BMG Australia announces promotions, hires as Dune Rats score ARIA No. 1

It’s a good week for BMG Australia, which scores the first ARIA No. 1 album of the year and decade with Dune Rats’ latest LP as the company restructures its recorded music team to capitalise on its growth trajectory.

Dune Rats’ Hurry Up and Wait is the new No. 1 on the national chart, their second leader after 2017’s The Kids Know It’s Bullshit.

Released by BMG with distribution through ADA/Warner, Hurry Up And Wait also rules this week’s Vinyl Albums Chart.

BMG isn’t resting on that success. The music company promotes Bridie McGuire to Director of Streaming (Australia, New Zealand and SE Asia), with a remit to explore opportunities in South East Asia for its artists.

Dune Rats

Reporting to Heath Johns, Managing Director, BMG Australia and New Zealand, McGuire joined the company in January 2018 following a three-and-a-half year stint at Universal Music Australia, rising to Media & Streaming Executive.

In addition, BMG’s Australian affiliate has recruited Fuchsia Davidson to take up the new role as Marketing Manager – Content and Partnerships, reporting directly to Craig Redfearn, Director of Marketing (Recorded Music).

Previously, Fuchsia served with UMA and Universal Music New Zealand in marketing roles.

Speaking on McGuire’s elevation, Johns says the exec has done “such an incredible job” with the company.

BMG

“Her results at DSPs speak for themselves and perhaps more importantly, the respect and admiration our artists and managers have for her and her work is widespread and genuine,” he adds.

“This well-deserved promotion means Bridie will not only have further scope to build digital relationships and opportunities with domestic digital partners but also work closely with our international team as she explores business opportunities for our global artist roster in the thriving South East Asian region.”

BMG planted its flag in Australia in mid-2016 through the acquisition of J Albert & Son Pty Ltd, the legendary independent recording and publishing company that launched the careers of AC/DC, the Easybeats and many others.

Under its global CEO Hartwig Masuch, BMG (Bertelsmann Rights Management) was formed in 2008 with about 150 master recordings held back from the sale of Bertelsmann’s share of the Sony BMG merger to Sony.

Last year was another period of “impressive growth,” says the company which today claims to be one of the largest music companies in the world and boasts a roster that includes Dope Lemon, Hockey Dad, Bad//Dreems, Kat Edwards, SAFIA (ex. ANZ) and Winston Surfshirt (ex. ANZ).

BMG also represents the publishing catalogues of Alison Wonderland, AC/DC, Peking Duk, Running Touch, What So Not, Montaigne, Didirri, Wolfmother, JET, Client Liaison, Illy, SAFIA, Golden Features, Winston Surfshirt, Meg Mac, and many more.

BMG’s Heath Johns

“With the recent promotions of Craig, Jodie and now Bridie coupled with the exciting addition of Fuchsia to our young and hungry team, BMG will look to further strengthen our recorded position across 2020,” adds Johns.

“We had a global hit record with Dope Lemon, we’ve built significant international momentum with releases from SAFIA and Winston Surfshirt, we just created chart history with Dune Rats and after one single I believe we’ve helped establish Hockey Dad as one of the most exciting young rock bands around. BMG Australia has bold A&R plans for 2020 and we are looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on as the year rolls on. It’s an exciting place to be… particularly if you’re an artist.”

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