Posted in Events, Member Services, Members Only, News by A2IM

A2IM will be celebrating our 8th Anniversary from June 18-20, 2013 at Tribeca Grand, 2 Avenue of the Americas, NYC, map with our annual member-only A2IM Indie Week conference and related festivities focusing on education and engagement within our community.

View a list of current RSVPs here.

*** RSVP NOW HERE ***

In addition to these panels, presentations, and networking sessions, we will also be celebrating independents with the 2^nd annual A2IM Libera Awards (aka the LIBBYs) on Thursday, June 20 at 7PM at Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16^th Street, NYC, map.

Members of AIM (A2IM’s sister organization in the UK) and AIR (A2IM’s sister organization in Australia) will be sending delegates to participate in Indie Week 2013.

As always, these events are FREE to attend but you MUST be a member of A2IM and RSVP for each event. You will receive a confirmation email once your RSVP is received noting each event in which you are confirmed to participate.

Big thanks to our co-sponsors, Consolidated Independent; Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; Nielsen Entertainment; Rdio; Section 101 and Sounds Australia!

AGENDA

Tuesday, June 18: Licensing & Publishing

1:00PM – 2:00PM             Video Monetization – A look into publisher-related issues from a label perspective including premium content vs user-generated content (UGC), backend data management, & content ID. Moderator: Alisa Coleman (ABKCO Music & Records) Panelists: Barry Daffurn (GoDigital), Ian Harrison (Hopeless Records), Rell Lafargue (Reservoir Media), & Scott Sellwood (YouTube)

2:00PM – 2:30PM             “International Performance Royalties”- The value of revenues from performance rights has increased steadily in recent years, and shows no sign of declining. In the US, these rights are managed by SoundExchange, while overseas the options are more complex. What if your track is getting airplay in the UK or Europe, Australia, Japan or elsewhere? This session will introduce the main things a US indie label needs to know. Two specialists in this area will give a very brief overview of what the rights are and how they work, and some starting points for how US indies can best manage these rights, both in the US and internationally. Charlie Phillips (Head of Legal and Commercial Affairs, Worldwide Independent Network) and Ryan Lehning (Director of International, Soundexchange) will present the session, with additional input from Mathew Reiffe (VP, Digital and New Business, Razor and Tie).

2:30PM – 3:15PM             Music in Sports Panel.
Moderator: Phil Cialdella (Wonderlous Music) Panelists: Aaron Matusow (WWE), Stephanie Scarpulla (MLB), & Kevin Wilson (ESPN)

3:15PM – 4:00PM              Brands & Bands Panel.
Moderator: Brooke Primont (Razor & Tie) Panelists: Jack Bradley (Hifi Project), Jonathan Hecht (Tribal Brands), & Lori Hon (Gray V)

4:00PM – 6:00PM             Executive One-on-One Meetings with Music Supervisors and Licensing service providers, as well as one-on-one meetings with the Australian trade mission delegates (10 x 10 min meetings)

6:00PM – 9:00PM             A2IM’s 8^th Anniversary Reception at Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St., NYC map.

Wednesday, June 19: Digital Media & Emerging Technologies

1:00PM – 1:30PM             “Digital Change: Show Me the Money. The End of National Borders” – Presentation by Charles Caldas (MERLIN)

1:30PM – 2:45PM             “Future of Monetizing Digital” – Panel investigating streaming services, social engagement, music discovery, and the surrounding revenue models. Moderator: Jaclyn Ranere (The Orchard) Panelists: Oke Goettlich (finetunes), Jason Lekberg (Eleven Seven), Lisa Levy (Robbins Entertainment), & Chris Welz (Dead Oceans / Jagjaguwar / Secretly Canadian / SC Distribution)

2:45PM – 4:00PM             Video Monetization (cont.) – A look into content creation, maximizing revenue streams, developing exciting channels, and fan engagement. Moderator: Amy Dietz (INgrooves Fontana) Panelists: Jamar Chess (Sunflower Entertainment), Dan Ghosh-Roy (Ultra Music), Jane Hu (YouTube’s Next Lab) & Ben Lister (Base79)

4:00PM – 6:00PM             Executive One-on-One Meetings with Digital Revenue, Digital Marketing, Data Management, & Video Monetization service providers (10 x 10 min. meetings)

Thursday, June 20

10:00AM – 12:30PM        Think Tank - Peer-to-peer roundtable discussion focusing on sharing success, struggles, and strategies for video monetization and performance royalties.

12:30PM – 2:00PM          Lunch Break

2:00PM – 5:00PM             State of the A2IM Union featuring Rich Bengloff of A2IM, Alison Wenham of AIM/WIN, Nick O’Byrne of AIR, Helen Smith of Impala, and Charles Caldas of Merlin. More TBA.

We hope you will join us at the 2^nd annual A2IM Libera Awards at Highline Ballroom @ 7PM. Info HERE.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM has moved to the Lower East Side to:
132 Delancey Street
New York, New York 10002

Our new offices are conveniently located  near 6 subway stops.

FMJZ Delancey St/Essex St Stop AND BD Grand Ave Stop

Phone Numbers:

Main Line: 646-692-4877
Rich Ex #1
Jim Ex #2
Sheryl Ex #3
Jen Ex #4

Direct Dial/FAX
Rich: 646-692-4883
Jim: 646-692-4885
Sheryl: 646-692-4878
Jen: 646-692-4676
Fax: 646-692-4886

More to come including an open house event next month plus for out-of-town visitors we’ll have guest desks/phones/internet if you need a place to work when in town. Please let us know in advance.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM’s sister organization in the UK, AIM is inviting U.S. independent labels to enter your artists, projects, etc. for consideration in their upcoming AIM Independent Music Awards.  To qualify, the artists or projects must have had UK releases.  There is an entry fee and AIM is extending their member rate to A2IM members.

The deadline to submit is June 13.

The categories currently open for entry are:

- Best Live Act

- Independent Album of the Year

- Best ‘Difficult’ Second Album

- Independent Breakthrough of the Year

- Special Catalogue Release of the Year – collectibles, box sets etc

- Hardest Working Band or Artist

- Independent Track of the Year

- Independent Video of the Year

Entry forms and info are at www.musicindie.com/awards/enternow

Posted in News, Press Releases by A2IM

The who’s who of the worldwide Independent music community will come together June 18-20 in New York for A2IM’s 8^th Anniversary Indie Week, an international conference and networking event aimed at maximizing the global impact of Independent music. All Worldwide Independent Network (“WIN”) and A2IM members are welcome to attend, the full latest agenda is HERE.

A2IM’s Press Release, which was serviced today, is below.

A2IM Talks Business w/ 8^th Anniversary Indie Week in NYC

Press Release
May 15, 2013

The who’s who of the Independent music community will come together June 18-20 in New York for A2IM’s 8^th Anniversary Indie Week, an international conference and networking event aimed at maximizing the global impact of Independent music.

The three-day members-only conference will assemble more than 500 executives from around the world (including Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, New Zealand, etc.) for interactive panels, a think tank and one-on-one discussions; including full trade mission delegations from members of AIM (A2IM’s sister organization in the UK) and AIR (A2IM’s sister organization in Australia) funded by Sounds Australia.

Beginning Tuesday, June 18, A2IM members will have access to full day sessions at the Tribeca Grand Hotel (2 Ave of the Americas), culminating in A2IM’s 2^nd Annual Libera Awards recognizing the year’s achievements by Independent artists and labels at the Highline Ballroom, Thursday, June 20.

Tuesday, June 18  – Licensing & Publishing Day

1:00PM – 2:00PM: Video Monetization – A look into publisher-related issues from a label perspective including premium content vs. user-generated content (UGC), backend data management, and content ID. Moderated by Alisa Coleman (ABKCO Music & Records), the panel will include: Rell Lafargue (Reservoir Media), Barry Daffurn (GoDigital) and Scott Sellwood (YouTube)

2:00PM – 2:30PM: “International Performance Royalties” – Panel discussion with Charlie Phillips of WIN,  Mathew Reiffe of Razor & Tie, and Ryan Lehning of SoundExchange

2:30PM – 3:15PM: Music in Sports Panel – Moderated by Phil Cialdella (Wonderlous Music), the panel will include: Aaron Matusow (WWE), Stephanie Scarpulla (MLB) and Kevin Wilson (ESPN)

3:15PM – 4:00PM: Brands & Bands Panel – Moderated by Brooke Primont (Razor & Tie), the panel will include: Jack Bradley (Hifi Project), Jonathan Hecht (Tribal Brands) and Lori Hon (Gray V)

4:00PM – 6:00PM: Executive One-on-One Meetings with Music

Supervisors and Licensing service providers, as well as one-on-one meetings with the Australian trade mission delegates (10 x 10 min meetings)

6:00PM – 9:00PM: A2IM’s 8^th Anniversary Reception at Santos Party House (96 Lafayette Street, NYC)

Wednesday, June 19 – Digital Media & Emerging Technologies

1:00PM – 1:30PM: “Digital Change: Show Me the Money. The End of

National Borders” – Presentation by Charles Caldas (Merlin)

1:30PM – 2:45PM: “Future of Monetizing Digital” – Panel investigating streaming services, social engagement, music discovery, and the surrounding revenue models. Moderated by Jaclyn Ranere (The Orchard), the panel will include: Oke Goettlich (finetunes), Jason Lekberg (Eleven Seven), Lisa Levy (Robbins Entertainment) and Chris Welz (Dead Oceans / Jagjaguwar / Secretly Canadian / SC Distribution)

2:45PM – 4:00PM: Video Monetization (cont.) – A look into content creation, maximizing revenue streams, developing exciting channels, and fan engagement. Moderated by Amy Dietz (INgrooves Fontana), the panel will include: Jamar Chess (Sunflower Entertainment), Dan Ghosh-Roy (Ultra Music) and Ben Lister (Base79)

4:00PM – 6:00PM: Executive One-on-One Meetings with Digital Revenue, Digital Marketing, Data Management, & Video Monetization service providers (10 x 10 min meetings)

Thursday, June 20

10:00AM – 12:30PM: Think Tank – Members gather in a roundtable breakout session to reflect and strategize on topics discussed over the previous two days. Conclusions of which are then are presented to the membership as a whole.

12:30PM – 2:00PM: Lunch Break

2:00PM – 5:00PM: State of the A2IM Union featuring Rich Bengloff of A2IM, Alison Wenham of AIM/WIN, Nick O’Byrne of AIR, Helen Smith of Impala, and Charles Caldas of Merlin. More TBA.

7:00PM – 11:00PM: 2^nd Annual Libera Awards (The “LIBBYs”) at NYC’s Highline Ballroom (431 W 16th St. NYC). Co-presented by Caroline, The LIBBYs are an award show for Independent artists and labels, nominated and voted on by Independent artists and labels. Tickets are available now and can be purchased for $30 by A2IM members only HERE.

Indie Week is co-sponsored by Consolidated Independent; Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; Nielsen Entertainment; Rdio; Section 101 and Sounds Australia.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM wishes its label member’s nominees the best of luck for this Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards Show. A2IM’s label member nominees include: Beggars Group/XL Recordings (Adele), Big Machine Label Group (Taylor Swift), Dualtone Records (The Lumineers), Glassnote (Mumford & Sons), and Ultra Music (Calvin Harris).  A full list of nominees can be seen HERE.

Posted in News by A2IM

The European Commission noted the existence of an agreement between WMG and each of IMPALA and Merlin and that pursuant to that agreement, WMG, upon completion of the proposed transaction, will undertake a number of structural and financial measures, which, once implemented, would likely result in the strengthening of the independent music sector. These measures include, for example, opportunities to buy, license or distribute certain WMG or Parlophone assets. Interested Merlin members will receive further information from Charlie Lexton at Merlin charlie@merlinnetwork.org. The press release is HERE.

Posted in News by A2IM

The Americana Music Association announced their 2013 nominees and, as in prior years, A2IM’s label members artists led the way with all but four of the nominations. We congratulate Epitaph/Anti- (Milk Carton Kids), Dualtone Records (The Lumineers, Shovel & Rope), New West Records (Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller, Richard Thompson), Rounder Records (JD McPherson) and Thirty Tigers (John Fulbright, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robinson) for leading the way!

Posted in Member Services, News by A2IM

RED Joins A2IM

RED Distribution is recognized widely as the industry leader in music distribution and artist development. Originally founded in 1979 and headquartered in New York, RED specializes in digital and physical sales, marketing, DTC, radio promotion and product development for more than 60 independent record labels. Digital integration with The Orchard has expanded RED’s reach into international as well as domestic markets. RED’s marketing outreach is unsurpassed in generating consumer awareness for artists, labels and brand partners. In 2009, RED launched ’stache media, a full service marketing agency specialized in music, offering online marketing & publicity, college lifestyle marketing, advertising & consumer research, brand & partnership marketing, radio, video promotion and creative production. RED maintains field staff in Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, San Francisco and Seattle, which gives the company national reach in sales, radio promotion and marketing.

“RED is uniquely structured to address the current and future needs of our partners. An award winning physical and digital staff is supplemented by our commitment to marketing. ‘stache media is RED’s growing radio and label services division which along with our fully staffed sales departments, differentiates RED from all other distributors and labels. RED has a culture of excellence that emphasize customer service, leveraging strengths and efforts and employing skilled music people.”- Bob Morelli, President

Longest tenured employee of over 30 years, Alan Becker, SVP of Product Development, has seen the independent landscape change, grow and prosper at RED and industry wide. “I’ve been so lucky to spend my entire career in the independent music business. With the attention being paid again to our sector it is important to point out that nothing much has changed really; the great independent labels always have been run by owners/entrepreneurs who wake up in the morning obsessing over every detail. They are the most authentic people, relentlessly dedicated and passionate about great music. In my life in music I have seen the best indie labels – Chrysalis, Island, Virgin, A+M, Def Jam – and now a new generation of labels with executives inspired by the same thing with music and passion always leading the way.”

With Bob Morelli, Alan curates the musical blueprint for the company and takes pride in finding the right fit for labels, artists and managers whether that’s building a new distribution partnership with an established label, connecting an unsigned artist with an existing RED label, or forging a new musical venture.

RED’s label management division operates under the leadership of SVP Howard Gabriel and VP Liz Snair. The team works closely with each label to identify the sales and marketing goals of each release. They effectively communicate project highlights and drivers to RED’s national and regional sales team and read back the marketplace to RED’s label partners. Additionally, they work with label teams to develop marketing plans according to project goals, seeking opportunities to maximize releases at each step.

Adding to the success of its rock and country releases, RED focused on growing its urban label roster with the addition of EVP Wendy Washington in January 2012. The company has added several marquee labels within this genre as well as positions within label management, radio and mix show promotion, video promotion, publicity and social media to provide additional sales and marketing support.

Helmed by VP Rob Wetstone, RED’s digital department provides sales, marketing, production expertise and facilitates key relationships with digital service providers around the globe. Utilizing a simple and transparent dashboard, the team has created a singular destination for music and metadata delivery, detailed and robust sales analysis and guaranteed monthly payments. The team provides direction on all new and established sales models – from traditional downloads and subscription offerings to new rev share deals and album/video configurations. In cooperation with ’stache media, the division’s infrastructure and unique network allows full execution on out of the box campaigns that generate brand excitement and effectively drive consumer engagement and sales. RED has secured more features at key accounts than any other independent distributor. Wetstone says “RED is at the forefront of integrating digital components into traditional retail campaigns with its sales and marketing departments. We’re your one stop for all digital needs both here in the US and internationally.”

For more information visit: www.redmusic.com and www.stachemedia.com