Three new names join AIR board

The board of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) has been joined by three new members.

They are Katie Besgrove, lawyer and owner of Barely Dressed Records; Lorrae McKenna, co-founder of artist management company Our Golden Friend; and Alexander Franco, Product and Marketing Manager at Future Classic.

The association thanked Jazzhead co-founder Andrew Walker and Future Classic Label Manager Ed Sholl for their years of service.

Chair of the current board is David Vodicka, Director of Rubber Records which includes a label and publishing company.

Secretary is Matthew Rogers, General Manager of UNFD.

Treasurer is Basil Cook, Head of Contemporary labels at ABC Music, as well as overseeing Digital Strategy and A&R manager at FOUR | FOUR.

Philip Mortlock is co-founder of Origin Music Group, which encompasses a record label, publishing company and Origin Theatrical which reps musicals and plays.

Andrew Stone is a Director of Chugg Music, the record label and management arm of Chugg Entertainment.

Ashley Gay, who began as a club DJ and A&R exec, went on to set up digital music distribution company Xelon Entertainment

Tim Whincop is CEO of the Hillsong Music Australia and SHOUT! Music, and in-house counsel for Hillsong Church Ltd.

AIR’s membership is made up of 53 full labels, 31 associate labels, five distributors and nearly 30 artists.

In October, data from Deloitte Access Economics found in AIR’s inaugural National Market Share report that independent record labels represent 30% of the Australian recorded music market share.

It had estimated total revenue of over $154 million in the 2014/15 financial year.