Cooking Vinyl announces creation of major new catalogue masters initiative

13th April 2021, London: Indie powerhouse Cooking Vinyl has announced the formation of a new department to optimise and grow its catalogue offering to artists and labels. The company is well known for its long term relationships with artists such as Frank Black, Billy Bragg and The Orb as well as recent successes with new releases by The Prodigy, Passenger and Alison Moyet.

The new initiative will both see an increased focus on the long-term sales of artists currently signed to the label as well as an aggressive acquisition policy to bolster the roster.

The new department will be headed up by catalogue industry stalwart Steve Bunyan. During his time running catalogue teams at Union Square Music and BMG Steve worked with artists including Madness, Slade, Fatboy Slim, The Kinks, Black Sabbath, Supergrass and Kylie Minogue and labels such as World Circuit, Trojan and Strictly Rhythm. He was a multiple award winner at the Music Week and AIM awards for marketing and creative packaging. 

Cooking Vinyl Chairman Martin Goldschmidt commented: “Working for the artists and music we love and advancing their careers is what gets us out of bed in the morning. The appointment of someone of the calibre and standing of Steve Bunyan allows us to enhance our service to artists and to look to acquire new catalogues of recordings. Our track record, size, flexibility and financial backing means that we offer an attractive bespoke alternative to the larger companies currently hoovering up rights.”

Steve Bunyan added: “Cooking Vinyl is ideally placed to offer a unique service to artists where a new release is initially worked by the frontline team and then by the catalogue department to continue the retailer, consumer and media promotion to drive additional long-term sales. Too many labels just focus on the initial week one chart position which – important as it is – does not do justice to the many months of work that goes into making a new record. In addition Cooking Vinyl’s global sales, marketing and distribution set up makes it an ideal home for new catalogues – somewhere where the value of additional master rights will be optimised whilst protecting and nurturing the legacy of artists and labels.”

About Cooking Vinyl

Established in 1986 by Martin Goldschmidt and Pete Lawrence, the Cooking Vinyl Group has developed a reputation as an internationally successful, artist-focused independent music company.

Home to an eclectic mix of acclaimed artists, the company’s record division roster currently includes: The Psychedelic Furs, Nina Nesbitt, Billy Bragg, Will Young, Passenger, Swim Deep, Lissie, Fantastic Negrito, The Waterboys, Amanda Palmer, Suzanne Vega, Lewis Watson, Alison Moyet, Deap Vally and The Fratellis, amongst many others.

Cooking Vinyl has consistently been at the forefront of the digital revolution and evolution. It was the first European label to do a deal with the MP3 download site eMusic and the first to enter negotiations with the peer-to-peer file-sharing company Kazaa. Later on, Cooking Vinyl set up its own online distribution company, Uploader, which was then sold to the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA).

Cooking Vinyl then set up the independent distribution company Essential Music which was bought by Sony Red in 2016 and soon after became The Orchard UK.

The Cooking Vinyl Group includes Cooking Vinyl Publishing, Motus Music, Fat Cat Records, and The Music Royalty Co. Cooking Vinyl currently has offices in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Melbourne and an international network of partner companies that offer a global route to market for artists.