Atlantic Records & VP Records sign Woldwide deal
From:
ReggaeRuss@aol.com
Date:
Tue
Oct
15,
2002
1:07:56
AM
Canada/Eastern
Subject:
R.A.W.
ATLANTIC
& VP
SIGN
WORLDWIDE
DEAL
ATLANTIC
RECORDS SIGNS WORLDWIDE DEAL WITH DANCEHALL REGGAE LEADER VP
RECORDS
NEW
YORK,
October
14,
2002 --
Atlantic
Records
and
VP
Records
have
announced
a
long-term
strategic
partnership
that
brings
VP's
vast
resources
in
contemporary
reggae
and
dancehall
music
to
the
major
label
marketing,
promotion,
and
worldwide
distribution
of
Atlantic.
VP
Records,
established
in
1979
as
a
retail
store,
is
the
largest
independent
label
for
new
Jamaican
music
in
the
United
States,
and
holds
a
predominant
position
in
the
influential
hip-hop-flavored
dancehall
niche.
This
new
agreement
excludes
certain
selected
territories
where
VP
currently
has
distribution
arrangements
in
place.
Atlantic
immediately assumes responsibility for the international marketing of the
upcoming album by Sean Paul, Dutty Rock, scheduled for release on November 12.
Its first single, "Gimme the Light," is already a multi-format breakout
hit on radio and in clubs. It has charted for 27 weeks on
Billboard's "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles" chart, where it is now #5 with
a bullet, and leaps sixteen spots this week to #18 with a bullet on
Billboard's pop "Hot 100," in its 25th charting week. The "Gimme
the Light" video clip is in heavy rotation on BET, MTV, and MTV2. Sean
Paul was also recently awarded the British MOBO Award for Best Reggae Artist of
the Year.
The new Atlantic/VP pipeline
brings a much-needed breath of fresh air to hip-hop and R&B, said Atlantic
Co-President Craig Kallman. "Reggae has been mistaken for an underground
phenomenon for much too long, despite Bob Marley's place among the most
influential figures in contemporary music since the 1970s, and even though
Jamaican DJ culture spawned American rap," he said. "Reggae, and
specifically dancehall, have been the most prolific sources of musical advances
in R&B, hip-hop, club music, and even pop in the last twenty
years."
Kallman added: "This agreement
brings to Atlantic a slate of world-class VP reggae artists, including Sean
Paul, Lady Saw, Tanto Metro & Devonte, Beres Hammond, Capleton, and T.O.K.
It also puts us in the leadership position of catching Jamaica's most
innovative sounds as soon as they happen in the studio. I'm so proud that
Atlantic's unparalleled heritage in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and urban
music will now be extended to the most vitally creative force in global popular
music today."
VP President Christopher
Chin said, "We look forward to a long and successful relationship with
Atlantic." VP Vice President of Marketing Randy Chin added, "We have every
confidence in Atlantic's ability to bring our artists and producers to the
international stage from our company's strong creative and commercial base in
the community."
Under the agreement,
Atlantic will also distribute VP's Reggae Gold multi-artist compilations, which
have been for the past ten years the best-selling reggae anthology series on the
market. The newest Reggae Gold package, the best seller in the series'
history, includes "Gimme the Light," and also features "Give It to Her," by
Tanto Metro & Devonte, another major crossover record, which spent 20 weeks
on the Billboard "Hot 100" pop chart earlier this
year.
Only a few times in music industry
history has a label with such a pre-eminent position in a core urban style
aligned itself entirely with one major label. The signings of Def Jam
Records to Columbia in 1985, and Philadelphia International to CBS in 1972, are
on the short list of such instances. "History shows that the success of
any kind of urban music through a major label is predicated on the right
framework, with creative development remaining in the hands of the producers and
artists who address the core audience. Our partnership has all the
earmarks of a Def Jam for the new millennium," said Murray Elias, VP's Senior
Director, Artist and Repertoire for Sean Paul, Tanto Metro & Devonte, and
Lady Saw.
Other VP artists who have also
crossed over to the mainstream audience in recent years, through a combination
of club play and exposure on hip-hop, R&B, and pop radio, are Tanto
Metro and Devonte, with "Give It to Her" and "Everyone Falls In Love," and
Beenie Man, who posted the first of three top 40 pop singles, "Who Am I,"
independently through VP Records.
# #
#
Posted: Sat
- February 15, 2003 at 12:00 AM