Brussels based record company and music distributor Play It Again Sam has announced it is setting up a new Australian and New Zealand operation.
The new division is the result of a new 50:50 joint venture with Liberator Music, the previously reported Australian based music company set up last year by former Shock Entertainment execs Nick Dunshea and Vince Donato as part of Michael Gudinski's Mushroom Group, which was founded with the aim of releasing music from international talent in the Australasian market. The new deal between PIAS and Liberator will see the Australian outfit release music from artists signed to PIAS' European labels or distributed locally by PIAS' distribution companies (Wall Of Sound and Vital in the UK).
The new deal will see PIAS' European chiefs again working with Dunshea, because their previous distribution partnership in Australia was with Shock Entertainment, where Dunshea was A&R Director at the time. PIAS hope that because their new distribution partner is part of the wider Mushroom Group, their artists may be able to benefit from skills elsewhere in that group, including Mushroom's touring, publishing and licensing companies.