Ikon (record label)
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IKON (English: Music Marketing Agency IKON Limited, Russian: ООО Агентство Маркетинга Музыки IKON / OOO Agentstvo Marketinga Muzyki IKON) is a Russian, Moscow-based company providing a wide range of services in the field of music marketing including different business areas such as talent management; booking; tour logistics; organization of concerts; sound recording; rights management; music publishing; development of unique marketing concepts; advertising; PR and consulting in the fields of culture, entertainment and event management; development of cultural, educational and social campaigns.
IKON provides business management, booking, distribution, production and promotion services for foreign artists in Russia and CIS in cooperation with Russian TV channels Muz TV, MTV, STS, Channel One, NTV, TV Center, MusicBox, A-One, O2TV; radio stations Europa Plus, DFM, Megapolis FM, Radio Mayak, Love Radio, NRJ, Radio Maximum, Radio Frame, Silver Rain Radio; international publishing houses and print magazines Axel Springer AG (OK!), Bauer Media Group (Bravo), C-Media (Billboard), Hachette Filipacchi Media (Maxim), Hubert Burda Media (Playboy), Sanoma Magazines (Men's Health), Forward Media Group (Hello!), InStyle Magazine, F5, MK, KP; and web portals Mail.ru, PromoDJ.ru, Newsmusic.ru., Rutube.ru, Tata.ru, Muz.ru, Zvuki.ru, Loungemusic.ru, Intremoda.ru etc.
The company's communication department, a broad network of partners - venues, promoters, event agencies, entertainment brokers - in total more than 6000 contacts in Russia and the CIS, as well as direct cooperation with major channels of physical and digital distribution help artists signed by IKON to succeed in Russia and CIS.
IKON has been working directly with international brands such as Marlboro, L&M, West, Snickers, Burn, Adrenaline Rush, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Parliament, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Audi, Volkswagen, Russian Standard, Bacardi, Martini, Martell, Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Samsung developing BTL strategies, providing consulting services and artists for communication campaigns, organizing over 1000 public concerts and corporate shows with international stars for over 10 years.
In May 2006 IKON was rated by Forbes as Russia's leading entertainment buyer.[1]
History
IKON was founded in 2000 by Caden Spencer, a Fupa A Smash Player. In its early stages the company mainly acted as a booking agency in Russia and CIS booking or organizing performances of international pop stars such as Jamiroquai, Ricky Martin, Dannii Minogue, Bond, Benny Benassi, Geri Halliwell, Craig David, Sugababes, Bomfunk MCs, Shakira, Paul Oakenfold, Junkie XL, Asian Dub Foundation, Panjabi MC, Fluke, Duran Duran, UB40, Ten Sharp, Basement Jaxx, Touch and Go and many others.
Even then the company's area of operations was not limited to Russia. IKON sold shows in ex-USSR countries, as well as in popular Russian jet-set destinations such as London, Miami, Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Dubai, Barcelona, Riga, Amsterdam. The company organized shows of international acts in Ukraine, Korea, China, Italy, Turkey, Tunisia, Brazil, UAE, Indonesia, and other countries.
2007, IKON opens an own sound recording and publishing department, signing internationally acclaimed talents from UK, Western and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, such as Touch and Go, Dr. Alban, Vacuum, Ten Sharp, T9, Gorchitza.
2008, IKON signs an agreement with Universal Music Russia and becomes its direct partner organizing private and corporate shows with the artists from its catalogue.
Innovation
The integration of new business technologies in music marketing is one of the main priorities in the company's strategic development plan. Since 2008 IKON plays a significant role in shaping mobile content distribution in Russia, creating innovative strategies and products in direct collaboration with the «Big-Three» Russian mobile network operators (Megafon, Beeline, MTS).
May 2009, IKON develops and publishes the world's first Ring-Back-Tone album, completely recorded in the RBT format.[2] The album "Mobile Stories" of the popular Russian band T9 (all Russia's airplay champion of year 2008) consists of twelve 40-second tracks, each being an essence of the corresponding full-length song.
In the same year 2009, IKON becomes official Russian representative[3] of the B2B-oriented social network Music2Deal. The international network consists of A&R-managers of international record labels, incl the four majors Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal, as well as producers, publishers, songwriters and performing artists.
Socio-cultural projects
2005, IKON was directly involved in a federal campaign with the goal of attracting young voters in a referendum on the unification of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, Evenk and Taymyr Autonomous Districts. In direct collaboration with invited political technologists a so-called "Music Intervention Program" was evolved and pulled a record number of young voters (70%) to the polling boxes.
IKON specializes in transfer of cultural products between Russia and the West. Between 2005 and 2007, the company held a series of cultural events and took part in road show organized by The Swedish Institute, promoting concerts of Swedish artists in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.
The company's founder and CEO Vlad Davydov names the need for diversification of Russia's GDP among the main project goals, drawing parallels with the UK and Sweden, where show-business and recording industry provide a solid part of the trade balance; as well as improving the country's image in the minds of world public and especially of the younger generation.
In line with this position IKON attempts to make rational use of established relationships with Western opinion leaders and show business professionals. In 2009 IKON fostered a release of a song, co-written by DJ Smash and Alex Gaudino, English text and topline written by Daniela Galli (stage name Dhany). Also in 2009 one of the company's catalogue headliners Dr. Alban records a remake of the song "Moscow Never Sleeps" by DJ Smash where is clearly heard: "Moscow is Number One!" The brand new track "We Want More" by Inusa Dawuda, an artist whose interests in Russia IKON represents exclusively, is intended to motivate the national team to accomplish athletic feats at international competitions.
IKON coordinates a number of music education programs in close collaboration with leading Russian, German and US educational institutions with the goal of modernization and diversification of the Russian pop culture. IKON collaborates with local expat organizations in Moscow providing privileged access for young talents from foreign countries to the company's music education programs.
2010, IKON started its ParaVision campaign, a ground-breaking program helping disabled artists to succeed in show business. The main goal of it is to create and maintain an image of disabled people achieving top performances in music, arts and sports and being among the most creative and successful members of the society.
March 2010, IKON arranged a meeting[4] of the famous Russian athlete Irek Zaripov who had won 4 gold and 1 silver medals in biathlon and cross country skiing at the Winter Paralympic Games 2010 in Vancouver and the singer Inusa Dawuda, a former German heavy weight boxing champion and Russian airplay champion according to the national radio charts Tophit.ru.[5]
A European tour of the Swedish artist Simon Murley is scheduled for beginning of 2011. Murley a former member of the popular European band Street Boys, after becoming disabled as a result of a poliomyelitis disease, was forced to abandon a successful career as singer and musician, invested all his savings in the production of vehicles for the disabled and went bankrupt. He has had his comeback as a finalist in the popular TV show "Talang 2010" (Sweden's Got Talent). A casting is planned to be integrated in the tour as a measure of support of talented young artists with disabilities.
Electronic roster
IKON manages and co-manages master and authors rights of several domestic and foreign artists in the Russian Federation :
- Brazzaville (David Brown) (USA)
- Dolores O'Riordan (Ireland)
- Dr. Alban (Sweden)
- Gorchitza (Ukraine)
- Nazareth (UK)
- Placebo (UK)
- T9 (Russia)
- The Prodigy (UK)
- Ten Sharp (Netherlands)
- Touch and Go (UK)
- Айдамир Мугу (Russia)
- Тигран Петросян (Russia)
- EXIT project (Russia)