Music Industry Moves: Primary Wave Acquires Sun Records; Sub Pop Opens Seattle Flagship Store
Sub Pop Records has opened a new retail store in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. The flagship location at 2130 7th Ave. sells shirts, hats, hoodies, various knick-knacks, trinkets and “objets d’art,” according to an announcement, “as well as actual vinyl LP copies (aka ‘records’) of every Hardly Art and Sub Pop release currently in print.” The new location follows the Sub Pop airport store, which opened in 2014.
Sub Pop, which launched in 1988 with early releases by Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden, is currently home to such acts as The Postal Service, Father John Misty, Beach House and Wolf Parade, among others.
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Said the label’s co-founder/president Jonathan Poneman: “This is Sub Pop’s flagship store. It’s long on goodies and short on hours, so beat the rush.” The announcement further stated, “We mean to represent these artists as faithfully and diligently as possible and hold out hope that this is enough for us to remain solvent in the face of the well-documented collapse of the music industry at large. We also enjoy laughter, good times and the company of friends.”
Elsewhere in music industry news:
+ Primary Wave has acquired the assets of Sun Records. The multimillion-dollar deal encompasses master recordings for such artists as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, The Dixie Cups, and more, as well as all of the music publishing owned by Sun and additional properties. Primary Wave is already home to select compositions and catalogs by Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Burt Bacharach, Prince, Olivia Newton-John, Ray Charles, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, War, Robbie Robertson, Count Basie and Sly & The Family Stone, among others.
+ Cannibal Corpse, Havok, Killswitch Engage, Ministry and Monster Magnet are among the acts to join the roster of the newly formed Unchained Management, Music and Media. The New York-based company brings together Strong Management co-founders Vaughn Lewis and Kenny Gabor along with Davis Entertainment Group founder Steve Davis.
+ Songwriter Mark James, whose catelog over 40 years includes such classics as “Suspicious Minds,” “Hooked on a Feeling” and Grammy-award winning “Always on my Mind,” has signed a new deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, renewing his long-standing alliance with Screen Gems/EMI.
+ SoundExchange has appointed Warner Music Group’s Jessica Goldenberg to its board of directors. At WMG, Goldenberg is VP, digital strategy and business development and leads recorded music deal negotiations as well as manages relations with streaming platforms. SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 200,000 recording artists and master rights owners.
+ Digital distributor/ publishing administrator TuneCore celebrated its 15th anniversary with class, by making donations across the globe to the National Independent Venue Association and other organizations formed in order to keep live music venues afloat, while providing relief for staff. The announcement was made by Andreea Gleeson, co-head and chief revenue officer and Matt Barrington, co-head and chief operating officer. “What TuneCore did 15 years ago was groundbreaking. By removing the traditional barriers, pushing aside the major label gatekeepers and putting artists in the driver’s seat of their own careers without taking a percentage of their music sales, it democratized the music industry,” Gleeson said.
+ Wade Leak, deputy general counsel at Sony Music Entertainment, and Liz Young, the company’s former EVP and global head of communications, are among the founding board of advisors for a law and policy think tank to develop academically rigorous research, policy recommendations and expert guidance on the Equal Rights Amendment. The Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law is headed by professor Katherine Franke, and was launched in 2004. The ERA Project nods to the late Columbia alumnus Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who taught the school’s first sex discrimination law courses. Head here for more information.
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