MAMA, Nettwerk and ATC pave the way forward with Polyphonic

Three major global artist management companies have announced a joint venture that will allow artists to retain their own copyright.

MAMA Group, Nettwerk Music Group and ATC have created newly formed company Polyphonic, which will serve as an artist investment business and as a proposed alternative to the traditional label investment and advance model of the music industry.

In what could be regarded as an evolutionary step in finding new business models for the industry, the idea is to partner with artists and their business managers, allowing artists to retain their own copyright and operate with simple contracts as opposed to corporate structure. Polyphonic then makes a share from all of the artist’s activities, in much the same way as a manager would.

Alongside operating many key live music venues in the UK, MAMA Group also run Supervision Management, the company who manage artists including White Lies and Franz Ferdinand. ATC / Courtyard are Radiohead’s (pictured above) managers and Nettwerk Management handles the careers of artists such as Barenaked Ladies.

Commenting on the partnership, MAMA Group co-CEO Adam Driscoll said “This investment will not just apply to the artists that we manage, but also to artists that excite us who are not necessarily part of our management structure. The contract that we have structured brings more business and creative freedom to artists and managers than has ever been offered before.”