Martin Goldschmidt’s Cooking Vinyl has expanded into Australia.
The British indie label has a new office in Melbourne, which is helmed by a twin-track team of two former Shock Records executives, Leigh Gruppetta and Stu Harvey.
“Having enjoyed our best ever year in 2012 in the USA with Marilyn Manson, The Cult and The Cranberries, Australia was next on the list for Cooking Vinyl’s international expansion plans,” explains Goldschmidt, Cooking Vinyl’s founder and CEO.
Cooking Vinyl Australia plans to sign local and international artists, and the label will naturally represent the wider company’s roster in Australia and New Zealand.
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Cooking Vinyl Australia will work closely alongside its exclusive Australasian distribution partner, Caroline Label Services, to offer a raft of services including strategic project management to a number of local and international labels, which include BMG Rights, Dine Alone, Kemado, Lex, Mexican Summer, New Damage, Resist and Stones Throw.
Caroline Label Services was launched earlier this year by Universal Music and is helmed by another former Shock exec, Tim Janes.
“Tim, Leigh and Stu have looked after us for the last decade in Australia. Getting them into Cooking Vinyl Australia is a dream,” adds Goldschmidt. “It’s our friends and the A team for Australia.”
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Upcoming releases include recordings from Glasvegas, NYPC (New Young Pony Club),High Tension, Fur Trade, The Stepkids, Turin Brakes, Twin Forks, Dinosaur Bones and The Flatliners.
Cooking Vinyl, founded in 1986 and originally specializing in folk music, has grown to become of Europe’s leading independents. Artists signed to Cooking Vinyl Amanda Palmer, Underworld, Ron Sexsmith, and Billy Bragg. In 2009, the imprint partnered with Ingenious Media Investments to release the Prodigy’s fifth studio album “Invaders Must Die.” The album went on to sell 1.2 million units worldwide, according to Cooking Vinyl, becoming 2009’s biggest-selling independent record in Europe.
Cooking Vinyl Records is part of the CV Group of companies, which include Essential Music & Marketing, CV America, Cooking Vinyl Publishing and Cooking Vinyl Property. Cooking Vinyl’s entry into Australia follows the launch of CV America last year.