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It’s strictly Tabu for Demon Music Group
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CONIC soul label Tabu Records is set to relaunch following an exclusive licence deal with Demon Music Group. Founded by the legendary Clarence Avant in 1976, Tabu made household names of his headline acts, which included Alexander O’Neal, Cherrelle and the SOS Band. Demon’s reissue campaign will incorporate digital and expanded CD versions of all the key Tabu releases, alongside collectable 12inch and vinyl editions of signature hits. Michael Neidus, head of DMG TV at Demon, said the Tabu deal had been three
years in the making. “Demon’s commercial director, Adrian Sear, and I had noticed the inactivity of Tabu over several years,” he said. “We wanted to have the opportunity to give it a deluxe overhaul and take the catalogue from the existing fan base through to a new generation.” Demon’s relaunch strategy began with the soft-launch of some download-only collections at the end of last year. It is now in the planning stages of a comprehensive re-issue campaign leading into early 2014. It is also working on a 60-minute radio special on Tabu, destined for a national UK network, to coincide with the relaunch. Neidus believes that Tabu has the power and traction to succeed in an age of self-made music and artists-as-music-execs. “Tabu remains an iconic label that made global superstars of its best artists,” he said. “Clarence Avant didn’t just create a label in Tabu — he created a legacy with a sound that defined and spanned an entire decade. Tabu was to soul/R&D/dance in the Eighties what Philadelphia International Records was to the Seventies.”
Demon’s Michael Neidus: “a legacy” more than a label
SongPop takes its winning ways into more markets
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HE TEAM behind SongPop — the mobile game that topped Facebook’s ranking of top 25 social games of 2012 — is at Midem to explore new avenues to bring SongPop and its 60 million-plus users to yet more markets, music genres and media. SongPop was developed by serial entrepreneur Mathieu Nouzareth and his team at New York City-based social and mobile-gaming start-up FreshPlanet, which was founded in 2009 by Nouzareth and his brother Romain. It is a fun and fast-paced game, in which players must guess the titles of song clips and send challenges to friends. “New features enable players to meet friends based on musical affinity, as well as click through to a multitude of sites to view
favorite clips and purchase tracks,” said Romain Nouzareth, who is at Midem with colleague Siggy Paquet. Other new offers include ‘best match’, artist tour information, geolocalisation and post-game chat. Nearly 65 million “addicts” have now played the game, testing their knowledge across musical genres, discovering new sounds and rediscovering nostalgic classics. “SongPop is the first music app Facebook has ever had in its list of top-ranked apps,” Nouzareth added. “It is also iTunes’ number-one source of music sales from Facebook.” SongPop operates on a ‘freemium’ model — the basic app is free but players use a virtual currency to pay for advanced features, such as access to new playlists, power-ups and VIP passes.
SongPop’s Romain Nouzareth (left) and Siggy Paguet: exploring new markets, music genres and media
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