On January 18th PIAS Entertainment Group announced that it has overcome fierce competition from major labels and agreed on terms to sign Placebo’s new album.
Placebo have released albums via EMI’s Virgin label since its 1996 self-titled debut, but the band has moved to PIAS Entertainment Group for the European release of its sixth record, out in June.
Kenny Gates, co-founder and co-chairman of PIAS Entertainment Group, announced the signing during the “Serving Artists, Serving Fans” panel discussion at MidemNet, which was moderated by Billboard international bureau chief Mark Sutherland.
The partnership is for Europe only and it is service deal, allowing the band to retain copyright on the album. PIAS will provide marketing, promotion and music services; the British release will go through PIAS U.K.’s Integral service.
“We will work with them hand in hand to cover all aspects of what needs to be done with the next Placebo album, coming out in June, to make it a very big success,” said Gates. “I’m proud and delighted that Placebo have chosen [PIAS] as partner for the next stage of their extraordinary career. It looks like the band have delivered their best album ever, and one which we believe may prove to be the most important in their career and indeed the history of [PIAS]. …I believe that Placebo’s choice is based on a clear like-minded empathy and shared vision and ethos about the music business. This proves again the value of [PIAS] offering a broad range of services tailored to the specific needs of artists and labels rather than signing a traditional artist contract.”
Placebo frontman Brian Molko commented, “We are delighted to be signing with [PIAS], one of the world’s most respected and successful independent music companies. We were very lucky to have so many great labels interested in signing us, it means a lot, especially after 12 years of releasing records!! But we now feel we have the right partner for Europe in these ever-changing times to continue this crazy adventure and to scale even dizzier heights with our new record”.
