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New rights management firm Interstellar Music Services formally launches and announces senior hires
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 24 January 2023
Artist manager Andy Robinson has formally launched his new company Interstellar Music Services and announced two appointments to its senior management team.
Robinson, who has existing management and publishing businesses under the Interstallar name, has teamed up with investment fund and asset manager Sean Stockdale to launch the new music services venture which will, and I quote, “offer a new and tailored approach to rights management to generate more royalties for artists and songwriters at a pivotal point in their career”.
The new hires are David Wille – formerly at Kobalt – who becomes Interstellar’s Global Head of Sync And Brand Partnerships, and Sarah Bargiela – who joins from BMG – and will be the new firm’s Head Of Copyright And Royalties.
Says Robinson: “Through my time in the industry, particularly as an artist manager, I have seen first hand how complicated it is for artists and their teams to ensure that their music is correctly registered and that they are benefitting from the value of their creations through the right licensing opportunities. It should not be so burdensome”.
“Changing industry dynamics now mean that artists – rightly – have more choice and autonomy over how they can release and manage their music”, he goes on. “We want to support this by providing a professional music rights management service that enables them to maximise the value of their creations without the need to relinquish any ownership of their work”.
Stockdale adds: “Coming from outside the industry has given me a unique perspective on the challenges that exist in how music is valued and compensated. Not only are artists all individuals, so are the songs that they create; every copyright has different requirements and should be treated as such”.
“As an asset manager”, he continues, “it is my role to optimise the opportunities for the music we have the honour of representing, rather than simply telling artists to make more, try harder or change their process. The opportunities for music are vast and I believe it is time to work more proactively and to think creatively about how to place music on behalf of clients. The creators do their bit, then it is up to us to find the opportunities for their music, whatever their individual sound may be”.
On the new hires, Robinson says: “Our mission, which is focused on putting the artists and songwriters first, is fundamental to the way we operate; to have industry professionals of the calibre of Sarah and David joining us at such an early stage is a real endorsement of the culture and service offering we have developed”.
