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Petra Husemann-Renner
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Photo: Private
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The first major upheaval followed four years later in the form of the merger of Polygram and Universal – the basis for what is now the world’s largest music group, Universal Music Group. “After the merger with Universal, we had to give up the dance area, for example, but for this we were given the cooperation with Interscope, for example,” says Husemann-Renner. “We have positioned some acts in Germany like Nelly Furtado or the Bloodhound Gang that never really worked in the US.” After Tim Renner was appointed Universal Germany boss, she headed the label. But times got tougher. “Back then, my daughter was told by the teacher at school: Just burn the CD with the learning programs. This mentality was noticeably widespread and presented the industry with a huge problem that was exacerbated by Napster and illegal downloads. “
Rethinking as an indie label
The establishment of a legal competition to Napster was unfortunately neglected. “Ultimately, the main response to the crisis was with cost-cutting measures, among other things, we should only work with a very limited national repertoire.” After many good years, they had lost their interest in working in a corporation. “The fact that Tim threw in the towel as Germany boss was the thing that broke the barrel.” In April 2004, Universal ended, and the new company was founded two months later.
Motor has eight employees today. The turnover is in the high six-digit range, the three pillars of the publishing division, label services and management each contribute around a third. Motor, for example, is managed by Max Raabe, and initially the new motor concept also attracted Marius Müller-Westernhagen. For publications, however, the big names now choose other partners: “The service model has long been offered by players such as BMG, Believe or the majors with their divisions,” says Husemann-Renner. “We know our financial limits, but we are still in demand, because the range of artists is large. Alice Phoebe Lou, for example, has now released her third album through us and can keep up with some major artists in terms of success, but she wouldn’t fit in there. ”Sofia Portanet also has a lot of potential.
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