Paul McCartney most successful UK albums act of all time
Paul McCartney is the UK’s most successful albums act of all time, the Official Charts Company has revealed. Celebrating 60 years to the day since the first ever Albums Chart was published, the OCC honoured McCartney with the ‘King of albums’ accolade. Throughout his career he has racked up 22 No. 1 albums – 15 with The Beatles, two with Wings, four as a solo artists and one with Linda McCartney.
UMPG promotes David Gray to EVP/West Coast A&R
Universal Music Publishing Group has promoted David Gray to the role of executive vice president/head of West Coast A&R. Based in Los Angeles, Gray will report to Jody Gerson, UMPG chairman and CEO, and Evan Lamberg, UMPG president, North America. In his expanded role, Gray will lead the A&R team and continue to develop, nurture and sign talent. He will also direct the team’s effort to develop global opportunities for UMPG’s artists and songwriters.
SNEP reports 6% growth for 1H 2016 in France
SNEP has revealed French recorded music figures for the first half of the year, showing 6% growth for the period. The 6% upturn follows a 2.2% decline recorded last year (IFPI figure). Thierry Chassagne, president of Warner Music France, said of the figures: “I’m pleased to announced that Warner Music has significantly contributed to the growth of the French market in the first half of 2016. We claimed the top spot on the albums chart for ten weeks, with new works from Christophe Mae and the legendary Renaud, who enjoyed the strongest first week album sales of any artist for 13 years. The market outlook for the rest of the year is very positive as subscription revenues continue to grow, enabling us to invest more in discovering, nurturing and promoting great French artists."
Ash to receive Oh Yeah Legend Award
Northern Irish rock band Ash will receive a special Oh Yeah Legend Award at Belfast's Mandela Hall on November 11, bringing to a close the city's annual Sound of Belfast programme. The band will be presented with the award at Belfast's Oh Yeah Music Centre, named after the band's hit single. After receiving the Legend Award, Ash will perform the entirety of their platinum-selling debut album 1977, released 20 years ago.
U2 manager’s Sound Ventures invests in Trim service tracker
Sound Ventures, the investment firm founded by U2 manager Guy Oseary, has invested in a new service tracker product called Trim. Designed to help consumers keep track of all their paid-for subscriptions – and make simple the process of cancelling those which they no longer need – Trim has so far generated $2.2m in its first seed funding round. The product currently has five investors including Sound Ventures. The other are Core Innovation Capital, Beta Bridge Capital, Eniac Ventures and Version One Ventures.
Abbey Road getting two new studios
Abbey Road is set to benefit from two new studios, which are being built as part of a major development project for the legendary studio facility. The two new studios will aim to make Abbey Road more accessible to developing artists. A Dolby Atmos post production stage is also being built to cater for the increasing amount of film work coming to the UK.
