Believe expands its Melbourne, Sydney teams

Believe, the Paris-based artist, label services and digital distribution specialist, is expanding its operations in Australia with new hires in its Melbourne and Sydney offices.

With the incoming execs, Believe now has a staff of six Down Under, led by its founding country manager Mick Tarbuk.

Joining the company and the industry is Clare Chapman, who takes the role as Digital Marketing Manager Artist Services. Chapman has produced and directed several music videos in the past and has digital marketing, brand strategy and content production experience in various sectors.

At Believe, Chapman is tasked with driving the audience development strategy across digital platforms for its artists.

Also, Maya Janeska came on board in recent months as Project Manager Artist Services. Janeska, who brings to the role a wealth of marketing and label management with UNFD, Remote Control Records and others, oversees Believe’s growing artist services and development division in Australasia.

Chapman and Janeska are based at Believe’s Melbourne office alongside Tarbuk and former Polyester Records owner Nathan Nott, who joined in April 2018 as Label Manager.

Troy and Charlie of the Sydney team

The Sydney office welcomes industry veteran Troy Barrott, formerly with Top Dog, Hub Artist Services, and director of Australian artists at BMG before that.

Barrott, who guided the career of one-time ARIA female artist of the year Megan Washington until 2014, is tapped as Believe’s Senior Label Manager, with responsibilities for the company’s long list of distribution clients.

And Charlie Odell is a new arrival at the indie music business, taking on the role of Trade Marketing Manager for Australia/New Zealand. Odell most recently served with Sony Music Australia where he managed the major’s Spotify, Amazon and YouTube accounts.

In his new role, Odell liaises with DSP partners across Australia and New Zealand and works alongside the company’s global trade marketing team.

“I’m very excited to announce the talented additions to the team in Melbourne and Sydney,” comments Tarbuk in a statement announcing the fresh appointments. “When the business unit launched in Australia, the goals and vision for the territory were to provide the best service for independent artists and labels. We look forward to offering artists a fresh global approach to owning their careers and labels the best expertise in the industry.”

Founded by its CEO Denis Ladegaillerie in the French capital in 2005, Believe now boasts over 1,000 employees in 44 offices around the world. The group develops products and services for artists and labels under the Believe and TuneCore brands while also developing such specialised labels as AllPoints, Naïve, MusiCast and SoulFood.

Last year, the company acquired a 49% stake in French indie label Tôt ou tard from Wagram Music and bought a majority stake in German label Nuclear Blast.

Tarbuk, formerly label director at Shock Records, established Believe’s Australia and New Zealand business unit in 2016.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.