The independent music company behind beloved local acts like Remi, Allday and Northlane has just made another serious investment in the global recorded music market.ent
The seven-year-old company expanded its Recorded Music Division with the addition of new Label Manager, Conrad Lloyd.
Lloyd brings to the role five years of experience as Artistic Director A&R at Universal Music. Under the guidance of Head of Recorded Music Luke Logemann, he will grow UNIFIED’s five record labels (UNFD, ONETWO, Hopeless Records, NLV Records and House of Beige) and explore new opportunities. In fact, the company will announce the addition of further labels to its roster in the coming months.
UNIFIED is known for starting record labels in conjunction with management clients: NLV Records was launched in partnership with DJ/producer Nina Las Vegas, ONETWO with Melbourne rapper Illy (aka Al Murray) and House of Beige with Australian Music Prize winner Remi and his partner-in-hip-hop/soul, Sensible J.
UNIFIED has said it’s exploring these kinds of “white label” opportunities for artists, so it’s very likely its next label venture with be another artist partnership.
“UNIFIED is well known as one of the most dynamic and innovative music businesses in Australia,” said Conrad Lloyd. “The white label opportunity furthers that ethos by allowing us to offer creative and interesting deal structures to artists who want to use our platform and resources to release their music.
“We are always looking for the highest quality music and artists to work with yet we aren’t bound to any set model when it comes to how we do business with them,” he added.
UNIFIED CEO and Founder Jaddan Comerford and Luke Logemann had this to say about the expansion:
“Record Labels are the reason we got into the music business, and have been our bread and butter for well over a decade now. Throughout the years, the business has evolved drastically, and despite its ups and downs we’ve constantly tried to evolve with it.
“We believe now is the time to use the knowledge and excitement we have for recorded music, and embrace the power of streaming and innovative marketing to build what we think can be a global group focused on extraordinary results.”
The last few years alone have been a mammoth ride for UNIFIED’s recorded music division. The company expanded into Europe and North America, partnered with global digital distributor and label services provider Believe Digital, inked countless global label partnerships, and opened offices in London and Los Angeles.
We could also mention the successes of its promoter arm, Unify Presents, but it’s easier to just remind you that it now runs in partnership with the local arm of the world’s largest concert promoter, Live Nation (source: Pollstar)
UNIFIED’s artists also continue to make headlines for all the right reasons. Violent Soho took out Best Rock Album and Best Group at the 30th Annual ARIA Awards in November, Hellions’ single Thresher was streamed over 856K times on Spotify, Northlane has been added to Download Festival in the UK, and more recently, UNIFIED artists took 11 tracks on the coveted triple j Hottest 100.
We’ve said it before and hell, we’ll say it again: business schools and music industry courses will likely one day include a unit on the ‘UNIFIED Model’. UNIFIED isn’t a record label or a stable of managers with various clients, but simply a music company.
