UK / CHINA: Liverpool Sound City and Modern Sky Entertainment have announced that they are joining forces in what is a long term and strategic equity partner deal.
Just over four years ago Sound City announced an equity deal that saw them bringing in partners Ingenious Media. Since that time Sound City has grown and established its brand both in the UK and internationally. This new deal will trigger the exit of Ingenious as Modern Sky Entertainment step into directly buy their equity stake and move them into the position of being sole global partners with Sound City.
Modern Sky was founded in 1996 by Shen Li Hui in China. He initially launched Modern Sky as a record label to release music by his own band and also the music of his friends. Twenty years on and Modern Sky is now the largest independent record label in China. His company also organises the largest music festivals in China (under the banner of Strawberry Festivals) catering for millions of people annually. In 2015, the Strawberry Music Festival was held in 20 cities across China, in addition to smaller-scale ‘Modern Sky Festival’ held in New York City, Seattle, and Helsinki. Add to that their online music live streaming platform ‘Modern Sky NOW’ which has several million subscribers as well as host of other assets that include radio stations, venues as well as art and fashion brands. Modern Sky also supports ‘Sound of the Xity’, a Beijing based music conference and showcase festival that provides a bridge between the international and Chinese market every April.
Hui said about this strategic cooperation: “The city of Liverpool is the birthplace of the music that influenced our growing years. Liverpool Sound City is a hugely interesting and very diverse music festival. Coming in partnership with Sound City is a great first step for Modern Sky venturing overseas. The founder of Sound City, David Pichilingi, has a great deal of experience and we can learn a lot from him and his team. We are very lucky to become Sound City’s strategic partner. We also believe that Sound City will be a new platform to open the European market up for Chinese music talents.”
CEO of Sound City David Pichilingi stated: “This partnership is an exciting new step for Sound City. Shen Li Hui is a truly inspirational individual. He has built Modern Sky into a huge and credible name. More importantly he has done this by working with artists in an ethical and moral way that recognises the ownership and commercial importance of their intellectual property. He has built an amazing company and we look forward to working closely together to increase brand awareness and deliver our shared vision in China, UK and internationally.”
To celebrate this partnership, Pichilingi will be attending Modern Sky own international music industry conference and showcase festival ‘Sound of the Xity’ in Beijing later this month. Modern Sky will also attend Liverpool Sound City in May as well as host an event with Sound City at the International Festival of Business in June 2016.
