Yessian Music (Detroit, New York, Los Angeles and Melbourne) and its New York-based licensing and research division Dragon Licks co-sponsored an artists' showcase last month at East Side Manhattan's Coda Lounge to introduce three bands–The New Black, Abigail Zsiga and Livintrust–to an audience of advertising, record label, and TV program and promotion executives. The concert featured acts selected by Chris Munger, music supervisor/exec producer at Dragon Locks. Among the event's co-sponsors were Gibson guitars, Budweiser, the Village Voice and SHOOT. Serving as emcee for the evening was Brian Yessian, a principal in Yessian Music.
"We were looking for acts with great artistic potential that represented fresh new sounds for our audience of creative and production professionals," said Yessian. Munger added, "Our goal is to present clients in the film, TV and ad communities with an opportunity to connect with the next great undiscovered music group."
Among those in attendance at the event were producers and creatives from such New York shops as Uniworld, Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT and DDB…..Finger Music, Santa Monica, has signed composer/sound designer Richard Devine for exclusive spot representation. Prior to joining Finger, Devine collaborated with the company on Dodge Charger's "Unleashed" via Michigan agency GlobalHue. He created sound design for the spot, which featured a music track composed by Finger creative director/partner David Hodge, with original lyrics by rapper Kool Keith….Music/sound design house Echo Boys, Minneapolis, has launched a music licensing division and has signed veteran music producer Steve McCabe to run the new venture. McCabe began as a copywriter/head of music production at DMB&B, St. Louis, where he served from 1985-'89. He then moved to Backer Spielvogel Bates, New York, as VP/senior copywriter/senior broadcast and music producer from '89 to '95. During his decade with these two agencies, McCabe was involved in the groundbreaking use of classic rock songs in commercials as music director for the Budweiser and Miller accounts. He estimated that he licensed some 80-plus songs for Miller during a five-year stretch. In '95 McCabe joined Young & Rubicam, New York, as VP/music director. Three years later he went to Campbell Mithun Esty, Minneapolis as VP/head of music production. Most recently McCabe was associate creative director/senior copywriter/senior broadcast producer at Doe Anderson Advertising, Louisville….Ian Jeffreys has joined New York-based original music/sound design/visual effects studio Fluid as a music producer. He will produce and coordinate all music projects at the shop, working directly with Fluid partner/executive producer David Shapiro. Jeffreys comes to Fluid after four years running his own New York music production/publishing company, Cilantro Music…..Industry vet Rich Aronstein has opened Musicpaperz, a New York shop specializing in business matters for music production companies. His experience spans the music production company and agency sides of the biz. He has held such positions as VP of business and production at JSM Music, New York, and later managed the business aspects of the music department at Grey, New York…..Audio engineer/sound designer Brian Beatrice has joined Bionic Media, a New York editorial/audio post house founded by editors Steve Beal and Todd Feuer. Beatrice had been at Tonic, New York….
AudioBanks, Santa Monica, has added engineer Mark Bauserman, formerly a senior mixer at Pacific Sound Waves, Santa Monica. Audio post house AudioBanks is a sister shop to Ear toEar Music and Sound Design. The two companies are housed at the same Santa Monica premises. Brian Banks is creative director and Amy Lyngos is executive producer of both AudioBanks and Ear to Ear….Cornerstone, a New York-based lifestyle marketing/brand building firm, has officially launched a music supervision department. The company has handled music projects for Nike, Coca-Cola, Apple and THQ….
