Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski has revealed all to Music Week about the "most significant change" to the company's rights division in more than two decades.
The Australian independent giant, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is consolidating its recording, publishing and neighbouring rights divisions to form a single powerhouse operation, Mushroom Music.
While maintaining autonomy, the divisions will share personnel and resources "allowing Mushroom Music to tailor an unrivalled range of expert services to the unique needs and goals of each artist and songwriter". Its roster includes the likes of Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy, The Teskey Brothers, Jimmy Barnes, Childish Gambino, Kehlani, Julia Jacklin, Archie Roach, Wolf Alice, Amy Shark, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Confidence Man.
"It's the most significant change for the rights side of our company in the last 20 years - probably since my late father [the legendary Mushroom founder Michael Gudinski] sold Mushroom Records back in 1998," Gudinski told Music Week. "It's been a long time in the works. I've had a vision for a while to consolidate our offerings and get the best return for artists from a rights perspective - creating the best opportunity for Australian artists to have success on a global scale."
The reimagined recording division consolidates the group’s record labels - Liberation Records, Ivy League Records, Bloodlines, Liberator Music, Soothsayer and 100s + 1000s - under the name Mushroom Music (I OH YOU and Valve Sounds will remain standalone label partners).
A&R is being consolidated under one team led by MD A&R and commercial Damian Slevison, while media, streaming, marketing, and audience functions will also be merged into a single, fully aligned department led by MD strategy & audience Dan Baker.
Mushroom Music will also incorporate the group’s publishing division along with neighbouring rights company Good Neighbour. It will be spearheaded by newly appointed co-CEOs Chris Maund (formerly COO Mushroom Labels & Publishing) and Linda Bosidis (formerly MD Mushroom Music Publishing), reporting to Gudinski, with Susan Cotchin continuing as Good Neighbour MD.
The core focus is to create a better network and support system to ensure artists that are part of the Mushroom family can have more success globally
Matt Gudinski
To shed further light on the plans, Gudinski joined Music Week from Melbourne for a quickfire Q&A...
What persuaded you to launch Mushroom Music? How do you envisage it will make the company stronger?
"So many great people are part of this company and aligning their priorities and focus together is really going to help. We've made a lot of inroads to ensure that Mushroom can offer our artists a global strategy over the past few years, with the setup of our new UK office and having people on the ground in the US. It's really strength in numbers: the old saying that one plus one equals three. It's not a consolidation like a lot of businesses have made for efficiency. There might be some efficiencies, but the core focus is to create a better network and support system to ensure artists that are part of the Mushroom family can have more success globally."
Mushroom turned 50 last year, did that have any bearing on your decision?
"We're a family-owned, fully independent company, which is becoming rarer in our world. The 50th anniversary is something we were very proud of to recognise and acknowledge the foundations my father put in place. It's probably coincidental this is happening now, but we celebrated the 50th anniversary in a great way and I would look at the end of that as a bit of a line in the sand moment for the next 50 years of Mushroom and ensuring it can remain a global powerhouse for many years to come."
Will there be any areas of the business you will be stepping away from as part of this restructure?
"Look, it's a changing landscape and we've got our fingers in a lot of pies. We're involved in so many parts of the industry - whether it be through our live touring division, which is super-successful, merchandise, what we do with brands and through our creative businesses in the film and content space. And also where our roots lie, which is supporting, investing and believing in Australian artists, so we're not stepping away from anything.
"Today's landscape requires you to do things differently, so we're just trying to build a greater network and support system for talent - and talent's a broad term. We invest in a lot of entrepreneurs, we invest in a lot of artists. We do a lot in the live space and the core of what we do remains the same. We've just got to evolve how we do it and strive to continue to be leaders, not followers. But the exciting part for us is that you can look at things much more globally, rather than being alienated in our fish pond in Australia. We are excited about the opportunities to take Mushroom way outside of Australia and deliver a network and a way of doing things for artists across the globe."
How are you building the publishing business - do you have ambitions in the catalogue acquisition realm?
"Publishing has evolved so much, even over the last five years. We've got some amazing, historic and long term catalogues and I guess the natural progression would be not to just continue to represent them, but to own and purchase those catalogues. So it's definitely something that's on our radar. The main thing for us is just making sure that, whether we represent them or purchase and own them for the future, we look after them in the right way. Mushroom is still such a powerhouse after 50 years due to the reputation we have, the way that we work with artists and the way we protect the artists we work with. So upholding that integrity is the number one priority. But yes, as is the landscape, I'm sure there'll be some catalogue purchases along the way."
Susan Cotchin has been something of a pioneer in the neighbouring rights sector, what are your plans in that market?
"Again, another really competitive space. We're lucky to have Susan, who's been such a leader in the space over the last 25 years, as people have come to understand neighbouring rights. Not too long ago, it was probably a very foreign term. Like all other parts of our business, [the aim] is to continue to work with artists that are likeminded and believe in the way we go about things. It's definitely a very competitive area, but it's an area of growth and I'm sure we'll continue to expand what we do in neighbouring rights and represent a great calibre of artist moving forward."
I'm lucky enough to have been in the business for over 20 years now, and was fortunate enough to work side by side with my father over the last 10 years of his life
Matt Gudinski
You succeeded your late father as Mushroom Group CEO in 2021. What did you learn from your dad and how have you taken to the role?
"I'm lucky enough to have been in the business for over 20 years now, and was fortunate enough to work side by side with my father over the last 10 years of his life. I would have loved it to have been a lot longer, but I was lucky to be really well positioned and have the experience and the time that I did with him. We have very different ways of going about things, but we had a shared vision for where we wanted Mushroom to go. I'm honoured and proud to be able to uphold my dad's legacy and hopefully take what he created to another level and ensure Mushroom is here for the long term.
"I'd like to think that things have been going pretty well since his unfortunate passing. At the time I took the leadership of Mushroom [during the pandemic], there was a lot of uncertainty around where music was going. We hadn't had a concert in Australia for a long time and I think it was least 15/16 months, post me taking over, before the live industry got back on its feet. So I'm proud that Mushroom and the industry as a whole was able to fight through that. I think Mushroom sits today, at 51 years old, in the strongest position that we've ever been in, so it's onwards and upwards."
Chris Maund, Linda Bosidis and Matt Gudinski
Mushroom formed a multi-layered global partnership with Virgin in 2022, how has that been working out so far?
"Really well. It's another part of what we do to ensure we have a great global strategy and support network for our artists. We've got a longstanding relationship with the Universal network. We've been having success recently with Tobiahs, an amazing up-and-coming Australian electronic artist who's had some real breakthrough songs this year, and other upcoming artists such as Mia Wray. That's going to be a massive priority for our global strategy over the next 12 months, as well as working with already established artists like Pendulum. It's a few years into the partnership; we know how each other works now and there's a lot of exciting times and success ahead."
What would you say about the strength of Australian music at present?
"We've got an amazing electronic music scene, our alternative rock scene is as strong as ever and there's so much great pop music coming out of Australia. So I think as a collective, it's the best generation of artists we've seen in our lifetime. There's a new artist popping up every single week that you're just mesmerised by. The Australian scene's as strong as ever, but I feel that's the case globally, which makes it more competitive than ever. That's why we need to combine our strengths and unite as one. Hence, Mushroom Music."
To finish, what would you say about Mushroom's ambitions in the UK?
"Before the sale of Mushroom Records in the '90s, we had so much success in the UK - whether it be through Kylie, or signings like Ash, Garbage, Muse, the list goes on. UK and Australian music has always been connected and to bring legendary Mushroom team members, such as Korda Marshall, back into the fold a few years ago and create a new era of Mushroom's UK has been something I've been proud to do.
"We've had a lot of success with DMA's, Pendulum and other artists and we're committed and invested to building a wider footprint, not only for Mushroom Music, but for the Mushroom Group in the UK. It's going from strength to strength every day. Mushroom is no longer independent out of Australia, we look at ourselves as a leading global independent music entertainment company."
PHOTOS: Brian Purnell/Lisa Businovski
