SellaBand Welcomes New Investors

 

Capital Raised to expand the company


Today, Tuesday April 8, 2008, SellaBand AG welcomes Prime Technology Ventures as new shareholders in the company. This leading, European venture capital fund will be our new partners on the way to global success for SellaBand. New money has been raised to expand our business. Prime are the leading company, but we also welcome a number of business angels, who wish to remain anonymous. SellaBand CEO Johan Vosmeijer explains: 


"About a year ago we decided that we would be open for new investors. In order to grow the business we needed new capital, as well as a guiding hand in how to achieve the right growth. At the same time we wanted to remain independent. In our desire for a new sense of professionalism we went looking for companies who could help us realise our ambitions. There have been talks with quite a few companies in the past 12 months and yes, we did travel the world a bit for it, so isn't it ironic that we eventually found the right partners in our own backyard? I mean, our HQ and the PTV main office are within 5 miles from each other.



Especially during the last part of 2007, we realised more than ever that at the end of the day, we are just a bunch of idealists who are trying to conquer the world from a small office in Amsterdam. Yes, we were able to announce a number of crucial partnerships, but if we really wanted to achieve that crucial growth and become a global player, we would need a professional partner. Enter Prime Technology Ventures. Talks and discussions with them have been open and constructive from day one. Also with our existing Angel Investors (who remain proud shareholders of SellaBand AG), which was very important to us.

Today is the start of phase 2 of SellaBand. Almost 20 months old, so much achieved alredy, yet still so far to go. Dagmar Heijmans and myself have signed up for another 4 years as the Management Board of SellaBand. Pim Betist will continue to spread the news as the face and ‘evangelist’ of SellaBand. We’re hiring new people, we’re moving into another (much bigger!) office, these are very, very exciting times for SellaBand. Now we finally have the resources to revamp the website, spread the word like it should and become a global player for the Music Industry.”

 

Weekly Chart Analysis

 

So What are still clearly the pundit's favorite as they comfortably occupy the #1 spot in the charts, for a second week running. It's still pretty much touch and go as to who will be our 19th recording Artist though – Daniel Ward Murphy is proving tenacious - still at # 6 this week. Tony Richards and the Kman Band may be vying for top spot next week as they make the biggest gain of the week this week, up from #7 to #2. It's a steady rise also for the three lovely ladies Angie Arsenault, Natalia Safran and Lori Greco who climb to #3, #5 and #9 respectively. Highest new entry goes to our very own "Randy Newman meets Tom Waits", Woody Russell, who makes a very respectable debut at #8. We're expecting great things!  Dutch chanteuse, Romany Titre, and Luxemburg's funksters, Funky P, also makes their debuts on page 1 of the charts this week, straight in at #13 and #15 respectively. New entries this week also come from familiar friends Nearfield, Lucia Iman and Jess King proving that old talents die hard!

 

Chatroom 

And of course believer Utterly B Groovy was kind enough to set up a chatroom for this weeks Tribune.

Enter here 

 

Thomas Boissy - Recording In London


Thomas Boissy will record his SellaBand album in London with producer Ralph Salmins and an all-star lineup of some the city’s finest musicians.


Ralph Salmins is the drummer of choice for many producers and has played with artists including Madonna, Elton John, Tori Amos and Elvis Costello. His choice of musicians for Thomas’s album are equally prestigious: bassist Trevor Barry has played with Robbie Williams, Freddie Mercury and Jon Bon Jovi while keyboard player/arranger Pete Murray’s credits include Leona Lewis, Dave Gilmour and Stevie Wonder. And Ralph’s pick for the guitar chair is the incredible Robbie McIntosh, currently touring with John Mayer and previously playing with The Pretenders, Paul McCartney and Mark Knofler.



Says Thomas: “It's such a pleasure to be working with Ralph. We really have the same point of view about the best way to produce this album. From the very beginning, everything seemed so obvious and perfect to me that I didn't have any doubts. I knew I wanted to work in London and when I first met Adam Sieff I told him I loved the way Ralph played drums. Two days later, Adam told me that Ralph was excited about working with me and that we could record the album in his own studio. Then Ralph told me about the other musicians who we might be able to get to play with us, and everything was really making sense to me. It's an honour for me to play with such an incredible band. I feel like my songs and I are very lucky.”


Robbie McIntosh

The sessions will take place at Ralph's own The Bunker recording studio in Welwyn Garden City, just north of London. Steve Cooper will engineer and the completed performances will be mixed by producer/engineer Jon Gallen (Queen, Simply Red, George Benson).


As Ralph says: “I’m very excited about making this record. Thomas has an absolutely tremendous voice and with this all star lineup of sensational musicians we’re going to make an album which will do real justice to his great songs.”



Adam's Apples



Woody Russell

 

Described surprisingly accurately as “Randy Newman meets Tom Waits”,  this talented Americana acoustic artist is also a fine guitarist who excels on three songs from his 2005 award winning album “Salt”. Doing well here in his first week comes as no surprise - talent will out, after all.
Playlist: Count On Me

 

Romany Titre

 

A precocious and extremely talented singer from Hilversum who is full of potential but screaming out for a good producer to tell her what she should be doing. Her songs are not strong or memorable yet (possible exception of “Thank God....”) but she's worth hanging in for just to see how she develops.
Playlist: Thank God You’re Too Old For Me


Clean Martin

 

Ziggy Stardust cover band from Salzburg strike out with original material that’s really very good and surely proves there’s life post-Bowie after all. Check out Mike Fink’s page too - same singer, same musicians and the excellent “You’re My Light”.
Playlist: Maximillion

 

Funky P

 

Nine piece Brand New Heavy style funkateers from Leichtenstein. Interesting vocal approach keeps it fresh while the songs are serviceable and the grooves a little too European. But there’s a welcome attempt to put a commercial edge to what they’re doing.
Playlist: Really Not Fair

 

Feeback: adam@sellaband.com


Q + A Roel de Hoop


Managing Partner Prime Technology Ventures


At the same that SellaBand announces Prime Technology Ventures as new investors in the company, we also welcome a new Chairman of the Supervisory Board for SellaBand AG. His name is Roel de Hoop, an experienced (online) entrepreneur who is one of the Managing Partners at PTV. Since showing interest in the company, Roel (43) has become a true Believer as well...


What is PTV?

"Prime Technology Ventures is an Investment Fund that invests in European Technology and Internet companies. We provide capital and help companies that want to grow and expand their business."

Why SellaBand?

"We were excited about Sellaband the first time we heared the story. The excitement has increased ever since. It looks like the perfect storm is building in the Music industry and Sellaband is gearing up to ride the wave the storm is creating. Sellaband has all the ingredients to become the record company of the future. We are looking forward to help Sellaband getting there and enjoy the adventure together."

What can PTV bring to the table for SellaBand?

"If you want to grow as a company you typically need capital, that is what we provide. On top of that we have a lot of experience helping companies accelerate their growth ambitions. We have a lot of contacts in different industries which could help Sellaband reach their goals faster than expected."


Will SellaBand still be an independent company?

"We anticipate that Sellaband will stay independent as long as this is best for the company, Believers and Artists. We have invested in Sellaband with the believe that we can help accelerate the growth of SellaBand as an independent company. That is also the choice of the current management team, or else they wouldn't have chosen to work with us."

As the new chairman of the Supervisory Board, what do you see as SellaBand's biggest challenge?

"To spread the word fast. Believers and Artists are excited to join when they hear about Sellaband. There are loads of potential Sellaband artist and believers out there that haven't heared of Sellaband yet. When all current believers and artist share their enthusiasm about Sellaband with their friends and if Newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and the online media around the globe will give Sellaband the attention it deserves. Than amazing things are possible for instance that Sellaband really becomes the biggest record label in the future."

Have you bought some Parts in artists yourself, already?

"I did buy some parts initially to understand and really experience how everything works. Now I regularly visit the site to explore new music and it is very addictive I never leave the site without buying a few parts."

 

My 50K Plan: Daniel Ward-Murphy

 

All good things take time. And so does Daniel-Ward-Murphy’s rise to 50K. But now that he is on his way to 75% in budget, the good man thought it was the right moment to share his 50K plan with us...

 

 

By Daniel Ward-Murphy


The Approach:  I am going for it 100%.  I am not using this as a calling card for a future release - I am leading with all my best songs and going all out to make this album commercially successful and as good as possible.

The Producer: Tony Platt.  Tony has worked with many artists ranging from Bob Marley to AC/DC, more recently The Bad Plus, Soweto Kinch, Second Person and of course all my most recent recordings. Whilst I could have gone on a “favourite producer pilgrimage”, having had the pleasure of working with Tony before I saw no way to improve my situation - Tony simply knows how to record sound.  He really believes in my music, he gets great performances out of me and my musicians.  We are not starting at square one - he is already familiar with most of my repertoire and knows me as a recording and live artist.  I can’t wait to record these songs with him.

Tony Platt

The Ethos: The music comes first, everything else is secondary.

The CD: This will follow the ethos.  The main content will be music, music, music.  The CD will be strong in enough in terms of quantity and quality to stand up for itself. I am in a strong position to be able to add something very special for the believers and we are discussing the best ways to do this that will offer the best commercial options for them.

The Choice of Songs: I am including my strongest songs.  We are aiming to make a complete body of work that will feature upbeat songs alongside stripped-down performances.  Variety is important to the live shows and will be just as evident on this album, without being unfaithful to the sound.

The Sound: This will not be a synthetic studio album, nor will it be a live album.  It will capture real performances from real musicians.  The treatment of different songs may vary but a close-to-live feel will be audible throughout most of the album.  Different songs will feature different band members and musicians.

Post Album and Beyond: There is no point including all my best material and making it commercially viable from a quantity and quality perspective, if everything else is not in place to market the album.  We are close to finalising a 360 degree plan which leaves no stone unturned and considers everything from image and identity right through to press/pr, radio airplay and live opportunities.    

“I am absolutely delighted to have been asked by Daniel to continue to work with him on this album. It is one of the greatest privileges for a producer to be given the opportunity to develop such a close and long term creative relationship with an artist of Daniel's calibre and I take the responsibility very seriously. I can't wait to get started!!" Tony Platt, April 2008.