Dave Pichilingi has added to his role at Modern Sky Entertainment to head up the company’s US operation alongside the UK office.
With the new title of CEO UK & North America, Pichilingi will divide his time between Modern Sky’s Liverpool and London-based UK offices and the company’s LA home in the US.
Founded by LiHui Shen in 1997, Modern Sky Entertainment operates across records, publishing, live and video.
It is one of the largest independent record labels in China, as well as being promoter of music festivals in the territory under the banner of Strawberry Festivals and MDSK.
In 2016, Modern Sky inked a long-term, strategic equity partner deal with Sound City, the company, founded by Pichilingi, behind music conference and showcase festivals such as Liverpool Sound City, New York Sound City and, most recently, Sound City Korea.
LiHui Shen and Pichilingi launched Modern Sky UK as part of this global deal and partnership.
Pichilingi’s remit in the US is to create opportunities for Modern Sky Chinese repertoire (signed globally by the company) for sync and publishing.
Pichilingi will also be looking to work with American brands, helping them to capitalise on Modern Sky’s Strawberry and MDSK festival brands – which sell around 7.5 million tickets a year across multiple events – as well as the company’s video streaming and content platform MNOW, which has over 42m subscribers and a built-in ticketing platform.
“We’re seeing a big increase in the demand for Chinese repertoire across film and TV and want to generate new opportunities for our artists.”
Dave Pichilingi
Pichilingi said: “Modern Sky is in a fairly unique position as the custodian of a large, excellent Chinese music catalog, particularly in hip hop, contemporary folk, electronic and guitar genres.
“We’re seeing a big increase in the demand for Chinese repertoire across film and TV and want to generate new opportunities for our artists.
“As far as working with brands in the US is concerned, we believe we’ve got the best pipeline for western businesses looking to make headway in the Asian market and communicate with a large, engaged and targeted young audience with plenty of disposable income and a keen interest not just in western music but in lifestyles and wider pop culture as well.”Music Business Worldwide
