music business in norway

MUSIC BUSINESS
IN NORWAY
BUSINESS CONTACTS / LOCAL ACTS / MARKET PROFILE / ESSENTIAL RELEASES
EDITION 12 MIDEM 2006
S
D’SOUND
ANE BRUN
A-HA
WIG WAM
N P MOLVÆR
RØYKSOPP
TRULS MØRK
MADRUGADA
SERENA MANEESH
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 1
Traditional
Folk Songs
and Langeleik
Urban Tunells
Klezmerband
S
Stand 11.02, [email protected], www.etniskmusikklubb.no/label
ALBUMS FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPORT
Bodil Haug: Songs
Ole & Knut Aastad
Bråten: Langeleik,
Lyra
Our World Music albums with artists of international stature, and the
traditional Norwegian album of first price winners within their fields,
will add variations to the World Music repertoire from an area
of the world - still considered “undiscovered”.
Songs of the Romany
People in Finland,
Norway and Sweden
Traditional Riddle
Ballads and Folk
Songs from the
Middle Ages
to the Present
Two 2CD Longboxes
will be releases in
February and Mars
2006:
Three musicians from
Mauretania, Norway
and the Ivory Coast
Compilation - World
- Traditional
Inger Dirdal, Managing Director, Music Export Norway
www.musicexportnorway.no
2CD
Where the Music
Tradition of Persia,
Baluchistan and
India Meet
ANE BRUN
NAHEDDI Barry-Mahdi-Saion
Western clarinets,
a Kurdish divan
and a Persian tonbak
Traditional Music
form the South of
Norway
KAKÉ - Aw-OfsdalSereba
KARVAN
MINOR MAJORITY
Travellersʼ Fiddle
Tunes From Norway
2 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
SORDØLEN Vidar Lande,
Gunhild Tømmerås
2CD
Colourful and highly
original music!
Zikr - PERSIANO
“Flyr fritt”FRI FLYT
Sufi in Dance Jai Shankar,
Pouyan Abdoli
PHOTO: MID ART
Tunes in the Romany
Travellers Tradition
Of Norway
2CD
PHOTO: STIN
Gåtesong - Ingvill
Marit Buen Garnås,
Jon Anders
Halvorsen
Akkedoria frå
Kristiania Øyonn Groven
Myhren
Two from Irak
One from
Burkina Faso
2CD Catalogue
2CD
Twice winner at
National Folk
Music and Dance
Campionships
Love Songs and
Trance Music from
Balochistan
Naked nigun
2005 proved once again that Norwegian music has an audience – both within Norway and
abroad. Sales of Norwegian music in Norway were up 20 percent, and the year-end sales
charts listed Norwegian artists in 10 out of the top 20 spots. Three out of four releases that
reached double platinum were by Norwegian artists.
Internationally, the number of Norwegian artists being released abroad continues to
increase, with artists such as Kaizers Orchestra, Madrugada, Robert Post, Magnet, Annie,
former M2M singer Marion Raven and the veritable A-ha, who celebrated 20 years of
international success.
We invite you to drop by the Norway Now stand reception at MIDEM (#11.02), to be held
on Monday (23 January) at 17:30. The reception will feature a special performance
by international favorites D’Sound. Welcome!
GRAND OPENING In December 2005, Ane Brun toured the U.K.
as the opening act for A-ha. Eleven months earlier she was virtually unknown.
An appearance on a Norwegian national TV talk show changed that
dramatically. Her debut album Spending Time with Morgan was swept away
awaiting the release of follow up album A Temporary Dive in February. It went
straight to No. 1 and sold 33,600 in Norway.
In November Ane Brun’s compilation album Duets went to No. 2. The duet
“Lift Me” with Madrugada went to No. 1 on both the single sales and digital
tracks charts. The 29 year old singer-songwriter suddenly had three Top 20
digital tracks in the same week. “I have started writing new songs, and the goal
is to have 12 great new songs to record, but first I will work with the release of
A Temporary Dive in the U.K. and the U.S.,” Ane Brun told daily newspaper VG.
Ane Brun runs her own record label, called DetErMine Records – the name
is a pun on the meaning of the Norwegian phrase “det er mine” (it is my).
www.anebrun.com
MAJOR INDIE BAND A little magic is needed to keep followers
true to a band. Pål Angelskår’s voice and songwriting does the trick for Minor
Majority, moving it from the underground to a commercial act in the course
of three albums, all on independent label Big Dipper Records.
Platekompaniet, Norway’s largest record store chain, views Minor Majority’s
fourth album Reasons to Hang Around as the most exciting January 2006 release
in Norway. “Minor Majority should appeal to both young record collectors and
the mainstream audience,” says product manager Morten Lund. “Reaching
gold with their third album, Minor Majority has proved it can sell records. If the
new album is good enough, platinum should be within reach,” he adds.
All albums have been released by Vicious Circle in France, Switzerland and
in the Benelux. In May 2005, Minor Majority toured Germany for the first time.
Reasons to Hang Around is due for release 30 January.
www.minormajority.no
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 3
Some may think Wig Wam is closer
to Spinal Tap than a true hard-rock
band. They play under the aliases
Flash, Teeny, Sporty and Glam and
broke through as a hard-rock entry
in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005
in Kiev, Ukraine. “Some say we mock
rock music, but we have hard rock
in our hearts and just don’t take
ourselves so serious,” Åge ‘Glam’
Sten Nilsen told trade magazine Faro
Journalen. “We experience that many
generations finally are allowed to
rock again.”
Wig Wam toured constantly
from 9 March to 21 December, 2005,
playing for nearly 300,000 people in
Scandinavia and Germany. With the
release of their two DVD set Wig Wam
Rock ‘n’ Roll Revolution 2005, the band
sent a temporary farewell kiss to the
fans to record a new album, due for
release in March.
www.wigwam.no
ENSLAVED
TUBA HEAVY ON METAL
Independent distributor Tuba
Records is enjoying success as a
record company. The company’s
electronica label Port Azur went to
No. 2 in the album chart with its first
release, Ugress’ Resound in 2002.
Tuba’s labels Bauta and Dog Job are
4 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
ELDBJØRG RAKNES
PLAY THAT VOICE
Trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær’s take
on jazz has become Norwegian
foreign policy. In the spring of 2005
he was included in the government
programme Norwegian Jazz Launch
Europe 2005-2006. His four solo
albums have spent a total of 30 weeks
in the Norwegian Top 40 pop charts,
peaking at No. 3 with his second
album Solid Ether (ECM). His fourth
studio album ER went straight to No. 8
in October 2005.
Molvær’s innovative electric jazz
solo career started with the work
Labyrinths, which was commissioned
by the Vossa Jazz festival in 1996. He
is a widely recognized performer
with a long record of collaborations
with many great jazz, pop and world
music performers in Scandinavia and
abroad for more than 20 years. In 2005
he toured vast parts of Europe.
www.nilspettermolvaer.com
MIRA CRAIG
JR EWING
SUPERBLY SURROUNDED
NILS PETTER MOLVÆR
ELECTRIC JAZZ HIT
2L
Voice and language can be music
instruments. Singer and music
conservatory teacher Eldbjørg Raknes
is a master in the trade. At the age of
35, she has been an elite voice on the
Norwegian jazz scene for a decade,
having played and recorded with
many of the top performers in jazz and
other improvisational genres.
Her solo albums are both
children’s albums and playful
entertainment for a jazz audience.
“Kids demand quality in their own
way. It is harder to know whether a
grown up audience like the music,”
Raknes said to web magazine Puls.no.
She was included in the government
programme Norwegian Jazz Launch
Europe in mid 2005. Eldbjørg Raknes
is currently composing new material
for the voice quartet Tingeling, as well
as for a new solo album.
www.hf.ntnu.no/mit/eldbjorgr
Norwegian studio Lindberg Lyd
and record label 2L are testing next
generation Superaudio CD tools
from Swiss manufacturer Merging
Technologies. A recording of
contemporary choral music by Knut
Nystedt entitled Immortal Nystedt
has already become the reference
SACD in the technology market.
“President Claude Cellier of Merging
Technologies called me the other day
and told me he is already fed up with
Immortal Nystedt,” Morten Lindberg
told trade magazine Faro Journalen.
“Wherever he goes on conferences
and expositions, the album is brought
forth as an example of the future
sound of SACD. He ordered 50 copies
to promote the tools.”
Merging Technologies will release
the equipment commercially in the
summer of 2006, but 2L have used it
since the summer of 2005, releasing
six SACD-albums, recording eight
more and experimenting with
surround sound technology. Now
they release nothing but hybrid
SACD-albums. “We depend on such
an edge to want to keep on working
in these niches of the business. It
is a huge motivation for getting up
in the morning, and a professional
motivation – discovering new things,”
Lindberg said.
www.2L.no
HOMEMADE AND HOT
At the age of 18, Mira Craig performed
a duet with Wyclef Jean in 2002 at
Quart, Norway’s largest festival. The
Norwegian press was impressed, as
was Wyclef Jean himself and a certain
PHOTO: JØRGEN GOMNÆS
PRIME TIME HARD ROCK
good trademarks on the independent
scene, while the label Tabu has made
the strong metal distributor a driving
force on the Norwegian metal scene.
Samples from the March 2006 releases
from bands Benea Reach, Keep
Off Kalessin and Vreid have raised
eyebrows in quite a few corners of
the world of metal – even before the
bands left the studios. Later in the
spring of 2006, Tabu will release new
albums from Battered and Enslaved
(pictured), while recently assembled
metal wonderband Susperia is due
with its first album in the fall.
www.tubarec.no
PHOTO: ANJA E BASMA
WIG WAM
HARDCORE HEROES
other Quart 2002 headliner, Snoop
Dogg. “Mira Craig is the exponent
of a new breed of Norwegian artists.
By taking hands-on control over her
own material [and] operating outside
big business, she has an emphasis on
being different – and her music has a
strictly international form,” said Natt
& Dag editor Audun Vinger, who has
been voted Norway’s most influential
music journalist. Mira did not rush
things. She put up her own record
company (Homemade Records) and
stayed in touch with Wyclef Jean and
Snoop Dogg. In December 2005, Mira
Craig was nominated for the Alarm
Award for Newcomer of the Year and
Song of the Year for her debut single,
”Boogeyman.” Snoop Dogg released
the mixtape album Welcome To Tha
Chuuch starring Mira on two tracks.
The release of her second single
“Headhunted” was boosted by a freak
accident when she was the opening
act for Fugees at a concert in Oslo.
“When I went on stage, a friend of
mine said ‘break a leg,’ but I fractured
my knee cap instead,” said Mira on a
TV2 talk show. Her debut album Mira
Mira is due for release in Norway on
16 January.
www.miracraig.com
While the whole emo/screamo
hardcore scene has exploded into
mainstream territory, some of the
bands that pioneered the music
are moving on to new landscapes.
Norwegian hardcore heroes JR Ewing
had half a dozen long European
tours, a couple of releases on The
Mars Volta’s label GSL and a huge
international underground following
under their belt when they started
writing experimental punk anthems
for the record Maelstrom. The album
is filled with monster guitar riffs,
soothing melodies and the most
interesting arrangements this side
of At the Drive-In, and is already
hailed as an instant Norwegian
rock classic. December 2005 saw the
international release of Maelstrom,
and UK punk magazine Big Cheese
has already rewarded the album
with top marks (five out of a possible
five), saying, “Maelstrom ups the
rock ‘n’ roll content of their sound, all
shimmy and switchblades and all the
more stunning for it. Inventive and
immersive, for 2005 this is the true
shape of punk to come.”
www.thejrewing.com
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 5
ANNELI DRECKER
PER MARTINSEN
LENE MARLIN
PHOTO: MARCEL LELIENHOF
PHOTO: NICK SILLITOE
PHOTO: PÅL LAUKLI
GEIR JENSSEN
RÖYKSOPP
PHOTO: STIAN ANDERSEN
WASHINGTON
CITY PORTRAIT: TROMSØ
D’SOUND
The next big thing from Tromsø was the theme. It could
simply not be coincidence that the three biggest Norwegian
pop exports since A-ha – namely Bel Canto, Espen Lind and
Lene Marlin – all came from this sub-arctic city. Tromsø will
host the music business conference and festival by:Larm for
the second time 9-11 February, 2006. Tromsø hosted by:Larm
in 2001 when anticipation of a new pop export act to come
out of Tromsø was at its most desperate.
As a paradox, while all eyes were focused on Tromsø
in February 2001, two young men from that town were
preparing their debut album for the Wall of Sound label,
having been discovered in the west coast city of Bergen, of
all places. They are known as Röyksopp, and eight months
later their debut album Melody A.M. went straight to the
top of the charts in Norway, and Röyksopp’s videos were
instant favourites on MTV throughout Europe.
Tromsø’s electronic music identity was conceived in
1987 when the trio Bel Canto went to Belgium to record
its debut album. After two albums, Geir Jenssen split to
pursue a career in house music, first as Bleep and later
as Biosphere. Bel Canto went on as a duo and kept a
balance between the two music identities of Tromsø:
Distinctly arctic electronica and commercial pop music.
The same goes for singer Anneli Drecker’s solo projects,
which involved Thorbjørn Brundtland of Röyksopp and
6 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
fellow Tromsø techno veteran Per Martinsen – also known
as Mental Overdrive.
Like Bergen’s Tellé Records, Tromsø has a one man
record company fuelling the city’s electronica identity, called
Beatservice. Vidar Hanssen started with the compilation
release Tromsø Techno 1994. The first artist album was Mind
Over MIDI’s Elektrical Aktivity in 1996. The label’s electronic
focus soon attracted acts from all over Norway, including
Sternklang, Xploding Plastix, Slowpho and Flunk. In 2002,
Beatservice could even include Biosphere, the grand “old”
man of Norwegian techno, house and electronica in the lineup with a licence for Scandinavia.The pop and electronica
identity of Tromsø does not mean that rock and other
genres aren’t well represented there. The first Norwegian
pop export in the 1960s was rock band The Pussycats who
happened to hail from Tromsø. This year, the rock trio
Washington played at Eurosonic in Holland following a fall
2005 tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and
Belgium. Washington’s second album is ready for release
in 2006.
www.bylarm.no, www.beatservice.no,
www.destinasjontromso.no
THE SOUND OF TODAY
Norwegian pop trio D’Sound travelled Europe together
with Incognito and The Brand New Heavies in 2005.
D’Sound’s third album Doublehearted was released in
approximately 30 different territories throughout Europe
and the Far East.
The new album My Today was released in Norway in
November 2005. “This album is back to basic for us, and
has a smoother sound. Of course it is pop music, but we
are flirting with jazz – a kind of acid jazz disco, if you like,”
vocalist Simone told Norwegian daily newspaper VG.
My Today is set for release in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland on 24 March, 2006, and in the rest of Europe
in May through Edel Records. The album presents the
successful German trumpeter and singer Till Brönner as
guest star on the track “Sigh.” The album release will be
preceded by the single “Birthday,” a duet with Incognito
vocalist Tony Momrelle.
In December 2005 Jonny Sjo and Kim Ofstad worked
on production and songwriting for Tony Momrelle’s new
solo album. Earlier in 2005, the D’Sound duo did the same
honour for Norwegian debutant Sofian, and the result was
one of the Norwegian critics’ favourite albums of the year.
D’Sound will tour Germany and Switzerland in April,
and will visit a number of European cities throughout
the spring and summer of 2006. This year’s MIDEM offers
a number of opportunities to meet and greet D’Sound,
including a special live presentation on the Norwegian
stand (#11.02) on Monday, 23 January at 17:30.
www.dsound.com
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 7
TRANSJOIK
PERSPECTIVE: WORLD/ETHNIC/
TRADITIONAL
Following the 2004 award-winning art of Sámi singersongwriter Niko Valkeapää, Sámi ethnic crossover music
conquered new ground in 2005. With only two releases on
its roaster, new label Vuelie seized two out of the five spots
for Spellemann Award nominees in the competitive Open
Category, and won with Frode Fjellheim’s Aejlies gaaltije
(The Sacred Source). The self-titled debut album of young
duo Adjagas (Trust Me Records) was an instant critics’
favourite upon release in November 2005. In 2006 Mari
Boine, the grand lady of Sámi music, will release her first
album in four years on Emarcy/Universal.
www.vuelie.no
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
Adjagas – Adjagas (Trust Me Records)
Mari Boine – tba (Emarcy/Universal Music)
Karl Seglem – Reik (Ozella Music)
Turid Spildo – Nykkjen (Heilo/Grappa Musikkforlag)
Transjoik, Sher Miandad Khan – Bewafá (Vuelie)
PROFILE: TRANSJOIK
Trance is not a new genre. The basis of electronic trance
music is the same as in Aboriginal didgeridoo music,
native North American chant and the joik tradition – the
ancient chant technique of the Sámi people of northern
Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. For nearly ten
years, Transjoik has been exploring the energy of the joik
in a modern musical context. The ethnic music festival
Mela (held in Oslo in 2004) brought the quartet to the
attention of Sher Miandad Khan, one of Pakistan’s leading
singers in the qawwaali tradition and a relative of the late
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Transjoik was invited to one of the
largest music festivals in Pakistan, and met up with Sher
Miandad Khan in a studio, where together they recorded
the album Bewafá (Vuelie).
www.transjoik.com
8 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
PERSPECTIVE: COUNTRY/FOLK
PERSPECTIVE: METAL
PERSPECTIVE: POP
Traditions travel fast as the modern information society
helps bluegrass, folk and country music to get in touch
with its old world roots. Veteran folk and traditional
singer Sondre Bratland translated Johnny Cash’s “I Still
Miss Someone” into Norwegian for the same album as a
Norwegian-language bluegrass version of the Westlife
and Josh Groban hit “You Raise Me Up.” Chart-topping
group Vamp sounds as Irish as it sounds Norwegian
on its platinum selling album Siste Stikk. Best-selling
rock band Madrugada went folk on the single “Lift Me,”
which topped the single sales and digital track chart over
Madonna’s “Hung Up.”
In 2005 the Norwegian metal scene was dominated by
news from the giants. First and most important, black
metal pioneers Emperor took everyone by surprise by
announcing a reunion tour, planned for 2006. Around
the same time, Dimmu Borgir, fresh from being the first
Norwegian band at Ozzfest, released a re-recording of
their almost forgotten album Stormblåst. In other news,
Grimfist released one of the tightest metal offerings of 2005
with their Pantera-styled take on death metal, while both
El Caco and Stonegard toured extensively and tried to
bring radio-friendly metal into the mainstream.
www.screammagazine.com www.heavymetal.no
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
Elisabeth Andreassen – Short Stories (Tylden & Co.)
Sondre Bratland – Syng Meg Heim (Kirkelig Kulturverksted)
Ane Brun – Duets (Determine Records/V2 Records)
Karen Jo Fields – In Your Pages (Frode Records/C+C Records)
Vamp – Siste Stikk (Majorstudio/Musikkoperatørene)
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
1349 – Hellfire (Candlelight/Tuba)
Satyricon – tba (Moonfog)
Grimfist – 10 Steps to Hell (Candlelight/Tuba)
Dimmu Borgir – Stormblåst (Nuclear Blast/Tuba)
Darkthrone – The Cult is Alive (Peaceville)
Norwegians take great pride in the worldwide success of
A-ha during the 1980s, but the pop trio has never been
signed to a Norwegian label. Bel Canto, M2M, Robert Post
and Marion Raven have enjoyed some success outside
Norway, via their international signings. Lene Marlin and
Espen Lind have also enjoyed international attention,
signed to Norwegian branches Universal and Virgin,
respectively. Now, in November 2005 independent label
Waterfall signed a global joint venture deal with Sony
BMG, which will release the pop trio Lorraine in the U.K.
this coming spring. “We’re very excited about this album.
There are at least five hits on it and I think they’re the
freshest and most exciting band I’ve heard in a long time,”
says Sony BMG U.K. Managing Director Ged Doherty.
www.waterfall.no
SUSPERIA
CORAZÓN
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
A-ha – Analogue (Universal Germany)
D’Sound – My Today (daWorks Records)
Sondre Lerche – tba (Virgin/EMI)
Maria Mena – Apparently Unaffected (Sony BMG)
Minor Majority – Reasons to Hang Around
(Big Dipper Records)
KURT NILSEN
PROFILE: SUSPERIA
PROFILE: CORAZÓN
The bluegrass revival has taken a distinct direction in
Norway. Bands such as Home Groan, HGH and Corazón
make you wonder who is to say that bluegrass is not rock
or pop music. Songwriter Freddy Holm of the seven piece
band Corazón put it straight, saying, “I write pop songs,
but they are formed by the guys in the band, many of
whom are deep into bluegrass, and our drummer is a
jazz man. We influence each other, and live in concert
we jam together and take the songs way out.” Corazon
will release its second album Dust to Shake in Norway on
20 February through a licence deal with C+C Records.
The band’s 2003 debut album El Corazón was an instant
critical favourite, and Corazón is met with high regards
and expectations throughout the Norwegian folk scene.
www.ccrecords.com
Many Norwegian metal acts are known for experimenting.
Emperor pioneered the use of epic synth themes in black
metal, Satyricon flirted with mainstream metal on the hit
single “Fuel for Hatred,” and Ulver went ambient. However,
Susperia outdid all those bands when they released their
Devil May Care EP in September 2005. In addition to a
couple of new tracks and cover versions of the Death
classic “Lack of Comprehension” and WASP’s “Wild Child,”
Susperia included their take on the Norwegian 80s pop
classic by A-ha, “The Sun Always Shines on TV.” With an
impressively experienced metal line-up (including former
Dimmu Borgir member Tjodalv), Susperia doesn’t need to
consider what other people think, they know they are one of
Norway’s most exciting metal exports.
www.susperia.net
PROFILE: KURT NILSEN
Kurt Nilsen was an underdog in the very first Norwegian
Pop Idol. But he went on to win both the Norwegian final
and World Idol 2003, beating, among others, Kelly Clarkson
and Will Young. Nilsen was voted No. 1 in all territories
except the Arab countries, in spite of Australian judge Ian
Dickson’s remark, “You have the voice of an angel, but you
look like a Hobbit.” Fortunately, hobbits were at their peak
of global popularity thanks to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of
the Rings trilogy. Kurt Nilsen’s debut album I sold 180,000
worldwide. His second album A Part of Me produced Kurt’s
second consecutive Spellemann winning Hit of the Year,
“My Street,” and one of the favourites in the same category
this year, a song called “Never Easy.” Kurt’s third album is
scheduled for release in 2006.
www.sonybmg.no
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 9
jan erik annonse
PERSPECTIVE: ROCK
PERSPECTIVE: CLASSICAL
There was a time in the late nineties when Norwegian
rock bands enjoyed more success in Europe than in
their home country. In 2005 the situation at home had
drastically improved, thanks to a level of professionalism
and creativity from Norwegian rock acts that can equal
any country in the world. Madrugada is by definition the
biggest band in Norway following their double platinum
selling The Deep End, Turbonegro partied around the
globe following the instant classic Party Animals and JR
Ewing made the most inventive Norwegian rock album in
years with Maelstrom.
In Norway, a classical crossover hit album is a pop chart
top hit. Sissel has been the greatest artist of this kind since
her debut in 1986, and she went on to repeat her success
with her 2005 release Nordisk vinternatt. New artist Rein
Alexander has proven on two occasions that the scene
– and the pop chart – has room for a male voice, as well.
Over the past few years, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has
turned instrumental classical works from niche music
into Top 10 hits. With his first recording of Mozart’s piano
concertos, Andsnes sold to platinum in 2004. In 2005 he
even brought Rachmaninov to the Top 40 pop chart.
www.andsnes.com
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
JR Ewing – Maelstrom (Columbia/Sony BMG)
Madrugada – Live At Tralfamadore (Virgin/EMI)
Ricochets – Isolation (Kong Tiki/Playground)
Serena-Maneesh – Serena-Maneesh (Honeymilk)
Washington – tba (Tuba Records)
SERENA-MANEESH
06-01-06
12:02
Side 1
4
l i v e
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
Leif Ove Andsnes – Rachmaninov Piano Concertos 1 & 2
(EMI Classics)
Håkon Austbø – Complete Piano Music by Claude
Debussy, Vol. II (Simax Classics/Grappa Musikkforlag)
Grex Vocalis – Magnum Mysterium
(2L/Musikkoperatørene)
Truls Mørk – Bach: The Complete Cello Suites
(Virgin Classics/EMI)
Trio Mediaeval – Stella Maris (ECM Records GmbH)
a t
t r a l f a m a d o r e
mixed by david a. bianco, ulf holand and lars voldsdal.
straight in at #1 in the charts in norway.
sales in norway in excess of 100,000.
certified double platinum.
will be released across continental europe early february.
PROFILE: TRULS MØRK
PROFILE: SERENA-MANEESH
Emil Nikolaisen used to be the drummer for sleaze rock
act Silver, but following the release of their debut album
White Diary he quit the band to concentrate on producing
other artists and getting his pet project (called SerenaManeesh) off the ground. The band’s sound is echoed from
the noisy, but gentle sounds of My Bloody Valentine, but
Nikolaisen’s musical mastermind gives Serena-Maneesh
all the unique edges it needs. American website Pitchfork
Media described the band’s debut album, saying, “They
get it, Serena-Maneesh, their demeanour electric and
alternating, built off antagonistic relationships. The band,
like the instrument, are apt to prove noise and un-noise
are of one cut. To that end, these aren’t 11 songs so much
as 11 blood-riling arguments.”
www.honeymilk.no
“The new king of the cello” is French magazine Le Monde
de la Musique’s front page headline for Norwegian cellist
Truls Mørk in November 2005. A few weeks later Mørk was
nominated for a Grammy Award for the third time. He won
in 2001 for his Britten Cello Suites 1 – 3 (Virgin Classics)
in the category Best Instrumental Soloist Performance
(without Orchestra). This time around he is nominated with
orchestra for the recording of Schumann Cello Concerto/
Bloch: Schelomo with the Orchestre Philharmonique De
Radio France. This nomination is at the same time as
his new album Bach: Complete Cello Suites is topping
the Norwegian classical chart, concluding a busy year
performing with great orchestras in Scandinavia, USA,
Russia, Spain, Austria, Germany and France.
www.trulsmork.com
TRULS MØRK
industrial silence (1999)
the nightly disease (2001)
grit (2002)
=1
www.madrugada.net
management: stageway
10 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
the deep end (2005)
PERSPECTIVE: RAP/R&B
PERSPECTIVE: JAZZ
2005 was a rough year sales wise for Norwegian rap
artists. Debutant Cast (from acclaimed duo Equicez) and
veterans Paperboys and Warlocks all released excellent
albums, but none of them managed to set fire to the charts.
As in the rest of the world, illegal downloading gets most
of the blame, as rap artists have young fans who tend to
download instead of buying. On a more positive note,
Mira Craig stormed both the limelight and the charts with
her weird take on R&B, rap, dancehall and reggaeton,
and her amazing voice ended up on two tracks on the
Snoop Dogg mixtape Welcome To Tha Chuuuch.
www.stress.no www.hip-hop.no
The 2005 jazz year started with sad news. Alto saxophonist
Sigurd Køhn had finished an album with his new quartet.
However, while on vacation in Thailand he and his son fell
victim of the tsunami. The album release was scheduled for
January, but was moved to the fall to make certain the media
would focus on the music as such. The album entered the
pop chart at No. 11 and stayed there for two consecutive
weeks. At that time, Norway had seen Solveig Slettahjell, Nils
Petter Molvær and Silje Nergaard bringing jazz to the Top 15,
and the Tord Gustavsen Trio’s album The Ground became
the first ever instrumental jazz album to go to No. 1.
www.jazzforum.no
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
Cast – Problembarn (Pass-It Records)
Mira Craig – Mira Mira (Homemade Records)
Paperboys – When Worlds Collide (Bonnier Amigo)
Sofian – This is Sofian (C+C Records)
Warlocks – The Neverending Story (C+C Records)
ESSENTIAL RELEASES:
Atomic – The Bikini Tapes (Jazzland Recordings)
Tord Gustavsen Trio – The Ground (ECM Records, Germany)
Sigurd Køhn Quartet – This Place
(Heidi Køhn/Musikkoperatørene)
Terje Rypdal – Vossabrygg (ECM Records GmbH)
Solveig Slettahjell Slow Motion Quartet – Pixiedust
(Curling Legs/Musikkoperatørene)
SOFIAN
TORD GUSTAVSEN
PROFILE: TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO
The Norwegian audience is tough to win over for home
grown R&B artists. But if artists such as Winta and Noora
failed to succeed commercially, they at least paved the
way for soul prodigy Sofian. The young singer – who has
Algerian parents, but has lived in Oslo since he was four
years old – sites Prince, D’ Angelo, Stevie Wonder and
Marvin Gaye as his musical heroes, and his amazing
voice gave him such an industry buzz that he graced
magazine covers before he had released a single note of
music. This is Sofian is a collection of the best songs he
has written since he started singing at age 16, including a
cover version of Depeche Mode’s “People Are People” and
his own special take on Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”
www.ccrecords.no www.sofian.net
You would never expect an instrumental jazz album to hit
the top of the charts – climbing above the likes of Green Day,
Gwen Stefani and U2. Tord Gustavsen Trio had already
brought jazz singer Silje Nergaard to the top on two occasions.
In January 2005 the trio did it on its own with its second album
The Ground (ECM). Web magazine Stereophile.com picked
it as recording of the month in May 2005, writing, “Gustavsen
obviously has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music, and
his own compositions sound at the same time uncannily
familiar and absolutely fresh.” Gustavsen is a much-soughtafter pianist, composer and arranger in various genres,
while sidemen Harald Johnsen (bass) and Jarle Vespestad
(drums) are among the most productive touring and recording
musicians on the Norwegian jazz scene.
www.tordgustavsen.com
12 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
CARNET-GARANTI
VED KONSERTER I UTLANDET
REISEFORSIKRING
LANDETS BESTE OG BILLIGSTE
RÅDGIVNING
I KONTRAKTSSPØRSMÅL
INKASSOTJENESTE
VED UTEBLITT HONORAR
FRI SAKFØRSEL
ETTER NÆRMERE GODKJENNING
INGEN AVKORTING
I GRAMO-VEDERLAGET
PERSONLIG SERVICE
FORDI DU FORTJENER DET
www.musikerorg.no
M E R E N N 6 7 00 M E D LE M M E R TAR I K K E F E I L!
Rune Berg fotografert av Lena A. Pedersen
PROFILE: SOFIAN
INSTRUMENTFORSIKRING
LANDETS BESTE OG BILLIGSTE
THIS IS NORWAY
MARKET ANALYSIS
NO. 1 AT THE NORWEGIAN CHARTS 2005 (FIRST 49 WEEKS)
Linkin Park & Jay-Z – Collision Course
(Warner Music)
Green Day – American Idiot
(Warner Music)
John Legend – Get Lifted
(Sony BMG)
Tord Gustavsen Trio – The Ground (ECM Records, Germany)
Ane Brun – A Temporary Dive
(Determine Records)
The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute
(Universal Music)
Madrugada – The Deep End
(EMI Music)
Kent – Du & Jag Döden
(Sony BMG)
Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze (Universal Music)
Øystein Sunde – Sånn Er’e Bare
(Spinner Records)
Bigbang – Poetic Terrorism
(Grandsport Records)
Åge Aleksandersen Sambandet – To skritt frem (Solregn/EMI)
V/A – Idol 2005
(Sony BMG)
Audioslave – Out of Exile
(Universal Music)
V/A – Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2005
(MBN)
Coldplay – X&Y
(EMI Music)
DeLillos – Festen er ikke over ...det er kake igjen 1985-2005
(Universal Music)
Ravi & DJ Løv – Den nye arbæidsdagn
(Sony BMG)
Röyksopp – The Understanding
(Wall of Sound/EMI)
Kaizers Orchestra – Maestro (Kaizer Records/Universal Music)
James Blunt – Back to Bedlam
(Warner Music)
Katie Melua – Piece By Piece
(Dramatico/Bonnier)
Alejandro Fuentes – Diamonds or Pearls
(Sony BMG)
Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel
(Mute/EMI)
Vamp – Siste Stikk
(Majorstudio/Musikkoperatørene)
A-ha – Analogue
(Universal Music)
Madonna – Confessions on a Dance Floor
(Warner Music)
ORIGIN
NUMBER 1
USA
USA
USA
Norway
Norway
USA
Norway
Sweden
USA
Norway
Norway
Norway
Norway
USA
Norway
UK
1 week
3 weeks
1 week
1 week
2 weeks
1 week
2 weeks
2 weeks
1 week
1 week
1 week
1 week
4 weeks
1 week
1 week
1 week
Norway
Norway
Norway
Norway
UK
UK
Norway
UK
Norway
Norway
USA
1 week
7 weeks
1 week
1 week
5 weeks
1 week
2 weeks
1 week
2 weeks
1 week
3 weeks
Sweden
Norway
Norway
Sweden
Norway
Norway
Germany
Norway
UK
Norway
Sweden
Norway
UK
Norway
Norway
USA
USA
2 weeks
2 weeks
5 weeks
1 week
1 week
3 weeks
7 weeks
5 weeks
6 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
1 week
1 week
3 weeks
1 week
3 weeks
4 weeks
SINGLES SALES CHART
Eric Prydz – “Call On Me”
(Ministry Of Sound/PMG)
Espen Lind – “Unloved”
(Universal Music)
Philip + Sandra – “Sommerflørt”
(Pass It Records)
Kent –”Max 500”
(Sony BMG)
Alek – “Eneste for meg”
(OFM Music)
Wig Wam – “In My Dreams”
(Voices of Wonder)
Joy – “Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil”
(Universal Music)
Jorun Stiansen – “This is the Night”
(Sony BMG)
Crazy Frog – “Axel F”
(Catchy/Bonnier Amigo)
Ravi & DJ Løv – “Tsjeriåu me de månråus”
(Sony BMG)
Amy Diamond – “What’s In It for Me”
(Bonnier Music)
Venke Knutson – “Just a Minute”
(Universal Music)
James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful”
(Warner Music)
Alejandro Fuentes – “Stars”
(Sony BMG)
A-ha – “Celice”
(Universal Music)
Pussycat Dolls – “Don’t Cha”
(Universal Music)
Madonna – “Hung Up”
(Warner Music)
HIT 40 AIRPLAY CHART
(MUSIC CONTROL NORWAY)
Brian McFadden – “Real to Me”
(Sony BMG)
Gwen Stefani – “What You Waiting For?”
(Universal Music)
Maria Arredondo – “Burning”
(Universal Music)
V/A – “Venn”
(Forenede Fonogramprodusenter)
Kurt Nilsen – “Never Easy”
(Sony BMG)
Christian Walz – “Wonderchild”
(Sony BMG)
Gavin Degraw – “I Don’t Want to Be”
(Sony BMG)
Daniel Powte – “Bad Day”
(Warner Music)
Amy Diamond – “What’s In It for Me”
(Bonnier Music)
Ravi & DJ Løv – “Tsjeriåu me de månråus”
(Sony BMG)
James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful”
(Warner Music)
Robbie Williams – “Tripping”
(EMI Music)
14 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
Norway
USA
3 weeks
3 weeks
Madonna – “Hung Up”
Madrugada ft. Ane Brun – “Lift Me”
Eire
USA
Norway
Norway
Norway
Sweden
USA
Canada
Sweden
Norway
UK
UK
1 week
1 week
2 weeks
4 weeks
10 weeks
7 weeks
1 week
4 weeks
1 week
4 weeks
7 weeks
1 week
NORWEGIAN AWARDS
SPELLEMANN AWARD 2006
TRACK DOWNLOAD CHART
(NORWAY’S EQUIVALENT TO THE GRAMMY)
Spellemann 2006 is presented 28 January, 2006. www.spellemann.no
(Warner Music)
(EMI Music)
USA
Norway
1 week
2 weeks
NORWEGIAN TROPHIES 2005
ALBUM SALES CHART
LABEL
(Sony BMG)
(Warner Music)
Appeared for the first time 23 November, 2005
#1 first 3 weeks:
NORWEGIAN CHARTS 2005
ARTIST – TITLE
Alejandro Fuentes – “Stars”
Madonna – “Hung Up”
As of 1 December, 2005, 22 of the year’s album releases had reached shipments qualifying for Platinum. Of those,
13 were Norwegian artist releases. Three out of four releases shipped to Double Platinum were Norwegian:
DOUBLE PLATINUM (80,000+ shipped units)
Madrugada – The Deep End (Virgin/EMI)
Ravi & DJ Løv – Den nye arbæidsdagn (Sony BMG)
Åge Aleksandersen – To skritt Frem (Solregn/EMI)
85.000
82.000
80.000
PLATINUM (40,000+ shipped units)
V/A – Idol 2005 (Sony BMG)
A-ha – Analogue (Universal Germany)
Vamp – Siste stikk (Majorstudio/Musikkoperatørene)
de Lillos – Festen er ikke over (Universal)
Alejandro Fuentes – Diamonds or Pearls (Sony BMG)
D.D.E. – Næ Næ Næ (Buy Buy Records/EMI)
Trang Fødsel – De aller beste (Sony BMG)
Sissel – Nordisk Vinternatt (Universal)
V/A – Venn (Norwegian Phonographic Industry United/Universal)
Øystein Sunde – Sånn er det bare (Spinner/Universal)
Halvdan Sivertsen – 40 + (S2 Records)
72.000
67.000
64.300
62.000
57.000
55.000
55.000
46.000
45.000
42.000
40.300
GOLD (20,000+ shipped units)
Jim Stärk – Jim Stärk (Sweet Recordings)
Kaizers Orchestra – Maestro (Kaizer Records)
Vazelina Bilopphøggers – Bedre hell all medisin (Universal)
Oslo Gospel Choir, Mia Gundersen, Bjarte Hjelmeland – Lys i mørket
(Kirkelig Kulturverksted)
Wig Wam – Hard to be a Rock’n’roller (VME)
Kvinner på randen – Julemysteriet (Frelsesarmeens juleplate)
(Big Box/MBO)
Ane Brun – A Temporary Dive (Determine/V2)
Turboneger – Party Animal (Burning Heart Records)
Are og Odin – Haiglaigts: Farvel Og På Gjensyn (EMI)
Silje – The Essential (Universal)
Venke Knutson – Places I Have Been (Universal)
V/A – Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2005 (MBN/MBO)
Röyksopp – The Understanding (Wall Of Sound/Virgin/EMI)
Maria Arredondo – Min Jul (Universal)
Liv Marit Wedvik – Home Sweet Home (EMI)
Ane Brun – Duets (Determine/V2)
Espen Lind – April (Universal)
Ingermars – På egne væger (Tylden & Co.)
Jorunn Stiansen – Unstable (Sony BMG)
Tone Damli Aaberge – Bliss (EMI)
Lene Marlin – Lost in a Moment (Virgin/EMI)
Maria Mena – Apparently Unaffected (Sony BMG)
Raga Rockers – Beste (Universal)
Bigbang – Poetic Terrorism (Grandsport Records)
Ole Ivars – Vi tar det tel manda’n (Tylden & Co.)
Anne Nørdsti – Bonderomantikk (Tylden & Co.)
V/A – Heia Tufte (TVNorge/VME)
Finn Kalvik – Klassik Kalvik II (DaWorks)
38.000
38.000
37.000
35.500
35.400
35.000
33.600
30.000
30.000
29.000
28.000
28.000
27.000
26.000
25.000
24.600
24.000
24.000
24.000
23.000
22.000
22.000
22.000
22.000
20.000
20.000
20.000
20.000
Pop Album, Female Artist of the Year (30 entries):
Ane Brun – A Temporary Dive (DetErMine Records/V2)
Lene Marlin – Lost in a Moment (EMI Music)
Marthe Valle – It’s A Bag of Candy (Grammar Records/MBO)
Maria Mena – Apparently Unaffected (Sony BMG)
Simone – Last Days and Nights (DaWorks Records)
Pop Album, Male Artist of the Year (17 entries):
Alejandro Fuentes – Diamonds or Pearls (Sony BMG)
Robert Post – Robert Post (Universal Music)
Magnet – The Tourniquet (Warner Music)
Sofian – This is Sofian (C+C Records/Tuba)
Pop Album, Group of the Year (21 entries):
Jim Stärk – Jim Stärk (Sweet Recordings)
Ravi & DJ Løv – Den nye arbæidsdagn (Sony BMG)
Röyksopp – The Understanding (Wall Of Sound)
Electronica Album of the Year (19 entries):
Alog – Miniatures (Rune Grammofon/ECM)
Datarock – Datarock Datarock (Young Aspiring Professionals/VME)
Toy – Toy (Smalltown Supersound/VME)
Contemporary Music Album of the Year (16 entries):
Cikada String Quartet – In Due Tempi (ECM)
Nils Henrik Asheim – 19 March 2004, Oslo Cathedral (Fabra Records)
Sigyn Fossnes/Steinar Henning Smedbye – Tightrope Walker (Aurora/Grappa Musikkforlag)
Rock Album of the Year (49 entries):
Big Bang – Poetic Terrorism (Grandsport Records)
JR Ewing – Maelstrom (Sony BMG)
Madrugada – The Deep End (EMI Music)
My Midnight Creeps – My Midnight Creeps (Dead Moose/Tuba)
Serena-Maneesh – Serena-Maneesh (Honeymilk)
Blues Album of the Year (12 entries):
Kåre Virud Band – Ild og vann (Bluestown Records/MBO)
Ronnie Jacobsen – Soulified (MTG)
Vidar Busk – Starfish (Warner Music)
Country Album of the Year (21 entries):
Elisabeth Andreassen – Short Stories (Tylden & Co.)
Sergeant Petter – Monkey Tonk Matters (New Records)
The Respatexans – Shine On (MW Records)
Metal Album of the Year (24 entries):
Audrey Horne – No Hay Banda (Dogjob Records/Tuba)
El Caco – The Search (Black Balloon Records/Tuba)
Extol – The Blueprint Dives (Century Media/EMI)
Stonegard – Arrows (Bells Go Clang)
Jazz Album of the Year (61 entries):
Hans Mathisen – Quiet Songs (Curling Legs/Musikkoperatørene)
Jimmy Rosenberg/Stian Carstensen – Rose Room (Hot Club Records/Musikkoperatørene)
Karin Krog/Bergen Big Band – Seagull (Grappa Musikkforlag/Musikkoperatørene)
Sigurd Køhn kvartett – This Place (Heidi Køhn/Upnorth/Musikkoperatørene)
Solveig Slettahjell – Pixiedust (Curling Legs/Musikkoperatørene)
Classical Music Album of the Year (35 entries):
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/Ole Kristian Ruud – Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt (BIS)
Einar Steen-Nøkleberg, Trondheim symfoniorkester/Terje Mikkelsen – Thomas Tellefsen Complete Piano Concertos
(Simax Classics/Grappa Musikkforlag)
Håkon Austbø – Debussy Complete Works for Piano Solo, Vol II (Simax Classics/Grappa Musikkforlag))
Leif Ove Andsnes – Rachmaninov, Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (EMI Classical)
Folk Album of the Year (39 entries):
16 artister hedrer Erik Bye – En hildringstime (Kirkelig Kulturverksted)
Kari Bremnes – Over en by (Kirkelig Kulturverksted)
Vamp – Siste stikk (Majorstudio/Musikkoperatørene)
Øystein Sunde – Sånn er’e bare (Spinner Records)
Open Category Album of the Year (47 entries):
Arild Andersen Group – Electra (ECM)
Beady Belle – Closer (Jazzland Recordings)
Jaga Jazzist – What We Must (Smalltown Superjazzz)
Nils Petter Molvær – ER (Sula Records)
Shining – In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster (Rune Grammofon/ECM)
Children’s Album of the Year (17 entries):
V/A – Elias den lille redningsskøyta (Barneselskapet/Musikkoperatørene)
Geirr Lystrup – Sangen om Yebo (Juni)
Jannike Kruse & Forsvarets musikkorps Trøndelag – Kjente, kjære og noen glemte barnesanger
(Barneselskapet/Musikkoperatørene)
Newcomer Album of the Year (48 entries):
Marthe Valle – It’s A Bag of Candy (Grammar Records/MBO)
Animal Alpha – Pheromones (Racing Junior)
Draumir – Draumir (Little Hill/Playground Music)
Audrey Horne – No Hay Banda (Dogjob Records/Tuba)
Sofian – This Is Sofian (C+C Records)
Hit of the Year (43 entries):
Alejandro Fuentes – “Stars” (Sony BMG)
Kurt Nilsen – “Never Easy” (Sony BMG)
Madrugada ft. Ane Brun – “Lift Me” (EMI Music)
Maria Mena – “Miss You Love” (Sony BMG)
Ravi & DJ Løv – “Tsjeriåu me de Månråus” (Sony BMG)
Music Video of the Year (96 entries):
Maria Mena – “Miss You Love” (Sony BMG)
Animal Alpha – “Bundy” (Racing Junior)
Ravi & DJ Løv – “E-Ore” (Sony BMG)
Robert Post – “Got None” (Universal Music)
Röyksopp – “What Else Is There?” (EMI Music)
Spellemann of the Year (40 entries):
Nominees are not announced.
Rap/R&b Album of the Year (12 entries):
Cast – Problembarn (Pass It Records/EMI)
Paperboys – When Worlds Collide (Bonnier Music)
Tommy – Tommy tycker om mej (C+C Records)
Traditional Music Album of the Year (27 entries):
Nordafjells – General (ta:lik/Musikkoperatørene)
Sigrid Moldestad/Einar Mjølsnes/Håkon Høgemo – Gamaltnymalt (NORCD/Musikkoperatørene)
Tom Willy Rustad – Fiolsteinen (Kvarts/LMP/Musikkoperatørene)
Dancing Orchestra/Schlager Album of the Year (19 entries):
Anne Nørdsti – Bonderomantikk (Tylden & Co.)
Lasse Johansens Orkester – Hematt att (Tylden & Co.)
Ole Ivars – Vi tar det tel manda’n (Tylden & Co.)
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 15
ALARM AWARDS 2006
The awards are presented in Oslo 21 January, 2006.
Nominees are decided by the votes of 60 music journalists, and winners are decided 50 percent by the journalists
and 50 percent by votes from the public.
www.alarmprisen.no.
Rock Album of the Year:
Ricochets – Isolation (Kong Tiki/Playground)
Madrugada – The Deep End (Virgin/EMI)
Serena-Maneesh – Serena-Maneesh (Honeymilk)
JR Ewing – Maelstrom (Columbia/Sony BMG)
My Midnight Creeps – My Midnight Creeps (Dead Moose/Tuba)
Pop Album of the Year:
Ane Brun – A Temporary Dive (Determine/V2)
Loch Ness Mouse – 11-22 (Perfect Pop)
Maria Mena – Apparently Unaffected (Columbia/Sony BMG)
Anja Garbarek – Briefly Shaking (Virgin/EMI)
Sofian – This Is Sofian (C+C Records)
Metal Album of the Year:
Stonegard – Arrows (Bells Go Clang)
Grimfist – 10 Steps to Hell (Candlelight)
El Caco – The Search (Black Balloon)
Scum – Gospel for the Sick (Dogjob/Tuba)
Solefald – Red for Fire: An Icelandic Odyssey, Pt. 1 (Season Of Mist)
Rap Album of the Year:
Paperboys – When Worlds Collide (Bonnier Amigo)
Cast – Problembarn (Pass-It Records)
Onkel P – Det kunne vært deg (Pass-It Records)
Warlocks – The Neverending Story (C+C Records)
Tommy Tee – Tommy tycker om mej (C+C Records)
Open Category/Electronic Album of the Year:
Jaga Jazzist – What We Must (Smalltown Supersound)
Cloroform – Cracked Wide Open (Kaadarec)
Toy – Toy (Smalltown Supersound)
Supersilent – 6 (Rune Grammofon)
Alog – Catch that Totem! (Melektronikk/Tuba)
Club Album of the Year:
Röyksopp – The Understanding (Wall Of Sound/EMI)
Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas – Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas (Eskimo Recordings/VME)
Datarock – Datarock, Datarock (YAP/VME)
DJ Annie – DJ Kicks (K7)
Future Prochecies – Warlords Rising (Beatservice/VME)
MADRUGADA
ÅGE ALEXANDERSEN & SAMBANDET
KURT NILSEN
Jazz Album of the Year:
Kornstad/Wiik – Eight Tunes We Like (Moserobie)
Shining – In the Kingdom of Kitch You Would be a Monster (Rune Grammofon)
The Thing – Live At Blå (Smalltown Superjazzz)
Tord Gustavsen Trio – The Ground (ECM Records GmbH)
Atomic – The Bikini Tapes (Jazzland Recordings)
Song of the Year:
Madrugada – “The Kids are on High Street” (Virgin/EMI)
Röyksopp – “What Else is There” (Wall Of Sound/Virgin/EMI)
Ane Brun – “My Lover Will Go” (Determine Records/V2)
Superfamily – “Taxi Dancing” (Propeller Recordings)
Mira Craig – “Boogeyman” (Homemade Records/Bonnier Amigo)
Live Act of the Year:
Madrugada
Turboneger
Purified in Blood
Richochets
Kaizers Orchestra
Newcomer of the Year:
My Midnight Creeps
Mira Craig
Sofian
Superfamily
Animal Alpha
MADRUGADA’s The Deep End
is Norway’s best-selling album in
2005. Prior to the 14 December release
Live at Tralfamadore, the single “Lift
Me” (a duet with Ane Brun) pushed
Madonna down from the top of digital
tracks and single sales charts.
RAVI & DJ LØV
ÅGE ALEKSANDERSEN
& SAMBANDET was one of the
best-selling acts in Norway during
the 1980s. A reunion tour and a new
album which included a full length
live bonus CD made it the hit of the
year for the adult segment in Norway.
ANE BRUN
KURT NILSEN may win the
Spellemann Award for Hit of the Year
for the third time in a row. “Never
Easy” stayed 10 weeks on top of
Music Control Norway. The third
album from the World Idol winner is
planned for 2006.
A-ha
NORDIC MUSIC AWARDS 2005
The second edition of the pan-Scandinavian awards show Nordic Music Awards (NMA) was held in Copenhagen,
Denmark, on 29 October. Nominees for NMA are decided by sales figures, while winners are decided by votes
from the public. Winners in international categories are decided by votes from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, while
Norwegian national categories are decided by votes from the Norwegian public only.
Best Norwegian Artist: Madrugada (EMI Music)
RAVI & DJ LØV made
IN BRIEF
Waterfall Records’ pop act Lorraine releases its new album through
Sony BMG U.K. in April 2006. The release is part of a global joint
venture deal between the Norwegian indie and the major as a result of
strong international A&R competition for Lorraine.
Music Magazine (Japan) picked a Norwegian independent release from
Mats Eilertsen called Turanga (AIM Music) as the Jazz Album of the Year
2005. Eilertsen is also known as the bassist of, among others, Parish, Kornstad
Trio, Håvard Wiik Trio and Solveig Slettahjell Slow Motion Quintet.
Marion Raven, the brunette half of teenager pop duo M2M, released
her solo debut album Here I Am through Atlantic Records in the U.S. in
2005. In February 2006, the blond M2M partner Marit Larsen will release
her solo debut album on EMI Music Norway.
Norwegian singer Sissel went Top 10 in Norway, Denmark and Sweden
with her new album Nordisk Vinternatt (Universal Classical), released
in November 2005. Her 2003 release My Heart spent 26 weeks in the U.S.
Billboard Classical Crossover chart.
In November 2005, Tromsø rock band Washington concluded a 42 day
tour of Holland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. The up
coming second Washington album is the only rock release announced
from Tuba Records in 2006 thus far.
Norwegian/Swedish vocal group Trio Mediaeval have become a
favourite on the U.S. classical scene. After a short tour in the U.S., the
trio’s third release Stella Maris on German label ECM re-entered the
Billboard classical chart at No. 10.
Young singer-songwriter Elvira Nikolaisen is subject to huge
expectations and media coverage long before the Sony BMG release
of her debut album, scheduled for 3 March. The most influential music
journalists already see her as the most exciting artist in 2006.
Trumpeter Arve Henriksen was awarded Norway’s greatest jazz award,
the Buddy Award 2005. Following the past two years’ laureates Nils
Petter Molvær and Bugge Wesseltoft, the award strongly embraces the
technological development of modern improvisational music.
Norwegian-language rap music
Norway’s largest pop hit in 2005. Their
second album Den nye arbæidsdagn
went straight to the top of the chart and
produced two hit singles – one of which
went No. 1 in single sales and airplay.
A-HA celebrated the 20th
ANE BRUN went straight to No. 1
with her second album A Temporary
Dive. The Madrugada duet “Lift Me”
pulled the young singer songwriter’s
November album release Duets
just one certain Madonna short of
reaching the top.
anniversary of its international No.
1 hit single debut “Take on Me” by
releasing its eighth album, entitled
Analogues. Prior to the release, A-ha
gathered a crowd of 120,000 for a free,
open-air concert in Oslo.
Singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche has returned from successful tours
in the U.S. to record his third album. He was only 17 when Virgin/EMI
Norway brought us his debut album, and his third album is due for
release in February 2006.
16 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 17
(Source: GGF/IFPI Norway)
ALBUM SALES 2005 AS OF 30 NOVEMBER
(PPD VALUE IN MNOK):
While Norwegian releases are up by almost 20 percent
in gross PPD value, international repertoire is following
the trend established the past few years, decreasing by
23 percent. Sony BMG struggled with its new company
structure in many territories due to the merger, and faced
a growing number of rescheduled releases throughout
the second half of the year. However, the company’s
Norwegian operation produced a fair number of local
releases, all successful in their own right. EMI decreased
their sales by as much as their newly-merged competitor,
but finished the year with two local artists among the year’s
four double platinum-selling albums. Classical music
releases stayed at their 2004 strength.
Overall, record sales in Norway were down 11 percent
from 2004 levels by the end of November. A 36 percent
drop in budget album sales while full-price album sales
decreased by only 8 percent is a good sign for the records
market, indicating that consumers’ demand is still strong.
The fact that the decrease in record sales struck virtually
only the multinational record companies indicates that
supply has failed to meet demand.
RECORD SALES IN 2005 AS OF 30 NOVEMBER
(IN 1,000 UNITS):
A ten percent decrease in record sales looks like a
catastrophic year. However, the summer months of June,
July and August 2005 had their best record-selling year
ever. November, as an album release month, looked to
become a clash of giants. It seemed as though a larger
portion than ever of expected best sellers had to fail.
While three 2004 releases sold more than 150,000
copies, 2005 looks to be the first year in a long time to fail to
produce an album selling past the 100,000 mark.
The introduction of an official Norwegian digital
tracks chart in November 2006 created more focus on the
download market. MSN Music Norway and iTunes Music
Store Norway were introduced in September 2006. With a
40 percent decrease in CD single sales, digital tracks have
much to make up for.
Still, the CD album holds a strong position.
Norwegians are among the world’s top three record
buying public, purchasing more than three albums per
capita year after year.
VI GIR DEG EN ENKLERE
HVERDAG SOM ARTIST!
Det er Gramart som…
Tar vare på dine rettigheter som artist
Tilbyr gunstig instrument – og ulykkesforsikring
Har bransjens ledende juridiske bistand og standardavtaler
Gir deg MusikkGuiden gratis hvert år
Har utarbeidet rabattavtaler på utstyr, hoteller og bilutleie med mer
Tilbyr kurs og seminarer; det du trenger for å lykkes i bransjen
Dessuten slipper du å betale administrasjonsgebyr i Gramo som medlem i Gramart!
Bli medlem du også!
Christer Knutsen Foto: Eirik Lye
RECORD SALES 2005
GramArt, Recording Artists’ Association, is
the interest organization for recording artists
in Norway. GramArt was established in 1989 to
protect the recording artists’ intellectual property
rights, other legal rights and professional interests.
THIS IS NORWAY:
Population:
Capital:
Currency:
Gold Trophy
Platinum Trophy
4.6 million
Oslo
NOK 100.00 = EUR 12.77 = USD 15.05
20,000 album units, 5,000 single units
40,000 album units, 10,000 single units
(Currencies at 2005 November exchange rates, source: Norges Bank)
18 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
Approximate regular CD album price:
NOK 165.00 = EUR 21.07 = USD 24.84
Approximate regular CD single price (2 track CDs):
NOK 30.00 = EUR 3.83 = USD 4.52
Approximate regular DVD price:
NOK 175.00 = EUR 22.35 = USD 26.34
Tlf: +47 22 00 56 50, fax: +47 22 00 56 51,
mail: [email protected], www.gramart.no
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 19
THIS IS MUSIC EXPORT NORWAY
Music Export Norway A/S (MEN) was established
in June, 2000 to increase the international
presence and recognition of Norwegian music,
and to provide information about Norwegian
artists and companies.
MEN is owned by six organizations which are
a regular and vital part of the Norwegian music
industry. These are IFPI Norway, FONO (the
Norwegian Independent Record Companies
Association), NOPA (Norwegian Society of
Composers and Lyricists), GramArt (the Recording
Artists Association), MFO (Norwegian Musicians’
Union) and the Music Information Centre Norway.
Since its founding, MEN has organized Norwegian
participation at multiple international music conferences, such as Eurosonic, In The City, MIDEM
(including MIDEM 2002, where MEN organized the
opening night party featuring performances by 14
Norwegian acts), Popkomm, SXSW, WOMEX and
many others. MEN’s organization of a com-prehensive,
cohesive presentation at these con-ferences has
helped to foster a brand awareness of the diverse,
outstanding and internationally marketable music
that Norway has to offer. This has allowed Norway to
compete for the first time with larger, more established
music markets.
But MEN’s work doesn’t end with music
conferences; it is also a regular participant in
international trade missions working to increase
communication directly with music industries of
countries such as Japan, Italy, Belgium and China,
to name a few. MEN’s work also includes providing
information to the government and trade officials
within Norway, proving that music is as viable an
export as the country’s other resources.
MEN doesn’t make contracts, nor does it seek
to advance any one company, artist or political
agenda. Rather it works to create a portal through
which the Norwegian music industry can access
the world’s markets – and through which the world
can experience the diversity and quality which
Norwegian music has to offer.
NORWEGIAN ARTISTS
INCLUDED IN THE
OFFICIAL MIDEM
CLASSIC & JAZZ
PROGRAM
MONDAY 23 OF JANUARY
20:30 – 23:30 at Palais des Festivals, Auditorium Debussy
GUNILLA SÜSSMANN
Performs the second movement from Brahms Piano Concerto
No. 2 in B Flat with Orchestre Règional de Cannes Provence
Alpes Còte d’Azur conducted by Philippe Bender
22:30 PM – 01.00 at Majestic, Salon Diane Barrière
KJETIL MØSTER AND MZN3
Kjetil Møster sax, Per Zanussi bass, Kjell Nordeson drums
SUSANNA AND THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA
Susanna Wallumrød vocal, Morten Qvenild keyboards
S
NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES
ARTSPAGES
Artspages is an aggregator offering
labels online distribution with a
decent revenue split model and
worldwide distribution through
several international services, such as
iTunes, MSN, OD2 and Real plus niche
and mobile services, including ones in
China and Africa. Get in touch with us
at the Norwegian stand.
P.O.Box 2550
N - 4678 KRISTIANSAND
Phone: +47 99 00 47 50
Fax: +47 38 04 05 49
MR Eivind BRYDØY
Business Developer/ Manager
MR Arne SLAATSVEEN
Manager
MR Dagfinn BACH
CEO
MR Trond TORNES
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
CURLING LEGS
Curling Legs (founded 1991)
represents the modern wave of
acoustic and electric jazz with more
than 95 releases in its catalogue.
Curling Legs also represents the Odin
catalogue with more than 50 titles.
Featured artists: Sidsel Endresen/
Bugge Wesseltoft, Radka Toneff,
Come Shine, Solveig Slettahjell, Lars
Danielsson, Jon Balke and more.
P.O.Box 5298 Majorstua
N - 0303 OSLO
Phone: (+47)23 00 92 74
Fax: (+47) 23 00 92 75
MR Knut VARNES
Owner/Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
DAWORKS RECORDS AS
daWorks Records, established in 2000 ,
has become one of Norway’s most
successful small indies. The company
develops artists in Norway and the
U.K. for the international market.
Musical Styles: Pop, rock, urban.
DaWorks also releases licensed
products in Norway.
Møllerg. 28
N - 0271 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 22 11 00 97
Fax: (+47) 22 11 00 98
MR Jorn DALCHOW
President, daWorks Norway
Email: [email protected]
MR Jazz BLACK
President, daWorks UK
MR Knut PLEYM
Product Manager
DEA PRODUCTIONS
Oslo-based production company run
by renowned writer/producer David
Eriksen (Lindsay Lohan, Tata Young,
Clay Aiken, Nick Lachey/Jessica
Simpson). DEA features two acts at its
premiere MIDEM: Sofian (with soldout shows and a critically-acclaimed
album) is dubbed the saviour of
Norwegian soul while Tone Damli’s
Bliss went gold in two weeks.
Grimelundshaugen 37
N-0374 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 92 26 41 11
MR David ERIKSEN
Producer/ A&R:
Email: [email protected]
MR Cato INGEBRETSEN
Exploitation Manager
DICENTIA NORWAY AS
Dicentia Norway AS (formerly SDC
Norway AS), located in Oslo, is the
largest company of its kind in Norway.
Dicentia produces CDs and DVDs,
offers a graphic design studio, DVDauthoring and mastering and a “quick
service” department in Oslo which
offers fast-burning of CDs and DVDs in
smaller quantities.
P.O.Box 6033 Etterstad
Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 08 62 00
Fax: (+47) 22 08 62 10
MR Håkon S BAKKEN
Country Manager
Email: [email protected]
ETNISK MUSIKKLUBB
Featuring the EM label with
recordings by prize-winning
Norwegian performers and
Norwegian-based multicultural,
international artists, Etnisk is
expanding export and international
distribution for EM and adding
variation to World music repertoire
from “undiscovered” areas of the
world. Etnisk seeks import/export
partners for its post order and
member-based music club business.
Masovngt 20
3616 Kongsberg
Phone: (+47) 32 73 56 60
Fax: (+47) 3273 56 61
MR Arne FREDRIKSEN
Email: [email protected]
FESTIVAL OF NORTH
NORWAY
The Festival of North Norway presents
and produces all kinds of music, stage
performances and fine arts, and aims
to be the most important cultural event
in arctic Norway. The festival is
situated in Harstad, approximately
300 kilometres north of the polar circle.
Dates: 24/6–1/7/2006 and
23-30/6/2007.
P.O. Box 294
N - 9486 Harstad
Fax: (+47) 77 06 73 63
FONO
Kongens gate 4
N - 0153 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 42 54 90
Fax: (+47) 22 42 54 90
MR Erling ANDRESEN
General Manager
Email: [email protected]
MR Larry BRINGSJORD
Chairman
GEMINI RECORDS
Specializing in mainstream acoustic
jazz, Gemini (established 1984)
features some of Norway’s best artists,
as well as international artists Scott
Hamilton, Zoot Sims and NHØP,
among others. Gemini’s catalogue
has largely been recorded by
audiophile favourite Jan Erik
Kongshaug in Rainbow Studios.
Gemini Jazz Distribution distributes
international jazz labels.
P.O. Box 96
N - 1381 VETTRE
Phone: (+47) 66 90 44 99
Fax: (+47) 66 90 44 89
MR Bjørn PETERSEN
President/Producer
Email: [email protected]
GRAMART (RECORDING
ARTISTS ASSOCIATION)
GramArt (est. 1989) is the Norwegian
recording artists interest organization,
with approximately 2000 members.
GramArt protects the recording artists’
intellectual property, legal rights and
professional interests. History proves
that artists benefit from a proactive
organization fighting for their
business interests. GramArt IS that
organization.
GRAPPA
MUSIKKFORLAG AS
Grappa Musikkforlag AS (Grappa
Music Group-est. 1983) is Norway’s
leading independent record company,
representing a broad musical scope,
high quality and first-rate Norwegian
performers on several labels. Primary
objectives are to present a wide
variety of recordings of all musical
genres from traditional music to
contemporary musical trends.
Akersgata 7
N - 0158 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23 35 80 00
Fax: (+47) 23 35 80 01
MR Erik Gard AMUNDSEN
Director Classical Music
MR Helge WESTBYE
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
HACATE
ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Hacate Entertainment Group (HEG)
is a music publishing company
representing all kinds of music. We
specialize in placing music in films,
TV shows and advertisements and
international licenses. In addition,
HEG provides music consulting and
supervision services, and is actively
seeking high-quality music of all
genres to represent.
P.O.Box 440 Sentrum
N - 0103 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 00 56 75
Fax: (+47) 22 00 56 74
MS Sarah CHANDERIA
President
MS Aria Maria FET
A&R/Office Assistant
Email: [email protected]
INDIE DISTRIBUTION AS
With years of experience working
with labels, retail, press and concert
promotion, INDIE has changed music
distribution in Norway, leaving their
representative companies to set up
a new improved and more focused
distribution. The company distributes
labels such as Nuclear Blast, Metal
Blade, Massacre, Season of Mist,
Regain and Traffic.
Sinsenvn. 4
N - 0572 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 12 17 80
Fax: (+47) 23 12 17 81
MR Erik SOLHEIM RØHNE
Label Manager
MR Rune K. DANIELSEN
Sales Manager/ Label
Email: [email protected]
KIRKELIG
KULTURVERKSTED
Kirkelig Kulturverksted (KKV) is
Norway’s largest independent
record label with a catalogue
of over 300 titles. For over 30
years KKV has collaborated with
Norwegian and international artists.
Well known for the extremely high
quality of its releases, KKV’s CDs
are sought after by audiophile
collectors all over the world.
P.O.Box 4684
N - 0506 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 22 99 34 50
Fax: (+47) 22 99 34 51
MS Hege Marit FOLKESTAD
Export Executive
MR Reidar SAUNES
Sales Manager
Email: [email protected]
P.O.Box 440 Sentrum
N - 0103 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 22 00 56 53
Fax: (+47) 22005651
MS Elin AAMODT
Legal Adviser
Email: [email protected]
www.gramart.no
Phone: (+47) 77 04 12 30
MR Birger CARLSEN
Festival Director
Email: [email protected]
22 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 23
NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES
KJELL BJØRGE
ENGRO AS
A distribution company that
celebrated its 30th anniversary in
2006, Kjell Bjorge Engros covers the
rack-market and grocery-market, and
offers a wide variety of entertainment
products to its customers and is
looking for new CD/DVD products
(low/budget- to mid-price) and
accessories. Average annual turnover
is NOK 215 (€ 27) million.
Ensjøveien 10
0655 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 03 63 63
Fax: (+47) 23 03 63 50
MR Kjell BJØRGE
Director
Email: [email protected]
MS Rigmor FLATAKER
Sales Manager
KONG TIKI RECORDS
Kong Tiki Records is based in Oslo,
Norway and Stamford, CT., U.S. We
deal in everything from metal to
alternative rock to goth and pop, and
are seeking licenses and distribution
outside Scandinavia for our artists,
which include Ricochets, Torch,
Cadillac, Pekka Volt, Popium, CoStar,
Israelvis and White Lord Jesus.
St.Hallvards Gt. 33c
Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 08 31 30
Fax: (+47) 22 66 65 61
MS
Jens Petter WIIG
A&R
Email: [email protected]
MFO (MUSICIANS UNION
NORWAY)
Møller gt.1
N - 0028 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23 06 21 50
Fax: (+47) 23 06 21 51
MR Arnfinn BJERKESTRAND
President
Email: [email protected]
MTG MUSIC
MTG has been in operation since
1992 and has released over 120 CDs.
MTG is not a single-minded record
company, but one which reaches into
the abyss of the music industry by
producing CDs within many genres,
including metal, rock, hip-hop, pop,
jazz, classical and film soundtracks.
Kongens gate 4
N - 0153 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 41 04 80
Fax: (+47)22 42 75 20
MR Larry BRINGSJORD
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
MUSIC EXPORT
NORWAY AS
MEN was established in 2000 by the
Norwegian music industry to provide
access to information on Norwegian
artists and to be a resource for
Norwegian exporters of music. MEN
assists the Norwegian industry by
organizing tradeshows participation
and presentations designed to
increase world wide awareness of
Norwegian music.
Karl Johansg. 21
N - 0159 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 24 12 96 99
Fax: (+47) 24 12 96 98
MS Inger DIRDAL
Managing Director
MS Helene D. BROCH
Project Manager
MR Mats NILSSON
Chairman of the Board
MS Maria GRONGSTAD
Marketing Assistant
MS SiljeWERGELAND
Marketing Assistant
MR Jan Erik BLØE HANSEN
Consultant
Email: [email protected]
MUSIC INFORMATION
CENTRE NORWAY
Music Information Centre Norway
(MIC) is a resource centre catering to
Norwegian and international industry
professionals from a genre-neutral
and non-biased position. MIC
increases the impact of Norwegian
music through active profiling and
information activities. MIC’s two websites, ballade.no and mic.no/english
are among Norway’s most important
channels of music information.
P.O.Box 2674 Solli
N - 0203 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23 27 63 00
Fax: (+47) 23 27 63 01
MR Thomas LAUVLAND PETTERSEN
Information Officer/Editor Mic.no
MR Aslak OPPEBØEN
Head Of Information
MR Svein BJØRKÅS
Director
Email: [email protected]
MUSIKKLOSEN
Distributor of jazz, blues, ethnic/
world music, classical, rock, film
and alternative music, MusikkLosen
(The Music Pilot) was founded
in 1997 by industry veteran Odd
Gjelsnes. Musikklosen �s aim is to be
a trustworthy, effective partner for
record companies featuring music
that seldom tops the pop charts, but
captures serious listeners’ hearts.
MUSIKKOPERATØRENE AS
Musikkoperatørene (MO) distributes
approximately 80 independent labels
offering a rich variety of high-quality
and internationally acclaimed
audiophile Norwegian CDs, including
Simax Classics, Hot Club Records,
Curling Legs, Heilo, Banana Party,
Trust Me Records, UpNorth, Jazzaway,
Aim, Grappa, Aurora, Odin, Bergland,
MajorStudio, 2L, Dat, NKF, NORCD,
SOFA, Duippidit and Herman Records.
Kongens gate 4
N - 0153 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23310120
Fax: (+47) 23310129
MS Stine FARSTAD
Export Manager
MR Håkon GJESVIK
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
NOCD-NORWEGIAN
ORGANIZATION
FOR CULTURE AND
DEVELOPMENT
NOCD is a humanitarian organization
using culture to promote initiative and
understanding, generating funds for
international development projects
through culture. We have a responsibility to fellow humans suffering
under difficult conditions and the
possibility to inform about the world’s
grave problems – and what can be
done to make a difference.
P.O.Box 6314 Etterstad
N - 0604 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 22 19 82 82
Fax: (+47) 22 19 81 82
Enerhaugplassen 4A
N - 0192 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 21 92 36 75
Fax: (+47) 21 92 36 75
MR Odd GJELSNES
Manager
Email: [email protected]
MR Anwar ACHOUR
President
Email: [email protected]
NOPA
NOPA’s 600 members include writers
of pop, rock, jazz, folk, brassband, film
music, etc. Headed by a board of
composers and lyricists, NOPA (est.
1937) protects members’ artistic,
financial and social interests while
promoting Norwegian music and
lyrics and is associated with Nordisk
Populaerautorunion (the Nordic union
of similar societies).
Kongens gate 4
N - 0153 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 22 47 30 00
Fax: (+47) 22 47 30 01
MR Bendik HOFSETH
Chairman of the Board
Email: [email protected]
NORSK ARTISTFORBUND/
NORWEGIAN ARTIST
AND SONGWITERS
ASSOCIATION
Post Box 1027 Sentrum
N - 0104 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 15 91 15
Fax: (+47) 22 33 52 51
MR Knut AAFLOY
Chairman
Email: [email protected]
NMFF (NORWEGIAN
MUSIC PUBL. ASS.)
P.O.Box 822 Sentrum
N - 0104 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 78 25 90 09
Fax: (+47) 22 42 55 41
MR Ken INGWERSEN
Board Member
MR Steinar FJELD
Board Member
Email: [email protected]
PHONOFILE
One-stop access for licensing music
from Norwegian independent labels,
with more than 70,000 tracks from
5,000 albums released by 150 labels.
All genres are represented, including
pop, hip-hop, electronica, traditional,
jazz, blues, rock, metal, classical and
contemporary music.
Kongens gt. 4
N - 0153 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 42 09 40
MR Erik BRATAAS
CEO
E-mail: erik.brataas@phonofile.com
PLANET NOISE
Planet Noise is an electronica label
combining MP3 web distribution with
conventional CD and vinyl sales.
Planet Noise is also a virtual artist’s
pool, where artists are presented
as animated characters created
especially for Planet Noise. The
concept closes the gap between
traditional music distribution and the
distribution of tomorrow.
Sagveien 23 A
N - 0459 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 22 04 10 10
Fax: (+47) 22 04 10 11
MS Karen THOMMESEN
Label Manager
E-mail: [email protected]
POINT2POINT
MANAGEMENT
Point2Point Management is a pure
artist management company,
focusing on developing artists for the
international market. We also assist
in contractual matters for outside
artists and offer a consultancy service
for foreign artists and companies.
Point2Point Management delivers
high quality targeted promotional
services in Norway for foreign labels.
Myrvollveien 4C
N - 1415 Oppegård
Phone: (+47) 99 73 73 73
Fax: (+47) 99 73 73 73
MR Tom E. SKJØLINGSTAD
Manager
E-mail: [email protected]
24 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 25
NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES NORWEGIAN DELEGATES
PopPartner Records is an
independent record company
based 11⁄2 hours north of Oslo, and
works primarily with local artists
for the national and international
market. PopPartner Publishing
represents some of our region’s finest
songwriters. Scandinavian Music
Alliance is a networking service
project for musicians and musicrelated businesses.
P.O.Box 16
N - 2391 Moelv
Phone: (+47) 62 532500
MR Thomas NORDBY
Project Manager
E-mail:[email protected]
MR Jarle KRISTOFFERSEN
Managing Director
MR Henning HARTUNG
Project Manager
REC 90
Rec 90 is an independent label known
as one of the most exciting suppliers
of quality Norwegian music. The
company released the first albums of
artists such as Lorraine and Magnet
and 2006 releases include new
albums from The Low Frequency in
Stereo, Erlend Ropstad, The Vineyards
and Segrov.
P.O.Box 1291
N - 5811 Bergen
Phone: (+47) 55 32 34 10
Fax: (+47) 55 31 18 75
MR Torfinn NERGAARD
MD
E-mail: [email protected]
TUBA RECORDS
Tuba (founded 1999) is one of
Norway’s leading independent
record distributors, representing a
wide variety of labels and artists,
both Norwegian and international.
Labels and partners include Plastic
Head, Peaceville, Ipecac, Sub Pop,
Candlelight, Border Music, Sound
Pollution, Hot Records, Secretly
Canadian, AFM, Spinefarm, Saddle
Creek, Southern, and many others.
Waldemar Thranes gt. 86 B
N - 0175 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23 23 47 00
Fax: (+47) 23 23 47 01
MR Tormod OPEDAL
Label Manager
MR Christer HANSEN
Label Manager
MR Øyvind HAGEN
Managing Director
E-mail: [email protected]
TYLDEN & CO
Fagerliveien 3
Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 40 10 00
Fax: (+47) 23 40 10 11
MR Tom HOVDE
CEO
E-mail: [email protected]
UNIT AS
Prinsens gt. 22
Oslo
Phone: (+47) 91 88 81 41
Fax: (+47) 93 00 66 00
MR Jan Erik HAGLUND
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
UPNORTH DISCS
UNDERHOLDNINGS
AVDELINGEN
Voices Music Music Entertainment AS
Upnorth Discs
Unit as
Tylden & Co
Tuba Records
Rec 90
PopPartner Records/Skandinavisk Musikk Union
Point2Point Management
Planet Noise
Phonofile
Norwegian Artists and Songwriters Association
Norsk Musikkforlegger Forening
Norwegian Artist And Songwritets Association
NOPA
NOCD
Musikkoperatørene AS
Musikklosen
Music Information Centre
Music Export Norway
MTG
Musicians Union Norway
Kong TikI Records
Kjell Bjørge Engro AS
Kirkelig Kulturverksted
Indie Distribution
Hacate Entertainment Group
Grappa Musikkforlag AS
GramArt
Gemini Records
Fono
Festival Of North Norway
Etniskmusikklubb
Dicentia Norway AS
DEA Productions
DaWorks
Curling Legs
Artspages
POP PARTNER RECORDS/
SKANDINAVISK MUSIKK
UNION
(Entertainment Dep.) is a Norwegian
independent record company.
Our three labels are UpNorth
Discs, PlateAvdelingen and
JazzAvdelingen. UpNorth Discs
is the label releasing music aimed
for the international market.
Grensen 8
N - 0354 Oslo
Phone: (+47) 90 52 12 65
MR Morten ANDERSEN
Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
MS Elisabeth HOLM
Marketing Director
VOICES MUSIC &
ENTERTAINMENT AS
Among Scandinavia’s leading
independent distributors (Sanctuary,
Rough Trade, Ryko, PIAS, WARP,
Inside Out/SPV, Ministry of Sound,
Cargo Records, Black Hole
Recordings, Music Club, Snapper,
etc.) with 20 years’ experience.
In-house labels: Head Not Found,
Jester Records, Beatservice Records,
Smalltown Supersound, April
Records, Bad Afro Records, Deathlike
Silence, DJ Beat Records Scandinavia.
P.O.BOX 2010 Grunerløkka
N - 0505 OSLO
Phone: (+47) 23 22 66 66
Fax: (+47) 23 22 66 67
MR Dag KROGSVOLD
Chairman of the board
MR Petter KROGSTIE
Marketing Manager
MR Ketil SVEEN
Managing Director
MR Jan SCHMIDT
Export Manager
MR Joakim HAUGLAND
Label Manager
MR Tom JENSEN
Managing Director Denmark
Email: [email protected]
All music
Classic
Country/Folk
Dance
Electronica
Hard Rock
Jazz/Blues
Kids music
Latin
Pop
R&B
Rap/Hip Hop
Reggae
Rock
Traditional
World
Aggregator
Artist management
CD/DVD rep.
DVD production
Consulting Agency
Distribution
Digital Service Provider
Fest./Concert org.
Importer/Exporter
Licencing
Music Publishing
Off. org./Prof. Fed./Union
Online Media
Production
Promotor
Record Company/Label
Services-on.
TV progr. production/Buyer
Wholesaler
Proofing: Hacate Entertainment Group www.hacate.com
Editorial: Faro Publishing AS
Design: SKIN DID IT! www.skin.no
26 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY 27
A Goathead Ahead
The press in
Norway so far...
Scream Magazine 5/6, Monster Magazine 5/6, Heavymetal.no 9/10,
Eternal Terror 5/6, Imhotep 8,5/10, Panorama 5/6, Studvest 5/6, PLAN B 5/6
STREETDATE: 13.02.06
KEEP OF KALESSIN
The new masterpiece - Armada
Streetdate: April 06
If you want a picture of the future,
imagine a boot stamping on a human face
- “battered” forever.
- George Orwell, 1984
Streetdate: 13.03.06
Coming up in 2006:
Brand new releases from Enslaved, Vreid, Susperia, Lumsk and the
astonishing debut from newcomer Benea Reach.
28 MUSIC BUSINESS IN NORWAY
www.tubarec.com