UK-born independent music group Cooking Vinyl has widened its international footprint with the announcement of new offices in France and Germany.
The company has appointed Zineb Benomar as Label Manager in France and Hilke Dethleff as Label Manager in Germany.
Part of Marianne Faithfull’s management team for the last two years, Zineb Benomar’s career also includes eight years at French indie label Naïve Records as Product Manager. The role saw her working with both local and international artists on projects such as Benjamin Biolay’s double-platinum album ‘La Superbe’, Carla Bruni’s ‘Comme si de rien n’était’, and three albums from Marianne Faithfull, as well as with other acts including Santigold and Metric.
With connections to marketing, media and promotion companies across Germany, Hilke Dethleff has spent the last seven years working as a freelance label and product manager. Her clients include Universal, Sony Music, Columbia Records and Real World Records. Previously Dethleff spent ten years at Sony Music as Senior Product Manager International Marketing.
The new divisions will work closely with Cooking Vinyl’s exclusive distribution partners, Indigo in Germany and [PIAS] France, as well as the network of distributors that partner with a key part of the CV Group, Essential Music & Marketing.
Said Hilke Dethleff: “Cooking Vinyl has always been a highly respected name in Germany, so it’s fantastic to be working with the team. There are some wonderful releases coming up with Adam Cohen’s album looking particularly positive with strong support from radio and TV, and Carl Barât on the horizon. We’re also seeing some exciting opportunities for Embrace, so it’s very encouraging.”
Added Zineb Benomar: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Cooking Vinyl team. It’s very exciting to be working across such a diverse range of projects in so many different musical genres, and with such a great family of artists.”
The cross-channel move is the latest in the international expansion of Cooking Vinyl Group overseas operations. CV Group – which includes Essential as well as the Cooking Vinyl label and publishing companies – opened an office in Australia in late 2013.
Martin Goldschmidt, MD of Cooking Vinyl, said: “With Cooking Vinyl Australia having had such an amazing first year, we’ve once again looked at expanding our business – this time a little closer to home. France and Germany are by no means strangers to us, but working with Zineb and Hilke, who possess a wealth of experience in their respective markets, will enable us to serve our artists even better.”
[Picture L-R: Zineb Benomar and Hilke Dethleff] Music Business Worldwide
