Marketing Director Steve Harris commented “For the past decade Universal South Africa concentrated on signing and developing Urban and Traditional artists, and the company has been tremendously successful in this area with the likes of Gospel superstar Deborah, house music icons Revolution,jazz legend Jimmy Dludlu and Soweto Gospel choir vocalist Phili Faya”. “ In recognising that the Pop/Rock market is growing in leaps and bounds we have put a long term strategy in place to concentrate on developing a handful of quality artists ,for both the domestic and international markets.
In this regard Universal has engaged the A&R and creative skills of ex- Tusk and current Fresh Music honcho, Benjy Mudie . Known for his long terms passion and commitment to South African music over three decades, signing artists as diverse as Mango Groove, Evoid, Blk Sonshine and Nianell, Mudie`s consultancy brings a wealth of experience to the new venture. “ I'm impressed by Universal's enthusiasm and long term vision for the development of a successful pop/rock roster said Mudie. ”Our aim is to nurture a handful of quality artists ,working closely with them on the creative process, from song writing and recording to touring, merchandising and the digital world”.
The first signings are 2007 Grammy entry and two time SAMA nominee, Cofield Mundi, whose new album “The Big Question” is causing waves at radio ; 17 year old debut pop-rocker, Maya whose debut album “Do ya wanna funk?” has just been released ; bursting out of the East Rand comes Afrikaans hard rockers Sonsteek with “Ons Ideale”, accompanied by 2 state-of-the-art videos ; Produced in the UK by Full Phat (Anastasia ,Chris Brown), and sporting songs by multiple Grammy Award winner Diane Warren, and Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams) , Elan Lea`s new album “My only excuse” is packed with potential pop smashes . Finally the multi-hued Son of a Thousand Blues is one of the most diverse and exciting new rock bands to emerge in years and their self titled debut album will be released in mid September.
