RELEASE 2013 Participants Announced

Participants announced for RELEASE – a new professional development program for label owners from both sides of the Tasman.

Successful applicants for the new professional development program RELEASE: The Business of Music Management, were announced today. Fifteen independent label owners have been selected to participate in the six month program; twelve from Australia and three from New Zealand.

New South Wales will provide the biggest contingent: Deanne Hardwick, Jaclyn Hurst, Joel Rapaport, Michael Solo and Belinda Webster. Three participants will join them from New Zealand: Ian Henderson, Benjii Jackson and Jeremy Toy. Victorians Guy Blackman and Blake Byron Smith will also be participating, as will Luke Dalton, and Simon Homer from Queensland. The remaining places in the program will be taken by Mark Grose from the Northern Territory, Dave Brewer from South Australia and Matt Johnson from Western Australia.

New Zealand Arts and Culture Minister Christopher Finlayson QC said “There is an abundance of musical talent in Australasia. This program is one of the ways in which we continue to foster a growing creative sector which can provide careers, development and exposure for our artists.”

“We’re very excited to launch this new trans-­‐Tasman program, said Cath Andersen, CEO of the New Zealand Music Commission, “RELEASE will provide a wonderful opportunity for labels from both countries to collaborate and develop new business models.”

“RELEASE is modelled on CONTROL, a very successful initiative we’ve been running since 2008,” added Denise Foley, Chair of the Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN). “If that experience is anything to go by, then a good number of these label owners are going to find that RELEASE will be a turning point for them, and not just in the way they do business, but in how they live their lives.”

RELEASE will feature respected music industry advisers and business specialists. Mentors in the program will include leading Australian and New Zealand label owners Sebastian Chase, Colin Daniels, Nicole Duckworth and David Vodicka.

RELEASE incorporates two residential workshops. The first will be held in Terrigal near Sydney in late November, the second at the end of the program in 2014. Music industry advocate and lawyer David Vodicka will moderate the Terrigal workshop, which marks the start of the five stage program.

The program is presented by the Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN), and supported by Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) and Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ). Funding has been provided by the Australian Government and the New Zealand Music Commission.

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