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Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
CI owner state51 rejigs putting three businesses under one board
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 30 January 2018
Independent music group state51 has announced a restructure that will bring its three core businesses – technology platform OpenIMP, digital music delivery experts CI and label services business The state51 Conspiracy – under one board.
That board will consist of the group’s founder Paul Sanders as well as Paul Curran, the former Sony COO who has been Chair of CI since 2011, and Beggars Group director and UK Music Chair Andy Heath.
Confirming the rejig, Sanders said: “When I started out in digital music in 1991 I realised that a 21st century music company would need to be radically different to the old model. We now operate in a digital market, but the music industry needs scale and brave new thinking to meet the challenges of the 2020s”.
On the rejig itself, he added: “This restructuring configures us to deliver our massive technology advantage with an unmatched depth of music industry knowledge and state51’s legendary creativity”.
The company has also been accepted to participate in the London Stock Exchange’s Elite programme, which seeks to support privately owned businesses as they “prepare and structure for their next stage of growth”.
On the firm’s plans for growth, Curran told reporters: “Scaling up to the challenges and opportunities of the future global music industry requires – on top of deep music and technology knowledge – world class business skills, and we have been planning accordingly. It’s rewarding to see that this depth of preparation is now being recognised by bodies such as the LSE, as state51 becomes the first music company to be accepted into its Elite programme, which also notes our ambitions for the business”.
He continued: “Having been Chairman of CI since 2011 I have watched state51 develop. It has been exciting to have helped with the consolidation of the businesses and I am positive that the group is now perfectly placed to offer a very distinct route to market for artists and labels”.
