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Cooking Vinyl launches “full service label division” in the US
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 11 March 2016
Following the recent sale of its label services business to Sony, Cooking Vinyl is ramping up its US presence by opening a “full service label division” Stateside and hiring former Warner Bros marketing chief Howie Gabriel to run it.
The Cooking Vinyl Group has had a presence in the US market for some time, but the new Cooking Vinyl America has ambitions to be a much more prolific affair, both repping the indie label’s existing artists in the States, and signing and developing domestic talent.
The New York-based division will work with RED – the Sony label services company that bought Cooking Vinyl’s Essential business last week – on distribution in America, which will be a familiar partner to Gabriel, because he used to work there.
Commenting on his new gig, in which he will report into Cooking Vinyl chief Martin Goldschmidt, Gabriel said: “I have known Martin for many years both personally and professionally and have always admired the way he has developed Cooking Vinyl from humble beginnings into a hugely successful company”.
He went on: “With a strong international infrastructure already in place, the time is right to build on that success by having a permanent base and a full service label operation in the US that can act as a home for the company’s existing artists, while working with the best American talent. I am honoured to have been given the role of overseeing Cooking Vinyl America and am excited to be part of helping the company become a truly global independent label who can sign, develop and market artists on a worldwide basis”.
The there mentioned Goldschmidt, meanwhile said, “The key challenge whenever our company expands into new territories, particularly a territory as important as the US, is finding the right person to oversee things. In Howie we have someone who has tremendous energy aligned with a proven track record of success in marketing and distribution, an understanding of both the US and the international markets, and above all a passion for music”.