Songbroker News November

So much to tell you about our latest film, television and online licensing projects, our songwriters' latest news, PLUS, some talented songwriters and composers have been added to our NZ music catalogue. 

Celebrity Treasure Island Soundtrack

The Danni Keys Collective is a group of composers who combined their talents to create an inventive and exciting soundtrack for TVNZ 2's series of Celebrity Treasure Island. Thanks to the producers of the show for showcasing our local talent.

Hinewai E.P. Release

Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest is a 30-minute documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve, on Banks Peninsula, its kaitiaki/manager of 30 years, botanist Hugh Wilson, and how degraded gorse-infested farmland has been regenerated back into beautiful native forest. The corresponding soundtrack was created by composers Ariana Tikao and Karl Steven, incorporating electronic soundscapes with Taonga Puoro to create a spacious, contemplative and transcendent musical rendering. The Songbroker Label is proud to release Hinewai which is now available digitally.

'Sky Blue Day' for NZI

New Zealand Insurance has licensed Sam RB's beautiful, uplifting track 'Sky Blue Day' for their company in-house videos. The song was initially inspired by TVNZ‘s ex-weather presenter, Jim Hickey, who said to expect thunderstorms the next day, and, you guessed it, it was a blue sky day!

Air New Zealand and Yasamin

Air New Zealand has confirmed it will use Yasamin's song 'Home' once again as the backdrop for their latest TVC campaign. 'Home' is a lush, tender and slightly whimsical track that fits beautifully with Air NZ's very personal campaign stories. 

Greg Johnson's Christmas Cocktail Club

Greg Johnson's Cocktail Club tour is back this month - after a decade on ice - just in time for Christmas! Tickets are on sale now at https://www.plus1.co.nz/greg Greg and his superb band - Wayne Bell, Ben King and Josh Logan - bring the tour to AKL, WGTN, ChCh, Blenheim & the Kapiti Coast. 

Fortress Europe to release Amadeus

Fortress Europe mixes Eastern-European music traditions with a slew of modern influences, guided and held together by an experimental, avant-garde sensibility. Led by composer Leon Radojkovic, Fortress Europe features some of the most in-demand musicians in the country playing everything from electric guitar, to violin to Turkish saz. Amadeus is a modern re-imagining of selected works and fragments of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by a 12-piece band made up of Fortress Europe and friends and featuring vocals by soprano Madison Nonoa and bass-baritone Joel Amosa. Songbroker Label is pleased to release Amadeus digitally on November 1st.

Songbroker welcomes new musical talent

We are very pleased to welcome the music of our new Songbroker signees, a rich, varied and very talented bunch including Rattle Records composers Jonathan Besser, Al Fraser, and Phil Boniface as well as Kingsley Spargo, D.Matthews, Dylan Storey, Lake South, Parabola West, Kusin and Chrissie Hart.

Albi & the Wolves selected for WOMAD

The first artist line-up has been revealed for WOMAD NZ 2020 and among the international music pedigree, some highly talented kiwi acts have been selected, including Reb Fountain, L.A.B. Soaked Oats and Songbroker’s own Albi & The Wolves. This award-winning string trio creates a huge sound using only an acoustic guitar, an electric violin, a double bass, three voices, and a stomp.

Matthew Bannister Rubber Solo Shows

In 2013 Matthew Bannister released his rendition of the seminal Beatles album Revolver, called Evolver, under his alias One Man Bannister which charted in NZ. Now he has repeated the exercise with the album Rubber Soul. His version, Rubber Sole. Matthew is set to perform it live with a full band in Auckland (Wine Cellar, Nov 2, w/Superturtle) and Wellington (Third Eye, Nov 8, w/Terror of the Deep). The album will be available on CD and in a limited edition of 150 vinyl copies.

News in Brief...

Greg Fleming's new album Get Off At Lincoln is out now and garnering some great reviews, Kingsley Spargo's new album Chasing Spirits is out now - catch him on tour around the country. Ashley Alexander's new single 'Nicotine' has clocked up over 60,000 Spotify streams and has an evocative new video to boot. Tempist Fujit will perform at Mangawhai Tavern on November 30th in celebration of their new single 'Home', and Katie Thompson's beautiful new album Bittersweet is out now and well worth a listen. Office favourite is 'Precious Little Moments'. Retro rockers Boom! Boom! Deluxe continue to shake us up with their new single 'Crazy Legs'.

Testimonials:

“When Songbroker facilitated ‘Blue Sky Day’ being picked up and used by a prestigious organisation and I was paid well for the use of my song, I was both extremely happy and validated as a songwriter and musician. It’s not easy living as a musician but these moments make all the difference.” Sam RB

“I feel like my songs are in safe hands. Hands that are working hard behind the scenes to pitch my songs to projects, hands that are transparent, hands that pay on time. I will never forget getting the phone call from Jan for the first synch I landed with AirNZ thanks to Songbroker. That phone call was all I needed to put my head down and get back to working on new songs. It was a much needed yes in an industry filled with rejection. Thanks Jan and team for working so hard“ Yasamin

For many independent recording artists, synchronization of our songs to picture, has been become essential to a sustainable music career.  Songbroker is uniquely positioned to foster this - their team has vast experience on both sides of the industry, coupling proven music publishing know-how, while also being highly respected musicians in their own right.  They get musicians and know what matters.  They ensure fair contracts are negotiated, help with royalty collection and pitch music to television and film production companies - the things musicians find difficult to navigate.  In working with Songbroker for some three years now, I've found them to be that rare thing - proactive, rather than reactive, with the bottom line being very much their artists best interests.” Andrew Keoghan

"Songbroker has a truly in-depth knowledge of New Zealand music, and I love having them as my publisher. Jan has such integrity, and knows the business of music publishing inside out." Ariana Tikao

“Songbroker has consistently helped me to earn money from my music over the last 6 years. Always friendly and enthusiastic, great to work with and in the music industry for all the right reasons. It's been a relief to be able to rely on them to help keep my musical income buoyant! They've also been right there with timely and helpful advice on the often confusing workings of the music industry. “ Gareth Thomas

"Songbroker realizes how important it is for an artist to control their own catalogue, and they are always actively working for all their writers. Jan is a force of nature and a long overdue breath of fresh air in the music publishing industry.” Greg Johnson

“I've been with Songbroker for a few years now and I have found them to be great to work with. Jan is a musician herself, so she is an understanding friend to work with. She and the team help us to maximise our chances of getting publishing work, for instance by having all our lyrics with the tracks, so the client can search for key words. Recently, Songbroker achieved a licensing deal for a TVC for Ford NZ for my song 'Travelling Companion' and it was my best payday ever, including album sales and royalty payments. It came just as I was finishing one job and considering another, so now I have some breathing space. A call from Jan is the highlight of any day!” Andrew McKenzie (Golden Curtain, Grand Prix)