APRIL/MAY 2003

© Copyright 2003 by SLI - SongLink International
Editor & Publisher: David Stark
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The first Ivors Live concert which was scheduled to take place the day after this year's Ivor Novello Awards on May 22nd, has been postponed until next year. Meanwhile the nominations for this year's Ivors have been announced by the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters - see opposite. Meanwhile the Academy and BBC Radio 3 have also announced the launch of the classical British Composer Awards, taking place at the Barbican Centre on December 18th.

BMI European VP Phil Graham has been promoted to Senior VP, Writer/Publisher Relations and is relocating from London to New York. Reporting to Executive VP Del Bryant, he will direct and oversee the writer/publisher activities in BMI's seven offices in the USA and UK. He is not being replaced at present. Meanwhile Ron Solleveld has been promoted to Senior VP International, having joined BMI last year.

The MMF has voted in four top managers as new council members: Richard Griffiths (Modest! Management), Marc Marot (Terra Firma), Jazz Summers (Big Life) and Albert Samuels (ASM). MMF members also took part in the IMMF summit at the end of March which brought together managers from 25 countries.

Sony Music Europe head Paul Burger has been made redundant after 26 years with the company, along with around 1,000 other Sony staffers worldwide. Burger's duties will be assumed by international president Rick Dobbis. London-based Senior VP Tony Woollcott and VP of communications Jonathan Morrish, who joined Sony in 1976, are also among the casualty list of exiting executives.

EMI Music Publishing has bought a further 30% stake in the Jobete catalogue from founder Berry Gordy for $109.3m, and now holds 80% equity in the folio of Motown classics. A Broadway musical of Motown songs is also in the pipeline, produced by Gordy.

The Official Charts Company is launching the UK's first offcial downloads chart from April 18th, with digital service provider OD2 being the first company to suply data for the project.

The Tall Poppy showcase returns on Thursdays at The Goose, 360 Wandsworth Bridge Road, London, SW6 2TY. Opening night April 24th. Free before 8pm, then £2 for members, £4 for non members. E-mail man@tallpoppyrecords.com or call 020 8408 0777 to reserve tables.

Ivo M. Sacchi has been promoted from GM to MD of Universal Music Switzerland, while Bogdan Roscic has been upped to MD of Universal Music Austria. Marten Aglander becomes GM of Universal Music Sweden, reporting to interim MD Theo Roos.

Michael Guldhammer is returning to Universal Music Denmark as head of A&R, having left the company in 2000 to form his own management operation Goldmind, whose main client was duo Safari. He reports to A&R director Claus Lund Petersen.

Edel-Mega Records Denmark will transfer most of its promotion and marketing activities to Playground Music from June 1st, resulting in 15 job losses at Edel. It is expected that all artists on the Edel roster including Ace of Base will transfer to Playground.

Zomba Music Canada is to close, with its president Laura Bartlett becoming senior VP of international at Jive Records, reporting to label president Barry Weiss. Meanwhile Zomba International MD Stuart Watson is staying on until the end of the year following the worldwide integration of Zomba and BMG, which is said to be nearly complete. In the UK, the company's record and publishing divisions have had some backroom functions merged with BMG, plus the Film & TV dept.

Composers Elmer Bernstein and Bruce Broughton have been elected to the ASCAP Board of Directors, replacing composer David Raksin and songwriter John Bettis. With their election, the ASCAP board now includes two full time working film and television composers, a level of representation not seen in many years.

Willie Nelson's 70th birthday on April 30th is being celebrated at New York's Beacon Theatre with a concert starring Eric Clapton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, Kris Kristofferson, Leon Russell, Shania Twain and others. A two-hour version will be screened on May 26th by the USA Network.

Former Elektra A&R VP Josh Deutsch has joined Virgin Records in New York as senior A&R VP. Meanwhile former Cars singer and producer Ric Ocasek is in line to join Elektra's A&R department.

Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and 604 Records will give the Artist Keynote speech at NewMusicWest 2003, while the Industry Keynote address will be delivered by Jason S. Miller of House of Blues. The speeches will take place on Friday, May 23rd at the event in Vancouver, details at www.newmusicwest.com.

Avril Lavigne scooped four gongs at Canada's Juno Awards in Ottawa held on April 5-6th, wining top album and pop album for her album Let Go (Arista); top single for Complicated; and top new artist. Shania Twain won three for top artist, the Fan Voice Award, and for top country recording of I'm Gonna Getcha Good. Other winners included Sum 41 (top group), Our Lady Peace (top rock album), Diana Krall (top vocal jazz album), Theory of a Deadman (new group), Chad Kroeger and Nickelback (top songwriters), Alanis Morissette (top producer), while veterans Tom Cochrane and Nettwerk Music Group CEO Terry McBride were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

The line-up for CMA's Fan Fair 2003 from June 5-8 in Nashville includes Vince Gill, CMA's reigning Entertainer of the Year Alan Jackson and a multitude of other artists. More than 40 hours of music will be performed over the four-day festival. Daily concerts are held at the Riverfront Park Stages while nightly shows are held in The Coliseum, home to the NFL Tennessee Titans. Visit www.FanFair.com.

APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) will honour songwriters and publishers at the 2003 APRA Music Awards at Sydney's Four Seasons Hotel on Monday May 19th. Nominees will be officially announced on Wednesday April 30th, for details visit www.apra.com.au.

RIP: Soul veteran Edwin Starr, born Charles Hatcher in Nashville, (61) of a heart attack in Nottingham, UK... Eva Narcissus Boyd (59), aka Little Eva (The Loco-motion), from a long illness.