GURRUMUL – USA Release Date Set

The platinum selling album by an award-winning, blind indigenous Australian musician will soon have its U.S. release following a deal between Australian independent label Skinnyfish Music and New York based record company Dramatico. Skinnyfish Music, to whom Geoffrey ‘Gurrumul’ Yunupingu is signed, struck the original Joint Venture partnership with Dramatico Entertainment’s UK head office in May 2009 and the subsequent pan-European release of ‘Gurrumul’ saw the album topping the World Music charts across the continent. The extension of the contract to include North America will see Gurrumul’s self-titled debut solo album released on June 15th with distribution via Universal Music Distribution (UMD).

“This is a significant step forward for both Skinnyfish and Gurrumul. In the toughest music market in the world we now have a committed and dedicated partner who will work hard to release this album successfully. We are quietly confident that we have in place a strong promotion and release plan that will give us every opportunity to expose this beautiful album to the world’s most discerning market”, Mark T Grose, Director Skinny fish Music.

Following the album’s release in Australia, Gurrumul picked up a string of awards in 2008 including the ARIA Award for ‘Best Independent Release’, Limelight Award for ‘Emerging Artist Of The Year’ and 3 AIR (Australian Independent Record) Awards,  in June 2009 an APRA Award followed for ‘Breakthrough Songwriter Of The Year’. “We’re very proud to partner with Skinnyfish, and enthusiastically join the journey to make Gurrumul a global artist” says Josh Zieman, President U.S. Operations, Dramatico.  “Our plan is to introduce Gurrumul to U.S. press outlets, and consumers, through a promotional/performance tour that will include NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Performance television opportunities, which were a major part of Gurrumul’s success in other territories, will also be a component in our campaign here, along with musical press coverage in general, lifestyle/online marketing and radio promotion. Gurrumul’s North American agent Ron Kaplan, of Monterey International Inc., is currently scheduling a live tour for the singer and multi-instrumentalist.

About Dramatico: Dramatico Entertainment was founded in 2000 by songwriter, musician, producer and composer Mike Batt. In April 2008, Dramatico was ranked 31st in the Real Business ‘Hot 100’ fastest growing UK firms and was the fastest growing company in the entertainment industry. In addition to Gurrumul, the label’s roster includes multi-million selling Katie Melua, Marianne Faithfull, Carla Bruni, Sarah Blasko, Asa, Jem, Andrea McEwan and Florence Rawlings. Dramatico’s North American office was established in 2006, and is run by U.S. music industry veteran, Josh Zieman, who has held executive music marketing positions at EMI/Manhattan, Razor & Tie,  Columbia, Mercury and EMI Records.