Imagem Music & Cantora Records Launch Joint Publishing Venture
NYC-based Imagem Music USA – the pop music division of Imagem Music Group – and Brooklyn record label Cantora Records (MGMT, Bear Hands) have launched a new publishing joint venture.
Imagem U.S. will be Cantora’s publishing partner
Under the new venture, Imagem will provide publishing services to Cantora’s signed songwriters and artists, and in collaboration with Cantora, will develop songwriting talent using the combined resources and team.
Since forming in 2005 to put out MGMT’s Time To Pretend EP, Cantora Records has been growing and evolving with signings such as Bear Hands, Francis and the Lights, Violens, and Savoir Adore, and projects like their recently launched music tech “startup incubator”, Cantora Labs. Read our 2010 feature on Cantora here.
Meanwhile, Imagem’s roster includes bands and artist/songwriters such as The Temper Trap, M.I.A., Ludacris and Phil Collins. The deal with Cantora allows Imagem – according to Creative Director Jon Pikus – to “get involved early in the development of the new artists they consistently discover and nurture, and to help them build careers of longevity.”
This is the publishing partnership Cantora was looking for as well, says Cantora co-founder Nick Panama:
“Imagem is focused on building careers alongside artists step-by-step. We see their creative services as a key component in creating both an early spark for an artist as well as the means to create scaling opportunities and exposure worldwide. We wanted to re-define the role of a publisher, and couldn’t be happier to have found that in the like-minded team at Imagem.”