UK record companies’ trade association the BPI will take 23 independents on a coordinated trade mission to LA’s Billboard Film and TV Conference which takes place over November 14-16.
As part of the mission, the BPI and UKTI have lined up a series of private meetings with some of the most influential people in the US film, TV and radio industries for labels attending its mission next month to LA.
The conference is regarded as an ideal opportunity to meet key licensees in the US and influential anglophile DJ Nic Harcourt, Jason Bentley (music supervisor for the Matrix films) and Jacqui Perryman (music chief for Fox TV) among others, are set to meet the BPI delegation during the conference.
The visit has been put together with support from UK government body UK Trade and Investment, and forms part of the BPI’s revamped international strategy.
BPI International Manager Matt Glover says: “Our international activity goes well beyond simply administering grants for trade fairs. This is about providing our members with the opportunity to meet decision makers who can derive real value for their business.
“This is our second synchronisation mission to Los Angeles following E3 in May, and not only represents our commitment to providing international market access to our members, but also in helping these companies to branch out and develop new and lucrative revenue streams for their catalogues”
Licensing to film and TV, known as synch licensing, is already a major revenue stream and BPI estimate it generates around £25m a year for UK labels.
Delegates Wall of Sound and Faith & Hope have already provided songs for successful campaigns for Citroen (Les Rhythmes Digitales – Jacques Your Body) and Volkswagen (Mint Royale – Singin’ in the Rain) respectively and will be seeking to reproduce that success abroad.
David Wood of Faith & Hope Records said: “The synch market for Faith & Hope is now equally as important as physical and download sales. This year we’ve licensed tracks to major film and advertising companies including Volkswagen (Gene Kelly, Golf GTi), SKY, Nokia (X factor) and we’re just on the verge of completing our biggest synch to date for one of the world’s leading luxury brand labels.
“We’re hoping that the mission to the Billboard conference will raise our profile in the US and replicate the success we’ve achieved so far in Europe”.
Editors Notes
> This mission is being part funded by UK Trade and Investment.
> The visit is the second BPI mission this year to focus on securing synch licenses for independent labels. It follows a visit to LA’s E3 Games festival, which has already seen several members of the BPI delegation license tracks, including Fabric, A7 Music and PP Music.
> This mission, the fourth BPI international visit this year, also follows hot on the heels of its successful mission to Japan in August and its coordination of the British presence at Austin’s music A&R festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in back in March.
> The full list of companies visiting the Billboard conference:
Grand Central
Thursday Club
Woodwork Music
Hope Recordings
Lomax
Wall of Sound
Jalapeno Records
Box Out Records (Jumpoff TV)
Mnemonics Music
Friars Management
Faber Music Ltd
Black and Blue (Djinthemix)
Anjunabeats
Red Eye
Revolver Records
TwoPointNine
Silva Screen
Faith & Hope
Madison Management
Airplay Records
Bridge Creative
Invisible Hands