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Thrilled in 2015
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 22 December 2015
Sometimes in life it can be hard to let your true feelings flow out unimpeded. But the one place where that doesn’t seem to be the case is when announcing something – anything really – via a press release.
As soon as someone is able to communicate their thoughts and emotions through this most basic of PR tools, the feelings just flood out. It’s almost as if the person speaking isn’t actually speaking at all, and some PR dude has just typed some key words into a waffle machine and said machine has worked its magic. But that can’t be it.
Either way, the result is a long line of men and women shouting to the sky about how thrilled they about everything. Well, mainly about the contract they just wrote, executive they just hired or the app they just released.
Think about it, no one ever says the word “thrilled” in normal conversation. No one. It just never happens. And yet in the world of the press release nearly everyone is thrilled about something. Wouldn’t it be nice to live in that world? No. It would not.
Anyway, here, for your reading pleasure, is a summary of just some of the times music people got thrilled about something in a press release in 2015.
January
• James Corden was “thrilled, overwhelmed and honoured” to get an OBE, which would have been relevant to us if he was still presenting the BRITs. Maybe.
• Fervor Records CEO David Hilker was “thrilled” to sign Pistoleros.
• Jordan Wolowitz, a partner at Founders Entertainment, was “thrilled” to announce the line-up of this years Governors Ball Music Festival in New York.
• Producer CJ Vanston was “completely thrilled” to work on Toto’s new album.
• Randy Wachtler, President & CEO, Warner/Chappell Production Music, was “thrilled” that “the undisputed champions of news theme music” Frank Gari Productions and Gari Communications had been acquired by his company.
• Bloc Records was “thrilled” to be able to release a Jake Chudnow single in “circular format” (ie vinyl).
• The Orchard’s COO Colleen Theis was “thrilled” to partner with Dangerbird Records.
• Pusha T was “thrilled” to have discovered OWS before you.
• Downtown Records was “thrilled” that Ellen DeGeneres likes Chet Faker.
• The Common Linnets were “thrilled” to win Best Festival Act Award at the European Festival Awards.
• Uber’s Matt Wyndowe was “thrilled” that people would be able to book cabs at the same time as buying tickets from Live Nation.
• Marathon Artists founder Philippe Ascoli was “so thrilled” by a partnership between his company and Green United Artists.
• Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas were “thrilled” to announce that they would play this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
• Kobalt Label Services UK Managing Director Vincent Clery-Melin was “incredibly excited and thrilled” to be working with Placebo.
• Conrad Withey was “thrilled” to be working with Warner Music, after being named CEO of YouTube artist development label Popshack.
• Songwriter Jonny Wright was “absolutely thrilled” to sign a deal with Insieme Music Publishing.
• SVP & MD of INgrooves International Alex Branson was “thrilled” that Nick Roden had joined the company as Director of International Business Development.
• David Hirshland of BMG Chrysalis US was “thrilled” that Sleater-Kinney had renewed their publishing deal.
• Band On The Wall and Brighter Sound were “thrilled” that Beth Orton had agreed to lead the fourth event in their Wall Of Sounds Artistic Directors Series.
• Beth Orton was “thrilled” to lead the fourth event in Band On The Wall and Brighter Sound’s Wall Of Sounds Artistic Directors Series.
• Convergence curator Glenn Max was “thrilled” at how great a job he’d done.
• Funeral For A Friend frontman Matthew Davies was “thrilled” that his band was asked to play Camden Rocks.
• ‘Geordie Shore’ star and ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ winner Charlotte Crosby was “absolutely thrilled” to have the fastest selling workout DVD in British history.
• Nick Jonas was “so thrilled” to sign a publishing deal with Universal.
• Converse Global Music Marketing Director Jed Lewis was “thrilled” by the response to the Converse Rubber Tracks programme.
• Henley Festival CEO Charlotte Geeves was “thrilled” to announced Lionel Richie would be playing this year’s festival.
• Urban-folk act Billy Momo were “thrilled” that one of their songs had been used in a ‘Better Call Saul’ trailer.
• Midem’s Bruce Crolot was “thrilled” to have Doug Morris delivering a keynote.
• Sony Computer Entertainment’s Andrew House was “thrilled” to be ditching Music Unlimited and replacing it with Spotify on the PlayStation Network.
• Nathan Salsburg from The Association of Cultural Equity was “thrilled” to be working with PledgeMusic on an Alan Lomax boxset.
February
• Natasha Guiotto was “genuinely thrilled” to join the booking agency side of MN2S.
• Warner Bros Records CEO Cameron Strang was “thrilled” that Nile Rodgers had agreed to return to the label both as an artist and with his label Land Of The Good Groove, and “doubly thrilled” that the label deal would also see the return of Michael Ostin.
• Melissa Etheridge was “so thrilled” to be playing songs from her new album on her European tour.
• Cooking Vinyl founder Martin Goldschmidt was “thrilled” to be partnering with John Black on his new management company.
• Nervo was “thrilled” that Ultra Music had chosen ‘It Feels’ as a single from their debut album.
• Musixmatch CEO Max Ciociola was “thrilled” to add Thomas Hesse to the company’s advisory board.
• The Orchard’s CEO Brad Navin was “thrilled” about a strategic partnership with German music services company Membran Entertainment Group.
• INgrooves’ SVP of INresidence Artist Services Bryan Mead said the company was “positively thrilled” to be handling US distribution for Xtra Mile.
• Capitol Music Group’s Head Of Media Strategy & Relations Ambrosia Healy was “thrilled” that Lauren Ceradini had joined the company as Vice President of Publicity. Ceradini in turn was “thrilled” to have the opportunity.
• Rdio CEO Anthony Bay was “thrilled” that people buying tickets through AXS.com in the US would also get a 30 free trial of the streaming service.
• Secretary General of German indie labels trade body VUT Jörg Heidemann was “thrilled” that Caribou had won IMALA’s Indie Album Of The Year award.
• Justin Broadrick said that Godflesh were “thrilled” to be playing Bloodstock this year.
• Holly Miranda was “so beyond thrilled” to sign to Dangerbird Records.
• Marty Bandier was “thrilled” that Sony/ATV had renewed its European agreement with Spotify.
• London FolkFest director Tony Moore was “thrilled” at how the festival had developed over its first five years.
• Republic Records CEO Monte Lipman was “thrilled” to sign Charles Hamilton.
• Włodek & Karol from Lekko Stronniczy were “absolutely thrilled” to win a competition to work on a Clean Bandit video.
• Aaron Keyock was “thrilled” that he’d signed a record deal with Mascot Label Group.
• The Gentlewoman’s editor-in-chief Penny Martin was “absolutely thrilled” with the results of the magazine’s Björk cover shoot.
• Schott Music was “thrilled” that Richard Dinnadge had joined the company, said Creative Director Sam Rigby.
• Director of Music at BBC Worldwide Salim Mukaddam said that the Beeb’s commercial division was “thrilled” to be handling the worldwide rights to screen the BRIT Awards.
• Zedd was “thrilled” to finally be able to share some new music with the world.
• Steve Hackett was “thrilled” that guitarist Roine Stolt had agreed to join his band.
• Curator of the Convergence festival Glenn Max was “thrilled” about the line-up he had curated.
• Anna Christian Productions was “thrilled” that Nigel Kennedy was going to play a charity show in Leamington Spa.
• Clara Amfo was “honoured and thrilled” to be the new host or Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
• Cutting Edge Group’s Managing Director Phil Hope was “thrilled” that Kobalt had taken over its CEG Rights film score administration business.
• Toya Hankins was “absolutely thrilled” to join Primary Wave.
March
• Live Nation Global Touring President Arthur Fogel was “thrilled” that Madonna had decided to go on tour.
• Country musician Breelan Angel was “beyond thrilled” that Bud Light had bunged her a few quid in sponsorship money.
• London Symphony Orchestra Chair Lennox Mackenzie was “thrilled” that Simon Rattle had agreed to come on board as Music Director.
• Azealia Banks was “thrilled” to be involved in “a potentially groundbreaking new ‘norm’ in the future of making music video”. And who wouldn’t be?
• Rachel Springate of Dubset Media Holdings said the company was “thrilled” that Steve Aoki was supporting its MixSCAN technology.
• Warner Bros. Records President Dan McCarroll was “thrilled” that Duran Duran had signed a new deal with the company.
• UK Music CEO Jo Dipple was “thrilled” that “so many” people were “enjoying” its terrible music management simulator, Music Inc.
• Ooh La La Records founder Theo Aronson was “thrilled” to be working with Caroline International.
• Living Indie was “so thrilled” to be live streaming a show put together by the Attitude Is Everything charity.
• Eden Project Marketing Director Rita Broe was “thrilled beyond words” that Motorhead were to play an Eden Sessions show this year, something she noted in a 79 word quote.
• 4AD boss Simon Halliday was “thrilled” that Holly Herndon had chosen to sign to his label. Which is fair.
• Emily Eavis said she was “thrilled” to have Kanye West playing Glastonbury.
• Nile Rodgers was “thrilled” that Butler & Bontan and Krystal Klear would be supporting him on his UK tour.
• Vice President Of Marketing at 7Up Dave Falk said the drinks brand was “thrilled” to be working with Twitch and Ultra Music Festival via its sponsorship of the festival.
• Tito Jackson was “thrilled” to have a London show in the diary.
• US distributor Redeye was “thrilled” to partner with Proper Music Distribution in the UK, said co-founder Glenn Dicker.
• Earache’s Dan Tobin said the label was “thrilled” to sign Biters.
• Tim Burgess said The Charlatans were “thrilled” to be playing the 20th anniversary of V Festival. Really though? V Festival?
April
• SFX Entertainment was “thrilled” to be bringing Dutch festival Awakenings to the US.
• Composer Bear McCreary was “thrilled” that his first vinyl release was to be his soundtrack for the ‘Outlander’ TV show.
• Kate Pierson found it “thrilling” that Nick Valensi has played guitar on two of her new songs.
• T In The Park Festival Director Geoff Ellis was “thrilled” that Afrojack would be DJing at this year’s festival.
• Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo were “thrilled” to be releasing a live version of their song ‘Promises In The Dark’.
• Record Store Day was “thrilled” to be selling a record player for charity.
• Heritage Foundation President Vicki Michelle was “thrilled” that Red Bus Studios was the first building, rather than individual, to get a blue plaque.
• LA Reid “couldn’t be more thrilled” to be working with Mariah Carey again.
• Sony/ATV Senior Vice President of Creative Jennifer Knoepfle was “thrilled” that MoZella had renewed her publishing deal.
• Full Fat’s Dan Walsh was “absolutely thrilled” to be working with Toyota on some street music marketing thing.
• Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI’s Vice President of Film/TV Relations was “thrilled” that Alexandre Desplat was getting a BMI Icon Award.
• Live Nation’s Graham Pullen was “thrilled” to be involved in the ‘VE Day 70: A Party To Remember’ concert.
• Daylight Music’s Ben Eshmade was “thrilled” that teremin player Sarah Angliss would be performing at one of his shows.
• AudioBoom CEO Robert Procter was “thrilled” that Alan Brazil And Mike ‘Porky’ Parry were reuniting for a new podcast.
• Believe Digital’s Oleg Bounetsky was “thrilled” that the company was sponsoring Rockcomm.
• Illustrator Hattie Collins was “thrilled” to being working with Lovebox.
• The Eden Project’s Marketing Director Rita Broe was “thrilled” to have Spandau Ballet performing at the Eden Sessions.
• Baio was “beyond thrilled” to sign a record deal with Glassnote.
• Scott Hueston was “thrilled” about his new job at PledgeMusic.
• Nettwerk’s Blair McDonald was “thrilled” to be working with Aaron Keylock. As was Silver Fox’s Peter McCamley. Keylock himself was just “really excited”.
• CD Baby’s Rob Filomena was “thrilled” that its users would get access to rights company Loudr’s technology.
• Tony Visconti was “thrilled” about how a live recording of him and Woody Woodmansey covering David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ had turned out.
• Simon Le Bon was “thrilled” to be supporting this year’s Bike4Life festival.
• Katie Vinten was “thrilled” about being promoted to the role of Vice President A&R at Warner/Chappell.
• Dan Moore was “thrilled” to be the new Head Of Marketing And Membership at BASCA.
• Universal Publishing Production Music’s Kris Pilling was “thrilled” to be launching new hip hop-focussed unit, Block, in partnership with London Boy Entertainment.
• Steel Wool Entertainment CEO Kevin Morrow was “thrilled” that Fabienne Leys had joined the company.
• WellChild Chief Exec Colin Dyer was “thrilled” that the charity was working with the Isle Of Wight Festival.
• IV Rox were “so thrilled” to get some cash from the Momentum Music Fund.
• Billy Corgan reckoned that working for TNA Wrestling would be a “thrilling challenge”.
• Munira Mirza, Deputy Mayor For Education And Culture at London’s City Hall, was “thrilled that Ticketmaster share our love of supporting grassroots talent”.
• Ultra Records’ Patrick Moxey was “thrilled” to be involved with Simon Cowell’s DJ talent search show (the one that didn’t happen).
• Shazam’s Senior Music Manager Stephen Titmus was “thrilled” to be working with Resident Advisor.
• Charles Fitzgerald from BM Management was “thrilled” that one of his band’s, Gunship, had signed a deal with Metropolis Music Publishing.
• Tim Foxon from Help Musicians UK was “thrilled” to be working with PledgeMusic.
• Universal Music Publishing CEO Jody Gerson was “thrilled” to announce a new deal with Shaun Mendes. And Mendes’s manager Andrew Gertler was also “thrilled” about it too.
• Atlas Music Publishing’s Jennifer Blakeman said that “every department” at the company was “thrilled” to be working with Counting Crows.
• Iain Morris was “thrilled” to be joining Rdio.
• ICM Partners’ Steve Levine was “thrilled” that Rob Prinz and Nikki Wheeler were joining the company.
• Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman was “thrilled and gratified” by the response to ‘See You Again’ by Wiz Khalifa on Spotify.
• Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel was still “thrilled” that cash cow Madonna was back on tour.
• Red Bull Records Managing Director Greg Hammer was “thrilled” that “our patience and commitment to artist development has paid off” with AWOLNATION, after ‘Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)’ went to number one on the Mediabase Alternative Chart.
• Singer-songwriter Tara Lee was “thrilled” to be working with BMG.
• Spotify’s Kevin Brown was “thrilled” that Ed Sheeran has racked up two billion streams on Spotify.
• 7digital CEO Simon Cole was “thrilled” that things were going well.
May
• AudioBoom CEO Amanda Brown was “thrilled” that its brand was being furthered by Triple J in Australia broadcasting Russell Brand’s podcast, which AudioBoom hosts.
• Alix Kram was “thrilled” to join Warner Music as WEA’s Vice President Of Global Brand Licensing.
• Jo Carter, Director of Nordoff Robbins was “thrilled” to be working with Pure Evil and the Isle Of Wight Festival.
• NMPA boss David Israelite was “thrilled” to agree terms with SoundCloud for its members’ content.
• Bobby Tanveer of Title Partner and Iridescent Entertainment was “thrilled” to partner with Life In Color and Privilege in Ibiza.
• Smalltown America was “thrilled” to sign Blacklisters.
• Sony/ATV Senior Creative Director Tyler Childs was “so thrilled” to be working with Walk The Moon. Walk The Moon’s manager Michael McDonald was “thrilled” that the band were working with Sony/ATV.
• Former Warner UK boss Christian Tattersfield was “thrilled” that his publishing company Good Soldier Songs was working with Kobalt.
• Deborah Hyacinth was “thrilled” with her new job at Universal Music.
• PPL Chair Fran Nevrkla was “genuinely thrilled” that Philip Pullman had agreed to speak at the organisation’s AGM.
• Open Garden CEO Micha Benoliel was “thrilled” to partner with Sunset and Disco Donnie Presents for Sunset Music Festival 2015.
• Sarah Boorman was “thrilled” to be joining Universal Music TV.
• Craig Ericson, President of Rise Records, was “thrilled” that BMG had bought the company.
• Viacom’s Michael Armstrong was “thrilled” that the BET Awards was back for another year.
• One-time major label exec Jason Flom was “thrilled” that his new company Lava was working with Kobalt.
• Downtown boss Justin Kalifowitz was “thrilled” that he’d bought Eagle-i.
• Michael Martin was “thrilled” to head up ASCAP’s Nashville Membership Office.
• Republic Records Executive Vice President Charlie Walk was “thrilled” to be part of Hailee Steinfel’s “musical journey”.
• Big Machine Label Group was “thrilled” to be working with PledgeMusic on ‘American Idol’ winner Nick Fradiani’s debut album.
• Councillor Alan Kerr, Deputy Leader of South Tyneside Council with responsibility for Culture and Leisure, was “thrilled” that ‘Carwash’ singer Gwen Dickey had agreed to play the South Tyneside Festival.
• Måns Zelmerlöw was “thrilled” to win the Eurovision Song Contest. As you would be.
• Nordoff Robbins CEO Julie Whelan was “thrilled” that Vevo had agreed to sponsor the Best Female Award at the O2 Silver Clef Lunch.
• Northern Pride Chari Mark Nichols was “thrilled” that a lot of acts from both the North of England and the rest of the UK would be performing at Newcastle Pride 2015.
• David Coverdale was “thrilled” on behalf of all members of Whitesnake about the response to their Deep Purple covers album, ‘The Purple Album’.
• Popshack CEO Conrad Withey was “thrilled and honoured” that CEO of MTV Networks International Bill Roedy had invested in the company.
• Living Bridges were “thrilled” with both how their latest album turned out and the work producer Jamie King did on it.
• ReverbNation Chief Creative Officer, Simon Perry was “thrilled” that its users were able to submit songs for use on the soundtrack of the new ‘Point Break’ remake.
• Great Escape Director Kat Morris was “thrilled” to announce a partnership with BIMM.
• Phil Collins was “thrilled” to be continuing his relationship with Warner Music.
• BBC exec Bob Shennan was “thrilled” that the BBC was going to broadcast stuff from loads of festivals over the summer.
June
• LoveLive CEO Richard Cohen was “thrilled to have [Rob Wells] on board”.
• SoundCloud CEO Alexander Ljung was “thrilled” about his new deal with Merlin.
• Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale was “thrilled” to be coming to the UK on the Carnival Of Madness tour.
• Sony/ATV’s Guy Moot said that Gary Barlow has “thrilled” several generations.
• Pete Tong was “thrilled” to be releasing a mix in the ‘All Gone’ series.
• Kissy Sell Out was “thrilled” to be launching his ‘Kissy’s House Party’ radio show online.
• BMI Vice President Writer-Publisher Relations Atlanta Catherine Brewton was “thrilled” about Nile Rodgers getting a BMI Icon Award.
• Joe Frankland from PRS For Music Foundation was “thrilled” to be supporting the finalists of the Liverpool International Music Festival’s 2015 Academy programme.
• Warner/Chappell’s Jon Platt was “thrilled” to be working with MNEK.
• Conrad Withey, CEO of PopShack, was “thrilled” that Stewart Easterbrook had agreed to join the company’s board.
• The Lion And The Wolf, aka Thomas George, was “thrilled” about his upcoming UK tour.
• ATC Live Partner Alex Bruford was “thrilled” that Clementine Bunel and Cecile Communal were joining the company.
• Nickleback frontman Chad Kroeger was “definitely not thrilled” that he would not be able to sing for “many weeks” due to surgery to remove a cyst from his voicebox. I couldn’t comment on everybody else.
• Mike Krol was “beyond thrilled” that he had been signed by Merge Records.
• Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada, was “thrilled” that Canada’s sound recording copyright term had ben extended from 50 to 70 years.
• Seed Scientific CEO Adam Bly was “thrilled” to be working with Spotify following an acquisition by the streaming service.
• Cash Cash’s JP Makhlouf was thrilled to be heading out on tour with Tritonal.
• Universal Music’s Mike Tunnicliffe was “thrilled” about a partnership with Marriott International because “they share our determination to build progressive, creative, long-term relationships with brand partners”. Amen.
• Former AEG Live UK boss Rob Hallett was “thrilled” that Standon Calling was his new company Robomagic’s “first festival connection”.
• Island founder Chris Blackwell was “thrilled” that his Blue Mountain Music company had done a publishing administration deal with Kobalt.
• RED Distribution President Bob Morelli reckoned the company was “thrilled” to be in business with Jazz At Lincoln Center’s new Blue Engine Records label.
• Meredith Gardner was “thrilled” that she would get to work with Josh Kahn as they both joined Capitol Music Group.
• New York Senator Chuck Schumer was “thrilled” to be guest conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Carnegie Hall.
July
• Meredith Gardners was “thrilled” to have been promoted with Josh Kahn to the joint role of Vice President of Digital Marketing & Product at Universal’s Capitol Music Group in the US.
• Pledge Music President Malcolm Dunbar was “thrilled and delighted” that his company was working on “one of the biggest albums of the year, by one of the most important UK bands of the last decade” – ie ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth’ by The Libertines.
• Datsik was “super thrilled” to be playing alongside the “epic bass squadron” that made up the rest of the Safe In Sound festival line-up.
• Singer-songwriter Judith Hill was “thrilled” to have been signed by Imagem.
• Reza Davoudi from artist management firm nineteen95 was “thrilled” that Losers had signed to BMG.
• Everything Everything’s Jeremy Pritchard said the band were “thrilled” to have met Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter backstage at last year’s T In The Park.
• Wye Oak’s Andy Stack was “thrilled” to be performing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
• The BBC’s Andrew Scott was “thrilled” to be adding offline listening to the BBC iPlayer Radio app.
• Sam Taylor of dotFans was “thrilled” at the response the company had received halfway through its trademark priority period.
• The lawyer representing Marvin Gaye’s family against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke was “thrilled” for his clients and the jury in the case.
• Peter Herman was “thrilled to now co-produce The Nile Rodgers FreakOut! Festival®”.
• Pete Tong was “thrilled” to be teaming up with John Monkman on Hot Since 82 Ibiza 2015.
• Colin MacIntyre – aka Mull Historical Society – was “thrilled” to sign a publishing deal with Xtra Mile and BMG.
• Communion MD Jamie Emsell was “thrilled” to sign up to Universal’s artist services division Caroline International.
• Michelle Marks was “thrilled” to be Syco’s new Marketing Director.
• Beatport’s Greg Consiglio said the SFX owned company was “thrilled” about a new partnership with Spotify.
• Time Inc UK Group Advertising Director Romano Sidoli was “thrilled” that Austin, Texas had agreed to sponsor the NME Awards again.
• SB Management Steve Ambler said that he was “thrilled” that Oh Wonder, and specifically the half of the duo he represents, Josephine Vander Gucht, had signed to Imagem.
• Dermot McCormack, President of Video and AOL Studio, was thrilled by a nomination for AOL Originals at the Emmy Awards.
• Nervo were “thrilled to bits” that Kylie Minogue had asked to add guest vocals to one of their tracks.
• Liverpool Music Week’s Mike Deane was “thrilled” to announce Godspeed You! Black Emperor as headliners.
• St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman was “thrilled” that the Doomtree festival was coming to his town.
• The Beat’s Dave Wakeling was “thrilled” about all the stuff the band was doing.
• PRS for Music Foundation’s Executive Director Vanessa Reed was “thrilled” to be launching the next round of Beyond Borders funding.
• Uber’s Head Of Partnership was Marshall Osborne “thrilled” to be heading a partnership with Kygo. He added that the company was also “pumped”.
• Just So Festival Direct Sarah Bird was “absolutely thrilled” to receive the ID&C Grass Roots Festival Bursary.
• The Moon Kids was “really thrilled” to be releasing a single on the very first Global Release Day.
• Universal Music Publishing CEO Jody Gerson was “thrilled” that she had promoted Jessica Rivera. Rivera, if you were wondering, was “excited and grateful”.
• Universal Publishing Production Music’s Andrew Stannard was “thrilled” that The Horrors’ Tom Furse was going to create some music for the company.
• Samantha & Shauna from the Hang Fire Smokehouse were “thrilled and honoured” to be asked to host The Feast Collective at Bestival.
August
• Gabriella Ianni was “thrilled” about her new job at INgrooves.
• Emilie of Emilie & Ogden was “thrilled” that Taylor Swift had shared a video of the duo covering her song ‘Style’.
• Steve ‘N’ Seagulls were “thrilled” by their own audience.
• Kobalt boss Willard Ahdritz was “thrilled” about the company’s collecting society AMRA’s “unique ability to make direct deals with the leading streaming players who have a true global reach”. In this case (and the first case, for that matter) Apple Music.
• Bob Roback was “thrilled” to be joining the Isolation Network.
• Eddy Cue was “thrilled” with “the numbers” Apple Music had managed “so far”.
• Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan was “thrilled” that Spotify’s Ken Parks had jumped ship to his company.
• Catalyst’s Al Hardiman was “thrilled” to be partnering with Warner Music on some biopics.
• Fiona Ross of clothes shop Evans was “thrilled” to be working with Jesse And The Bandits on its #StyleHasNoSize campaign.
• Rdio boss man Anthony Bay was “thrilled” to add 500 US radio stations to the streaming service.
• Boy George was “thrilled” to be a coach on ‘The Voice’.
• Syco Music’s Sonny Takhar was “thrilled” to have Tyler Brown as his new of Head Of A&R.
• Jonas Siljemark, President of Warner Music Nordics was “thrilled to be releasing music that fans clearly love”.
• Giles McNamee was “thrilled” that he had managed to keep London venue The Troubadour open.
• North East Festival Director John Adamson was “thrilled” that people would be able to go to the festival.
• Green Day were “thrilled” about switching from ASCAP to SESAC.
• Announcing the release of his latest album, Blues guitarist Walter Trout was “thrilled about this album, about my life and about my music”. Which is nice.
• Liverpool Music Week’s Mike Deane was “thrilled” to announce Richard Hawley as headliner.
• Breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel! was “thrilled that our favourite singer, Boob Ninja and all round legend Rae Morris” had involved the organisation in her new video.
• Alanis Morrissette was “thrilled” to “honour and reflect on” the songs on her debut album via a 20th anniversary release.
• Head of the Citi®/AAdvantage® portfolio at Citi Cards David Parkes was “thrilled” to partnerwith Imagine Dragons for an exclusive show for Citi®/AAdvantage® card members.
• Terry Jones was “thrilled” that Kylie Minogue had recorded a song to play over the end titles of his new film ‘Absolutely Anything’. Kylie said that as a child, Jones and the rest of Monty Python had “thrilled, baffled and entertained” her whole family.
• Reliant Music Ventures founder John Dexter was “thrilled” to be working with that Smash Mouth.
September
• The Weeknd was “thrilled” to being playing the Apple Music Festival.
• Harwell was “thrilled” about a new documentary all about him.
• Radio Academy chair Chris Burns was “thrilled” that a load of tip top radio people had been available to speak at the Radio Festival.
• Gary Gorman was “thrilled” to become Senior Vice President Alternative Promotions at Capitol Music Group.
• Jewellery designer Ian Barrett found it “thrilling” that musicians like Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett with Sean Lennon, Andy Bell of Ride, Ben of MGMT and The Teardrop Explodes’ Julian Cope were all wearing his work.
• Canadian Music Week President Neill Dixon was “thrilled” that Cameron Wright was returning to the event as Vice President of Operations and Live Programming.
• Ant & Dec were “thrilled” to be hosting the BRIT Awards again.
• The Shires, like The Weeknd, were “thrilled” to be playing the Apple Music Festival.
• totallyradio.com producer Nats Spada was “thrilled” that a load of tip top radio people had been available to speak at Radio//Future Sounds.
• Sister Sledge were “thrilled” to perform for the Pope on his visit to their hometown of Philadelphia.
• Music Canada Live Executive Director Erin Benjamin was “thrilled” to be working with Canadian Music Week.
• Adrian Karvinen was “thrilled” to join Three Six Zero Group.
• James Morrison was “thrilled” to be on the line-up for One Big Night For Children In Need.
• Cuffe & Taylor director Peter Taylor was “thrilled” to be promoting another Rod Stewart tour.
• Somethin Else was “thrilled” to announce a “multi-platform collaboration [that] will work across a daily updated blog site, social media, Channel 4 platforms and linear TV”.
• Freeze Big Air Festival Director Andrew Topham was “thrilled” to have booked Nile Rodgers and Chic, even though there can’t be many festivals left that they haven’t now played.
• Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper was “thrilled” that Nonesuch Records President Bob Hurwitz was staying on at the label in some capacity, even if he’d decided to step away from its day-to-day running.
• Help Musicians UK’s Talent Programme Manager Tim Foxon was “thrilled” that artists were applying for money from the Emerging Artists Fund.
• Razor & Tie’s Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam were jointly “thrilled” about their new alliance with Concord Bicycle Music.
October
• Björk was “thrilled” that Bloom had agreed to remix her track ‘Black Lake’.
• Crowdmix founder Ian Roberts found the arrival of Rob Wells at the company “thrilling”.
• Larry Mattera was “thrilled” to be joining Warner Bros Records.
• Frontwoman of Iron Maiden tribute act The Iron Maidens thought the prospect of playing in London, the city where Iron Maiden formed, was “thrilling”.
• Jon Platt was “thrilled” to succeed Cameron Strang as Warner/Chappell’s CEO.
• CEO of The Mascot Group, Ed Van Zijl reckoned that “the whole Mascot Label Group team” without exception was “thrilled” that Black Stone Cherry had agreed to sign a record deal with the company.
• Sony/ATV VP International David Ventura said the company was “thrilled” about signing Kygo. He then said it a second time shortly afterward, just in case anyone forgot.
• Amazing CEO Paul Campbell was “thrilled” about signing Boy Jumps Ship to Amazing Record Co.
• Michael Bolton was “thrilled” to be touring the UK.
• Tori Kelly was “thrilled” about the surprises she had up her sleeve for her performance at the MTV EMAs.
• Electric Jukebox CEO Rob Lewis was “thrilled” to be working with 7digital on his hilarious new product.
• Ella Eyre was “so thrilled” that she’d been asked back to perform at the MOBOs.
• Tiesto was “thrilled” to have remixed Faithless for their 20th anniversary compilation.
• Funeral For A Friend frontman Matthew Davies-Kreye said the band were “so thrilled” to have Shai Hulud supporting them on their farewell tour.
• Sony/ATV UK MD Guy Moot was “thrilled” that Sia had extended her publishing deal with the company.
• Line Music CEO Jun Masuda was “thrilled” to be working with Omnifone’s licensing team.
• Marc Carey, European Marketing Director at Hard Rock International was “thrilled” to have Pixie Lott playing the London branch of the Hard Rock Cafe.
• Canadian Music Week’s Neill Dixon was “thrilled” that Andy Kim is to be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.
• Jody Gerson was “absolutely thrilled” that Luke McGrellis Had been appointed Universal Music Publishing Group’s Vice President Creative.
• Graham Norton was “thrilled” to be involved in that ‘Adele At The BBC’ thing.
• Trevor Nelson was “thrilled” to be involved in the new Notting Hill Academy Of Music.
• Artist manager Sarah Stennett was “thrilled” to launch First Access Entertainment with Access Industries. She was particularly looking forward to “leveraging the synergies across our respective businesses”.
• Cuffe & Taylor director Peter Taylor was “thrilled” to sign a deal with Scarborough Borough Council to present all concerts at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the next five years.
• Artist Legacy Group CEO Ashley Austin was “thrilled” about a new joint venture with Sony Music.
• Danny Bryant was “really thrilled” that Walter Trout had agreed to play on one of his tracks.
• Inigo Zabala, President of Warner Music Latin America, was “thrilled” about a strategic partnership with Romanian record label Roton Music.
November
• Mark Sutherland was “thrilled” to become editor of Music Week.
• Masked Ball organiser Kelvin Batt was “thrilled” about how successful the recent Halloween event had been.
• Sony/ATV CEO Marty Bandier was “thrilled” that Fetty Wap had signed to the company.
• Carly Paoli was “thrilled” to have performed at a show for EMMA for PEACE.
• NME’s editor-in-chief was “thrilled” that The Maccabees had performed at the launch party for the NME Awards 2016 with Austin, Texas.
• Canadian Music Week’s Neill Dixon was “thrilled” that André Menard And Alain Simard are to be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.
• Sony/ATV UK President Guy Moot was “thrilled” to have signed WSTRN.
• Just So Festival Director Rowan Hoban was “thrilled” to partner with Attitude Is Everything.
• Big New Year CEO Jordan Gross was “thrilled” to be working with Sixth Media.
• Darcey Bussell was “absolutely thrilled” with the success of her ballet music compilation.
• Nina Condron of Horus Music was “thrilled” to be sponsoring Independent Label Week.
• Serious Director (ie Director of Serious, though I’m sure he’s very serious about it) John Cumming was “thrilled” to announce Take Five Edition XI at the London Jazz Festival.
• Paradise Lost spokesperson Jason Newman was “thrilled” that the festival was going to bring tourists to Jamaica.
• Steve Hackett was “thrilled” to be playing the Stone Free Festival.
• Film producer Mike Lerner was “thrilled” to be working with director Yoni Gal and Steel Pulse’s David Hinds on a crowdfunding campaign to complete a documentary about the band.
• Deezer UK & Ireland MD Christian Harris was “thrilled” that Three customers would get access to the streaming service as part of a new partnership.
• Kem was “thrilled” to be working with Kobalt.
• President of STX Entertainment Sophie Watts was “thrilled” to sign a new publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group.
• Charlotte Gunn was “thrilled” to become the new NME Digital Editor. “This is the brand that got me into music”, she said. Good old brands.
• Nina Mistry-Stevens, Senior Account Director at Globe, Universal Music UK’s creative & commercial partnerships division, was “thrilled” to support the WWF through some thing with Will Young.
• BBC Worldwide music man Salim Mukaddam was “thrilled” to be involved in that ‘Adele At The BBC’ thing.
• Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper was “thrilled” that David Bither was taking over the role of Nonesuch Records President from Bob Hurwitz who had decided to step away from its day-to-day running.
• Elton John said Island was “so thrilled” to have signed him.
• YouTube star Kurt Hugo Schneider was “thrilled” to be working with Sony Music on a new YouTube thing.
• ITV Director Of Television Peter Fincham was “thrilled” that ‘The Voice’ was shifting over to his company from the BBC.
• Machine Management founder Iain Watt was “thrilled” that Sophie Bloggs was joining the company.
• Kobalt’s Senior VP of Creative, Whitney Daane, was both “excited” and “thrilled” to have signed a worldwide administration agreement with veteran country music hit writer Bob DiPiero.
• Field Day founder Tom Baker was “thrilled” about PJ Harvey headlining the festival next year.
• Xtra Mile MD Charlie Caplowe was “thrilled” to sign Ducking Punches.
• Cuffe & Taylor director Peter Taylor was “thrilled” to have booked Will Young for Symphony At The Tower next year.
• Amazon Tickets General Manager Geraldine Wilson was “thrilled” that Florence And The Machine and Kendrick Lamar will be playing the British Summer Time festival next year.
• Huka Entertainment Founder AJ Niland was “thrilled” that Evan Harrison would be taking over from him as CEO.
December
• Norman Perry, President of Perryscope Productions, was “amazed and thrilled” at the speed with which the company had “been able to secure top notch licensing partners to develop a fresh new line of AC/DC branded services and merchandise”.
• Paul Kahn was “thrilled” to be named Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Warner/Chappell Music.
• Sony/ATV Senior Vice-President Creative Jennifer Knoepfle said the company was “thrilled” to be extending its deal with Jack Antonoff.
• Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow was “thrilled” to give people a taste of Music’s Biggest Night® through the ‘2016 Grammy® Nominees’ compilation.
• Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge was “thrilled” to recognise “the leadership and contributions of women across the music business” along with Billboard, which had just given Universal Music Publishing CEO Jody Gershon Executive Of The Year at its Women In Music Awards.
• Melvin Benn was “thrilled” to announced Red Hot Chili Peppers as headliners at next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals.
• Cuffe & Taylor director Peter Taylor was “absolutely thrilled” to be announcing some acts on the line-up of next year’s Lytham Festival.
• Katie Vinten was “thrilled and honoured” to be promoted to the role of Co-Head Of A&R, US (excluding Nashville), along with Ryan Press. He was “thankful”.
• K-Klass was “thrilled and excited” to be doing a Cream Classics show with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral.
• RAC’s Andre Allen Anjos was “thrilled” to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category.
• Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews reckoned the streaming service was “thrilled” to do a direct licensing deal with Warner/Chappell.
• Demi Lovato was “thrilled” to do deals with Universal Music Publishing for her music and her label, Safehouse Records.
• Twitter UK’s Head of Entertainment Partnerships Georgina Parnell was “thrilled” to have Vevo as a partner on the UK launch of Twitter’s new Moments feature.
• Cuffe & Taylor director Peter Taylor was “thrilled” to be promoting an Aled Jones tour.
• Lissie was “absolutely thrilled” to be playing next year’s Isle Of Wight Festival (even though she said “this year” in her quote).
• BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra’s Head Of Programmes Rhys Hughes was “thrilled” to have Nina Kraviz, Oliver Heldens, Kode9 and Dub Phizix & Strategy joining the line-up for Radio 1’s Residency in January.
