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Warner Classics

For the first time, Warner Classics is extending its global distribution and marketing infrastructure to third-party labels. From November 2015, the company will offer a comprehensive, tailored classical service to select partners including orchestras, artists and independent labels.

Warner Classics Label Services will manage logistics in conjunction with Warner Music Group's established international distribution company, Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) Worldwide, while offering the additional support of specialised classical marketing and promotional initiatives. This new venture has been conceived as a streamlined, one-stop approach for carefully chosen classical brands bringing a complementary artistic profile to Warner Classics' roster, which includes the former EMI Classics and Virgin Classics (now Erato) catalogues.

From November 2015, EuroArts Music will be the first company to join forces with Warner Classics Label Services, initially for physical distribution in the US and parts of Europe, with the UK, France and Benelux following in 2016. Founded in 1979, EuroArts is one of the world's leading independent producers and rights owners of audio-visual classical music programmes. With their DVD/Blu-Ray line comprising concerts, stage productions and documentaries featuring artists such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman and Martha Argerich, there are strong connections between EuroArts' catalogue and that of Warner Classics. This alliance aims to bring EuroArts products to a broader audience worldwide, with the pricing adjusted to fit in with Warner Classics' own DVD/Blu-Ray range. Label Services for EuroArts launches with the label's November new releases, including two productions with the Berliner Philharmoniker. EuroArts' back catalogue will be distributed through Warner Classics Label Services in a second phase of integration.

'In an ever-changing market environment, Warner Classics is responding to a strong demand for dedicated label services with a classical focus', said Markus Petersen, Senior Vice President Global Marketing & Operations, Warner Classics and Erato. 'We are offering distribution, product management and promotional solutions for high-quality labels, as well as selected orchestras, artists and broadcast partners whose products and content present synergies with Warner Classics brand values. To this end, we are delighted to represent EuroArts and its prestigious audio-visual catalogue as well as its ongoing filmed projects.'

Eliah Seton, President of Alternative Distribution Alliance Worldwide, added: 'We are excited to join the forces of ADA Worldwide and Warner Classics in addressing this growing opportunity in the marketplace. ADA will bring to bear its international strength and expertise in distribution and services, to partner with Warner Classics in providing the best possible representation for independent classical music labels across the globe.'

Bernd Hellthaler, CEO and Managing Director of EuroArts Music: 'We feel immensely proud to be the first label that enters into this pioneering partnership with Warner Classics and ADA. Over the past weeks, we have gotten to know both teams as highly professional and reliable, and we look forward to working together.' And Hanno Plate-Andreini, EuroArts' Head of Label, states: 'Over the past years, the classical music business has changed dramatically and rapidly. We believe that Warner Classics and ADA are the perfect partners with which to tackle this ongoing process, and we are very excited about the next steps of this collaboration.'

Warner Classics Label Services rolls out from November 2015 with ADA as global distribution partner, working alongside a dedicated network (a central international team with staff in local markets) providing classical expertise and promotional support.

Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a worldwide service organisation committed to independent artist and label development. As part of Warner Music Group, ADA gives the indie community access to an unparalleled global distribution system and a dedicated team that provides a complete spectrum of marketing, merchandising, promotion, and music licensing services. ADA was created in 1993 to focus on the independent music business, where some of the most successful artists and record labels have built their initial followings. ADA marries the effectiveness and convenience of a major label with the marketing sensibilities of an independent. ADA's partners include Alligator, Bar None, Beggars Group, Comedy Central, Domino, Dualtone, Epitaph, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Matador, Merge, Mute, Nettwerk, New West, Real World, Rise, Secretly Canadian, Smithsonian Folkways, Sumerian, Sub Pop, Tommy Boy and Vice.

Warner Classics, born from the successive acquisition of the Teldec, Erato, EMI Classics and Virgin Classics labels, holds a special place in the history of recorded music. This new banner unites the iconic Maria Callas, Herbert von Karajan and Yehudi Menuhin with the next generation of legends (Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jean-Pierre Rampal and Samson François among them), and brings together the main part of recorded output by artists as diverse as Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim, Maxim Vengerov and Maurice André. Under the leadership of Alain Lanceron, Warner Classics is committed to continued growth as a pre-eminent classical company, preserving this illustrious musical heritage while remaining active in the field of new recordings. With its core team based in Paris, this structure will see today's leading artists - Alison Balsom, Philippe Jaroussky, Alexandre Tharaud and Natalie Dessay - joined by major new signings, positioning the company as an authority in classical music production today, and developing its activities under two international labels, each with its own distinctive identity: Erato and Warner Classics.

EuroArts Music is one of the worldwide leading independent producers and rights owners of audio-visual classical music programmes for TV and DVD. The current TV Broadcast catalogue contains more than 2,200 programmes of music material that includes all prominent artists in classical and contemporary music of the past five decades. The EuroArts Label distributes its catalogue on Blu-ray Disc and DVD worldwide.

Information: www.warnerclassics.com

Posted: 29 October 2015

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