Experienced artist manager Brian Lane has joined Sweden’s biggest booking agency, United Stage Artists, in an international role.
Lane has previously managed the careers of artists including Katherine Jenkins, Asia, YES, A-ha, Rick Wakeman, Vangelis, Buggles, It Bites, The A*Teens and Heather Small.
His artists have sold in excess of 120m records across his career.
Lane now becomes head of United Stage Artists globally outside the Nordics, trading as United Stage International with an office in London.
United Stage has run for 30 years and has around 230 artists across the Nordics on its books, staging around 2,800 shows per year.
The partnership between Lane and United Stage will see Lane taking existing clients of United Stage into the global music market, exploiting their international potential around the world.
Lane is currently building his team, hiring Mel Westwood from The Leighton Pope Organisation, together with Valerie Potter as Artist Development Manager.
“We want to do fairer deals with artists, rather than taking a percentage of the small amounts of money they might make to start with.”
Brian Lane, United Stage Artists
The London HQ is the second office United Stage has opened outside of Sweden, having recently moved into Oslo.
United Stage International’s first projects includes developing Swedish artists outside the Nordics, such as Vigiland and Ace Wilder (pictured).
The company has also signed an exclusive 10 year partnership deal with UII in Dubai to present an annual music festival called ‘Arabian Nights’ at the 2,000-seater Dubai Opera House which opens in 2016. The first ‘Arabian Nights’ will be in March 2017. The format will be based on the annual ‘White Nights’ in St Petersburg.
Brian Lane said: “I’ve worked in Scandinavia for the past 12 years and have seen how buoyant and creative the music market is there. Next to the UK and the US it’s the biggest market creatively and commercially, and I feel the global opportunities are immense.
“Also, we want to do fairer deals with the artists and properly support them at the start of their careers, when they need it the most, rather than taking a percentage of the small amounts of money they might make to start with. This is a long term strategy, we’ll be selective and make quality rather than quantity the hallmark of this new venture.”
Jonas Thulin, New Business Director, United Stage Artist said: “Brian is a huge figure in the music industry and this partnership will deliver great things.
“We have got off to a fantastic start with the deals that have already been done and there will be many more to come.
“We wanted someone with real expertise and a hugely respected reputation to lead our charge across the globe and that person is Brian.”Music Business Worldwide
