Music Video of October at the Berlin Flash Film Festival and Google recently chose Forest Blakk for their Emerging Artist program. Forest Blakk has offered a new visual for the heart-warming single “Where I First Found You," which can be seen HERE. Forest Blakk is represented by Marty Diamond and Ira Goldenring at Paradigm Agency (US/World), Tom Kemp at the Feldman Agency (Canada) and James Whitting at Coda Agency (Europe). Contact Trey Mills at trey@unboundbysound.com for general inquiries.

PASSPORT APPROVED™ PLAYLIST – 1/7/2018

“PASSPORT APPROVED” PLAYLIST FOR Sunday, January 7th, 2018: The weekly import show. Heard on over 70 radio stations on six continents weekly including: The World Famous KROQ 106.7FM Los Angeles, Radio Doble Nueve, Lima, Peru; KNRK-FM Portland OR; KNDD “The End” Seattle WA; KCJK-FM “Alternative x1051” Kansas City MO: MMM Modern Digital Australia in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide; WLKK “Alternative Buffalo” NY 107.7FM; WZRH-FM New Orleans; KHTB Salt Lake City, UT; KBZT-FM 94.9FM San Diego CA; KKDO “94.7FM” Sacramento CA; KWSS “93.9FM” Phoenix AZ; KRML “102.1FM” Carmel CA, KFRR “New Rock 104.1FM” Fresno CA; KMAX Windsor/Ft. Collins, Colorado; WCNR Charlottesville, VA; KIWR “The River” Council Bluffs, IA; 2XM Ireland (national radio); WAPS-FM “The Summit.FM” Akron-Canton, OH; WKTL-FM Youngstown, 105.5FM XFM Nairobi, Kenya; KVNV-FM Reno NV; PUK-FM Johannesburg, South Africa; East Radio-FM Shanghai, China; KAFA “97.7FM” Colorado Springs, CO; KVNV “NV89” Reno, NV; KSKI-FM, Sun Valley/Twin Falls, ID; WITH “90.1FM” Ithaca, New York; UCFM 87.8FM Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Triple M Digital Network (Australia), WRUR 88.5FM Rochester New York; WCRU-FM Hamilton, NY and on The Independent FM (iHeart Radio) in the United States and many others. Also, on the worldwide web and twice weekly segment on Flux FM Germany (Berlin, Brandenburg and Stuttgart) and Allgauhit-FM Bavaria Germany as well as streaming on one of the world’s fastest growing streaming platforms, Saavn.

Listen to this two-hour show by clicking HERE:

DEMOB HAPPY - “Be Your Man” (SO Recordings, UK)
BETWEEN KINGS - “The Escape” (Unsigned, Australia)
YONAKA - “Bubblegum” (Asylum Records, UK)
GRANDSON - “Blood // Water” (prim8music, Canada)
ONR - “5 Years Time” (Capitol Records, UK)
LIME CORDIALE - "Risky Love" (Chugg Music, Australia)
THE WOMBATS - “Lemon To A Knife Fight” (Kobalt, UK)
NONONO - “Lost Song” (Warner Music, Sweden)
NOTHING BUT THIEVES - “Particles” (RCA, UK)
HUMAN BUOY - “Roses” (Unsigned, Australia)
PHOENIX O’NEILL - “Cruel World” (Unsigned, UK)
***GLOBAL DJ EXCHANGE W/ DJ VIC GALLOWAY “BBC RADIO SCOTLAND” - BAD MANNEQUINS - “Double Denim” ***
IAMJJ - “Bloody Future” (Mermaid, Denmark)
THE MONTREALS - “Deadheads” (Unsigned, Australia)
TARA LEE - “Paradise” (Unsigned, Ireland)
BLOODY KNEES - “Maybe It’s Easy” (Distiller, UK)
RUNABAY - “Too Soon (Reverie)” (Unsigned, Ireland)
LEONIDEN - “Nevermind” (Wintrup, Germany)
MADYX - “Jupiter” (Unsigned, N. America)
OUTLYA - Volcano (Closer Recordings/Virgin, UK)
ALFRED HALL - “I Wanna Take You Away Now” (Waterfall, Norway)
BARNS COURTNEY - “Kicks” (Virgin, UK)
DEMONS OF RUBY MAE - “Someday” (Peanut Records, UK)
THE SHERLOCKS - “Live For The Moment” (Infectious, UK)
COLE PHOENIX - “Back Back To Me” (Unsigned, Australia)
CATHOLIC ACTION - “Black & White” (Modern Sky, Scotland)
FOREST BLAKK - “Love Me” (DoOzy Records, Canada)
THE PHASE - “Burnout” (Unsigned, Australia)
SHY LUV - “Bloodsucker” (Black Butter, UK)
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE JANE FONDA AEROBIC VHS? - “Sheep” (VILD Recordings, Finland)

(Check out the Passport Approved Radio “Featured Artists” on the daily profile exclusively on AllAccess.com including Egomunk, Between Kings, The Wombats, Human Buoy and The Phase).