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Mushroom announces global partnership with Virgin Music, and hires Korda Marshall
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 17 March 2022
Australian independent music firm Mushroom has announced a new deal with Universal Music’s label services division Virgin Music which will see the major distribute the indie’s releases outside of Australia and New Zealand.
Under the new partnership, Virgin Music will support and enhance Mushroom’s existing international operations or – in the words of the official announcement – it “will provide bespoke global promotion, marketing and audience label services to Mushroom’s existing US and UK infrastructure”.
In addition to all that, “selected Mushroom artists” will have their recordings released via Universal’s network of labels outside of the indie’s home markets, though only “when agreed by both parties”.
In addition to the Virgin Music tie-up, Mushroom is also ramping up its international activities by hiring UK-based Korda Marshall to co-lead its global operations. Marshall previously headed up the UK side of Mushroom in the 1990s after it bought into his Infectious Records label. That partnership ended in the late 1990s, with Marshall later relaunching Infectious, before both he and the label joined BMG in 2014. And now he’s back with Mushroom.
Confirming the Virgin Music deal, Mushroom’s CEO Matt Gudinski says: “Mushroom has been a market leader for decades in Australia and today we take another huge step in building Mushroom into a truly global brand. Our A&R staff are world class and we, together with Virgin/UMG, are going to break artists from any part of the globe to every part of the globe”.
Meanwhile, Universal Music boss man Lucian Grainge adds: “This global alliance between Mushroom and Virgin Music marks the beginning of a new collaboration between two historically entrepreneurial companies that have both introduced countless superstar artists and helped shape and influence independent music for decades”.
Referencing Gudinski’s father – Mushroom founder Michael Gudinski – Grainge goes on: “We’re THRILLED to be working with Matt Gudinski, who is honouring his father’s great legacy by bringing Mushroom to new heights, and with Korda who has been a force in the UK creative community for decades”.
And finally Marshall says: “I’m so happy to be returning to the Mushroom Group, it feels like coming home after a long and winding road trip around the music business and I look forward to working with all the labels and their amazing artists. Our new deal with Universal provides a fantastic opportunity to work closely with one of the finest music companies in the world”.
