MUMBAI: Leading music label Universal Music has partnered with veteran rock manager Andy Gould and created a new label T-Boy Records, , which will serve as an umbrella label releasing new music and albums from iconic hard-rock bands.
The announcement was made by UMG president and CEO Bruce Resnikoff and Gould. The label is named after Gould’s first job in England as a ‘tea boy’, fetching cups of tea for legendary Beatles producer George Martin and his renowned AIR London studio team. The label’s first deal will be announced shortly, with releases scheduled for later in the year.
Gould currently heads his own Spectacle Entertainment Group, and his track record includes sales exceeding 15 million worldwide and seven Grammy nominations with Rob Zombie. He has also co-managed acts like Linkin Park (with Rob McDermott), Pantera (with Walter O’Brien) and Guns N’ Roses (with Irving Azoff) amongst others.
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He said, “We want to sign rock bands with brand names that do good business on the road, and have been underserved by the major label system. The idea I had arose out of discussions with the other managers of major hard-rock acts who all felt their artistes could benefit from an improved label experience. We are looking to super-serve this niche audience, which is tremendously loyal and is often even larger internationally than here in the States.”
Resnikoff said, “Over the years, we’ve shifted our strategy away from being a traditional catalogue label into a branding and marketing company. Our expertise is in finding the connection between those brands and the consumer. It’s about taking a talent we have here and using Gould’s expertise to identify the right brands and make the right records in that area. There are a limited amount of label outlets for this kind of iconic hard rock. It’s about taking new music to those fans, while at the same time expanding that audience base to a new group of buyers.”
T-Boy Records will give the bands they sign their own labels, and merely serve as the parent company by coordinating promotion, marketing, social media, licensing and publicity through UMG.
Gould added, “I can bring my expertise as a manager knowing what these bands want, which is to know someone at the label is looking out for them. The major record companies are no longer providing these kinds of services. UMG under the direction of Bruce Resnikoff was the number one catalogue label for 2012 with the most number of charting hits according to Billboard. It has taken several albums to the top of the Billboard charts and currently has the No 3 album in the country. This kind of hard work and proven success is what I want for my bands.”
