As one of the most recognised names in the music industry,Warner Bros. Records looks to continue its rich heritage of developing critically acclaimed and commercially successful artists into the new digital age.
Warner Bros. artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Madonna, Craig David, Linkin Park and R.E.M. have all continued to uphold their status as some of the world's biggest selling and most vital acts. In addition, Daniel Powter and Kerrang Award winners My Chemical Romance are poised to emulate their global accomplishments.
Domestically, The Streets have proved to be one of the biggest success stories in the UK music scene with over 1 million sales of their second album, 'A Grand Don't Come For Free'. The Mobo winning artist Kano is winning over critics everwhere with his innovative and genre moulding brand of Grime and UK Hip Hop.
The Subways have also made considerable progress in 2005, whilst Muse, Ash, The Crimea and new signings Battle will all provide major hits for the company.
Warner Music UK chairman Nick Phillips commented, "This is an exciting time for Warner Bros. Records. With a roster full of internationally renowned artists and the most cutting-edge domestic signings we've had for years, the company can
really go on to achieve great things and deliver some hit records."
Warner Bros. Records UK is now perfectly positioned as the ideal place for both artists and employees to develop and further their careers.
Atlantic Records UK is home to artistes at the forefront of their genres: David Gray, the UK's most successful singer-songwriter, whose new album Life In Slow Motion is his third Number 1; James Blunt, whose debut album Back To Bedlam has spent 9 weeks at Number 1 in the UK; The Darkness, whose debut Permission To Land has sold 1.4million copies inthe UK alone.
Atlantic's ability to deliver successes across varying genres is demonstrated by the label's diverse roster. The label has a reputation for not only signing diverse artists such as Welsh Hip-Hop outfit Goldie Lookin' Chain and Do Me Bad Things but also help build careers for artistes such as, Hard-Fi, Funeral For A Friend, Magnet and Skye.
With US repertoire drawn from the New-York based Atlantic US, the domestic signings are joined by fantastic acts such as Sean Paul, Missy Elliott, Lil'Kim, Jet, Tracy Chapman, Twista, Death Cab for Cutie and Jason Mraz.
The strength of the Marketing, Promotions and Press departments ensures that Atlantic's artists are promoted to their true potential and the Digital department is instrumental in moving the company forward into technological ventures that will keep Atlantic at the forefront of the technology that will influence the progress of the way people discover, interact with and consume music.
Managing Director Max Lousada says:
"Atlantic is about exceptional artists, music and ideas. We have created a stable of incredible rock bands, stunning singer song-writers and vibrant urban acts. Our goal is to build and break new, up and coming talent as well as nurturing existing acts to the next level"
Warner Strategic Marketing (WSM) are responsible for the exploitation and marketing of the vast wealth of music that is the Warner catalogue. This includes conceptualising, producing and implementing TV advertised album campaigns for both single and multi-artist projects.
WSM have created and marketed a number of very successful compilation series, including Chilled Ibiza, Pure Garage, All Time Classic Tearjerkers, Chick Flicks, Cream Classics and many more. The fantastic quality of the Warner Music catalogue has also ensured a constant supply of superb ‘Best Ofs’ which WSM have both created and fully exploited in the TV market.
The catalogue department of WSM
has continued to go from strength to strength and has supplied the market
with excellently presented box sets, original collections vinyl re-issues,
re-masters and anthologies whilst continuing to keep a high profile of
the previously released Warner back catalogue at retail.
Warner Jazz, another WSM division, has also expanded its repertoire and
has recently released some impressive new titles this year.
The Licensing and Special Projects teams in WSM are also highly successful.
They have profitably exploited additional areas of revenue and placed
Warner tracks in films, TV shows and adverts. Special Projects have also
identified and made use of less conventional areas of retail and helped
to increase the expanding market share of WSM.
This year has seen WSM UK enter the DRTV arena for the first time with
"Peace and Love" and "This Is Soul". Both projects
have been well received and an additional revenue stream has been unearthed.
Mario Warner, Director of WSM UK, states:
“WSM UK is the backbone of Warner Music UK and supports the front
line labels where ever possible. We have a wealth of catalogue that deserves
to be heard. By creating and compiling we can present additional revenue
streams and new marketing opportunities for our artists. Our impressive
WSM Catalogue Team has the expertise to deliver great products that are
well presented in all genres and the TV Team is the best in the country.
Our Licensing Team is very pro-active and we have great expertise in Special
Marketing and Business Development. We are a very successful team.”
The Classics division in London handles the marketing and promotion of releases in the UK, as well serving as the HQ of the international Warner Classics label - one of only a few major classical labels. Signing, recording, design, production, marketing - every step of the process of making records available to be sold in the many affiliate territories worldwide is managed from this office.
Warner Classics re-issues impressive collections from its vast back catalogue, inherited when it took over the labels Erato and Teldec, such as collections of works by a great composer, or performances by particular artists. These re-releases have won the label great praise for the combination of high quality recordings, competitive prices and smart, tasteful packaging. Warner Classics also handles Apex, a budget-price label, with approx 5 releases every month.
The last few years have seen Warner Classics' new recordings go from strength to strength. The greatest artists from the Teldec/Erato days - such as Daniel Barenboim, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson and Nikolaus Harnoncourt - continue to release critically acclaimed recordings on the label. New signings have also received tremendous praise - such as the multi-award winning violinist Daniel Hope, American contemporary music champion Leila Josefowicz and the pioneering Estonian conductor Anu Tali.
The artist roster also includes the pianists Boris Berezovsky, Nikolai Lugansky and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and the legendary 'Beaux Arts Trio' who celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2004. Orchestras that regularly record for Warner Classics rank amongst the greatest, such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Concentus Musicus Wien.
Matthew Cosgrove, Director: "Warner Classics has established itself as one of the industries most vibrant and creative classical labels, producing recordings of outstanding quality by some of the world's greatest classical artists. We are especially proud to be working with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan orchestra, which is made up of young people from all over the Middle East. This is a visionary and courageous project, bringing understanding and tolerance, and contributing to the establishment of peace through the power of music."