New faces join IMNZ Board in its 10th year
The Board who will steer New Zealand’s independent record label trade association Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ)
through its 10th year was elected at yesterday’s Annual General Meeting, which was held at the trusty Grey Lynn RSC.
There are three new additions to the Board: Dryden Street’s Ashley Page, Jan Hellriegel from Native Tongue and Tom
Dalton of Hellsquad Records. All three have extensive experience in the music industry both here and abroad, and they
bring a wide variety of skills to the association. Page started his career in the UK before he moved to New Zealand,
joining Warner Music before branching out to band and label management (Page 1 Management/Dryden St) and music
supervision at Level Two Music. Hellriegel is General Manager of Native Tongue Music Publishing, a partner in Aeroplane
Music Services (a music PR, supervision and project management company) and the Managing Director of Blind Date Records
through which she releases her own material. Dalton manages the Datsuns’ label Hellsquad Records, plus Thunderbird
Management and new venture Imperial Music, which administers repertoire for recording artists not signed to a record
label or publisher.
They join incumbent Board members Chair Ben Howe (Arch Hill Recordings), Deputy Chair Scott Muir (Dunedinmusic.com),
Dean Cameron (ElevenfiftySeven Records), Benjii Jackson (MUZAI Records) and Stephen O’Hoy (DRM).
Retiring from the Board were Mark Kneebone (Tardus Music), Brendan Vucich (Parachute Music), and Andrew Maitai
(Powertool Records). We thank them hugely for the contributions, effort and knowledge that they brought to the Board.
The next year is set to be an exciting one for IMNZ as the association celebrates its 10th birthday. IMNZ was formally
founded in 2002 by a collective of local labels who realised that the independent sector was growing, and who wanted to
combine their energies to help the growth of the New Zealand music industry. Current Chair Ben Howe was one of the
founding members; the others who have held the position of Chair have been Bernie Griffen and Mark Kneebone.
IMNZ has certainly put its stamp on the local music business sector. With 85 members and the evolving success of events
such as the Taite Music Prize and Going Global, and with plenty of other projects up its sleeve, the organisation is
very optimistic about its future and that of its member labels and distributors.
IMNZ Board 2011/2012:
Chair
Ben Howe: Arch Hill Recordings
Deputy Chair
Scott Muir: Dunedinmusic.com
Board
Dean Cameron: ElevenfiftySeven Records
Tom Dalton: Hellsquad Records
Benjii Jackson: MUZAI Records
Jan Hellriegel: Native Tongue/Aeroplane/Blind Date
Stephen O’Hoy: Digital Rights Management NZ
Ashley Page: Dryden Street
For more information on IMNZ and its history, please visit www.indies.co.nz
ENDS