Liz Phair signs to the re-launched Chrysalis Records 09 Sep 2020
Having returned as a frontline label earlier this year, Chrysalis Records have signed US singer-songwriter and highly influential indie pioneer Liz Phair. Liz has sold close to five million records worldwide and been nominated twice for a Grammy. Her raw lyrical style made her a trailblazer for a whole raft of female artists in alternative music when she began to make records at the start of the ‘90s. Liz’s first album in a decade is due next year.
Liz joins labelmate Laura Marling, who was co-signed to Chrysalis with Partisan Records. As the first project released to Chrysalis’ re-launched frontline label, Laura’s album, Song For Our Daughter, debuted in April to huge critical acclaim and a Mercury Music prize nomination.
Growing out of the American underground scene in the early ‘90s, Liz cemented herself as an empowering singer-songwriter, inspiring female writers and women all over with her confessional lyrics and unflinching take on the world. Debuting with gold-selling album Exile in Guyville, which Rolling Stone ranked as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, she has since released five more records including the self-titled Liz Phair in 2003, a shift in genre from lo-fi indie rock towards a more pop sound.
Alongside her music, Liz signed a publishing deal with Random House and released her genre-bending memoir Horror Stories in 2019. A debut book as candid as her music, it covers her ground-breaking album, Exile in Guyville, and traces the pivotal moments in her life and career.
Rescheduled for 2021 is a European tour with Alanis Morrissette and a series of North American dates with both Alanis Morrissette and Garbage.
Liz Phair said “I could not be more proud to be signed to Chrysalis, a legendary label that has found a new and exciting iteration with Robin and Jeremy. From our first call, I was struck by their intelligence and musical sensitivity. The level of communication was beyond anything I had hoped for. They hear the way I hear. I feel like I have found a home at Chrysalis and that we will do great work together. I am humbled and honoured to embark on this next part of my career in the sure and steady hands of some of the best in the business.”
Jeremy Lascelles, CEO Chrysalis Records said "When I first heard Liz’s music in the ‘90s I was completely bowled over by the candour and emotional honesty of her song writing. The cultural impact she made, not only in America where she quickly achieved iconic status, but also here in the UK was profound.
Fast forward to earlier this year when I had the opportunity to hear her new album. I was intrigued as to what it would sound like. One track in and I was hooked. There is so much character and personality oozing from every song, she sings better than ever, and the record is a total blast from beginning to end. She is an important artist, with as much to say now as she ever did, and it is a thrill and an honour to have her on Chrysalis Records."
Robin Millar, Chairman Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group said “Perhaps the most conspicuous thing about my career as a producer is how few records I’ve been involved in. The reason is that I never took a job for money or where I didn’t truly revere the gift of the artists. We wanted to carry the same values into Chrysalis and to have Liz Phair as our first US signing is nothing short of fantasy for me, as I was living and working in Northern California when Liz changed the game for female artists forever. As Jeremy quite rightly indicates, the new record is so much more than a return to form. It’s a truly great album. This record will not only blow Liz Phair fans away but has the potential to entrance a whole army of new fans.”
NEWS & PRESS
Noctil expands metadata capabilities to support DDEX RDR 1.5 standard
Noctil, a no-code metadata platform, has expanded its capabilities to support the DDEX RDR 1.5 standard. This addition further strengthens Noctil's commitment to delivering comprehensive and efficient metadata management solutions for the music and audiovisual industries. The DDEX RDR standard is...more
Music Venue Properties announce purchase of Swansea venue
Groundbreaking Initiative Secures Long-Term Futures of Grassroots Music VenuesShares in the scheme are available from www.musicvenueproperties.com “We can finally focus on continuing to develop the next generation of talent, knowing that The Bunkhouse is secure and will remain a cornerstone...more
BPI launches Episode 4 of Innovation Podcast series
Episode 4: A Classical Label and an AR Start-Up Walk Into A Studio… click here to listen to this and past episodes Building on its various innovation-led initiatives of the past 12 months, including its groundbreaking Grow Music partnership with London &...more
Proper Group AG: Bankruptcy Proceedings Initiated, Proper to Appeal
Proceedings initiated over minor missed payment of £20,000 Debt has been settled Proper Group AG is confident in ability to halt proceedings A Swiss court has initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Proper Group AG over an unpaid invoice of CHF 23,000 (equivalent to approx...more
Trackers & Breakbeats, new exhibition about Brain Records and Bizzy B
Rendezvous Projects presents Trackers and Breakbeats: Celebrating Brain Records' Underground Revolution, an exhibition that explores the groundbreaking influence of Brain Records and its pioneering use of 8-bit technology in the 1990s. This exhibition brings to light the often overlooked yet...more
Music retailers say carmakers' CD ban is letting down 7m music fans
Music retailers say carmakers' CD ban is letting down 7m music fans as Taylor Swift's latest CD outsells UK's three biggest-selling cars combined "Car manufacturers should listen to the Swifties and give the CD another chance" UK carmakers are turning their backs...more
Connyct, Mobile Short Form Video App focused on Community, Partners With Warner Music Group In Lead Up To Launch
A partnership with Warner Music Group brings major label music clips to drive content creation at launch What if social media could step beyond mere media consumption and instead create communities and bring people together? Linking online content with communities and...more
Soul and Feel: Spike AI brings the emotional magic of a great mix to musicians everywhere
There are around a hundred top-tier mixing engineers in the world, and each of them can work on approximately 300 hundred tracks a year. Yet there are tens of millions of tracks released annually. What if they all got a...more
Corey Sheridan appointed Global Head of Commerce & Revenue for ADA
Seasoned exec joins after leading Global Music Strategy at TikTokPreviously held roles at The Orchard, SoundCloud, UnitedMasters, and IODA ADA, the independent label and artist services arm of Warner Music Group (NASDAQ: WMG), today announced former TikTok exec Corey Sheridan has joined the...more
UK Music Video Awards 2024: nominations revealed ahead of awards ceremony on 24 October
CHARLI XCX LEADS THE PACK WHILE JADE, RAYE, ANTSLIVE, FONTAINES D.C., METTE AND CHILDISH GAMBINO ALL SCORE BIG IN THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE PREMIER GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF MUSIC VIDEO CREATIVITY Charli XCX leads the nominations at this year’s UK Music Video Awards...more
Graduation Hires UK A&R Veteran Rich Castillo, Expanding its Global Reach
UK A&R veteran Rich Castillo has joined Graduation as the new Head of A&R, set to take up the role later this month. Castillo will report directly to Charlie Lycett, Founder and CEO of Graduation, a global music company known...more
Audius Expands Its Music Marketplace, Enabling Direct On-Platform Payments from Millions of Fans to Thousands of Artists They Love
10% community split going live for the first time Audius, the largest decentralized music community and discovery platform for artists and their fans, announced today that the game changing monetization feature the company rolled out to select artists last year is...more
HE.SHE.THEY. Records announce a new global flagship electronic partnership with music distribution disruptors Too Lost, which will be launched at ADE 2024
To mark the occasion, HE.SHE.THEY. will host the main stage at Dockyard Warehouse Festival, a stage at Mystic Garden Festival, a mixer and boat party across the weekend featuring Indira Paganotto, DAX J, SPFDJ, Eats Everything, Jennifer Cardini, SNTS, SYREETA...more
Tickets now on sale for the annual Nordoff and Robbins Carol Service
This year's Nordoff and Robbins Carol Service takes place on Tuesday 10th December from 7pm at St Luke's Church, Chelsea Superstar performers, hosts and celebrity readers to be announced soon Get tickets at nordoff-robbins.org.uk/carols Nordoff and Robbins, the UK's largest music therapy charity, has announced...more
Proper Group's Drew Hill to chair the UK's Official Charts Company
Proper Group's Drew Hill has been elected as chairman of the Official Charts Company, the organisation which compiles the UK's benchmark music and video sales data and charts. Hill – CEO of Proper Group's distribution division – takes over the non-executive position from...more
Artist and author Jordan Stephens announced as Youth Music's first-ever Grassroots Hero
Artist, author and actor Jordan Stephens has been named the winner of the brand-new award in recognition of his advocacy of grassroots music for young people. The award follows research from The Youth Music SONG Report that found that the...more
BIME Bilbao 2024 returns this October debating 'glocalisation', AI, ticketing and more
29th October - 1st NovemberBilbao (Spain)Tickets available via https://bime.org/en/ - Leading professionals and artists, including Scott Cohen, Elijah, Alexandra Lioutikoff, Albert Pla, Maria José Llergo, Fermin Muguruza and many more will be featured in the BIME Pro program - BIME Live will feature 90 showcases featuring artists J Noa, Rubio,...more
AllTrack launches performing rights API tools for creator-centric platforms
TIDAL becomes the first platform to integrate as part of their new Songwriter Tools. AllTrack, the digital-era performing rights organization (PRO) built to serve the independent sector, has launched a suite of APIs that are now available to creator-centric platforms such...more
Digital revenues - Impala welcomes Belgian court decision to refer questions to higher EU court
The raison d'être of record labels is to partner with artists, help maximise their revenues and bring new music to fans. The independent sector has put forward a range of proposals to help achieve that. This is important because independent labels in Europe account for...more
Artist & Manager Awards 2024 to honour Pet Shop Boys & Angela Becker
Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe and Angela Becker, Pet Shop Boys’ manager since 2009, will receive the FAC & MMF’s Artist Manager Partnership Award (sponsored by PPL) in recognition of their shared impact on music and culture Yungblud & Special Projects Music...more
New Order donate 'Your Silent Face' to CALM's latest film
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) Ambassadors New Order have donated 'Your Silent Face' for the charity's latest film created by Witness Studios' Simon+Ben The film demonstrates the full scope of services offered by the suicide prevention charity, including practical advice for...more
Paul Hamlyn Foundation AWARDS FOR ARTISTS 2024 Celebrating 30 years
To celebrate 30 years of supporting artists at critical points in their careers, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Awards for Artists, given annually to five visual artists and five composers, will increase from £60,000 to £75,000. Unique in its no-strings-attached funding model,...more
Ticketmaster and Tickets for Good announce partnership to help live events provide tickets to non-profit workers
The UK business includes over 350k registered users. Recipients include NHS workers, teachers, charity workers, volunteers and people affected by the Cost of Living crisis. Robbie Williams and Yungblud have helped to boost awareness of the company which is now used by...more
Introducing Hook: A revolutionary new AI music app that lets you create, share and discover remixes and mashups of your favorite songs
We are happy to announce that today, Hook – the world’s first AI-driven social music expression app – is now available for anyone to download for iOS. Music expression made easy We built Hook for anyone who wants to play with music...more
Beggars Group and Reactional Music partner to deliver music from some of the world's leading independent artists to the next generation of games
Beggars Group, independent music pioneers, signs with Reactional Music Changing consumer habits and new technology driving opportunity for music to take its place in in-game purchase economies worth $125.7 billion Reactional Music, the rule-based music personalisation engine and music delivery platform that...more
Future focused music conference FastForward returns to London, announces new sponsors and initial speakers
The two-day programme focused on the future of the music industry takes place 4-5th February in London The forward thinking music business conference FastForward has confirmed its return to 21Soho for their 7th event in London, supported by SoundCloud, Musiio, SUBTV,...more
Universal Music Group launches Universal Music China Greater Bay Area
UMG Expands Strategic Investment in China's Most Dynamic Metropolitan area and talent UMG becomes the first major music company to establish a label division in China's vibrant Greater Bay Area Universal Music Greater China (UMGC), a division of Universal Music Group (UMG),...more
Dickon Stainer appointed Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK
Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Sir Lucian Grainge announced today that Dickon Stainer has been appointed Chairman & CEO of Universal Music UK. In his new role, Stainer is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of Universal Music...more
Reservoir announces publishing deals with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records
Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR), an award-winning independent music company, today announced new publishing deals with renowned rapper Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records. The deals include domestic publishing for Snoop’s entire catalog of hits and future works, as well...more
Olivier Laouchez, Executive Chairman of Trace, to Attend UN General Assembly to Champion Solutions for African Creative Industries and Education
Olivier Laouchez, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Trace, will be attending the 2024 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York from September 23-29. Laouchez, a leading figure in the African creative industries, will advocate for innovative solutions to address...more
THE HEADLINES
Welcome to the post-feature world (see Comment)
Can you copyright a rhythm? (see Features)
What do they mean by the "Artist's Team" anyway? (see Features)
Why artist collaborations are more popular than ever (see Analysis)
Dickon Stainer appointed Chairman & CEO of Universal Music UK (see Business)
Why do concert tickets now cost as much as a games console? (see Analysis)
CEO & Chairman David Joseph steps down from Universal Music UK (see Business)
BPI's Jo Twist: Music industry can be a “critical partner” for the new government and its growth ambitions (see News)
Do albums still matter, and which artists should be releasing them? (see Analysis)
Warner targets ‘a new dynamic structure’; layoffs underway at Atlantic (see Business)
Quarter of 2023's biggest songs on the German chart first found success via TikTok (see Analysis)
Streaming’s growth plan in the connection economy (see Opinion)
Universal Music predicts profits will grow 10% every year for the next four years (see Business)
ATC Group launch transatlantic music promotions company Circa (see News)
Spotify says it paid 1% of a $10m streaming fraud scheme’s royalties — so where did the other 99% come from? (see Digital)