February 15, 2011

Publication title: Vancouver Sun, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Vancouver
Writer: Francois Marchand

Vancouver diva Sarah McLachlan splits from Nettwerk management

Vancouver-based songstress Sarah McLachlan is reportedly leaving Nettwerk’s artist management roster.

But although Nettwerk’s flagship chanteuse will set sail for new horizons on a management front, McLachlan will nonetheless continue to record for the Nettwerk label, which also calls Vancouver home and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and Hamburg, Germany.

In a memo sent to CelebrityAccess senior writer Larry Leblanc, Nettwerk CEO and co-founder Terry McBride said the company will “continue to manage Sarah until she has selected a new manager. We are all good friends. So, it’s quite fine actually, and we remain her record label.”

According to a follow-up e-mail sent to Leblanc, McBride added that Nettwerk would still be handling McLachlan’s management “until at least the end of March, and, maybe, even beyond that.”

When reached by The Vancouver Sun, both McBride and McLachlan’s team declined to comment.

Management duties can include strategic planning, touring arrangements and marketing. Nettwerk’s management roster includes artists such as k-os, Stereophonics, Meaghan Smith and Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida.

The label aspect of the company deals mainly with the releasing and/or publishing of music, something McLachlan will continue to be a part of with Nettwerk. The company’s label roster also includes The Be Good Tanyas, Great Lake Swimmers, Ladytron and Hope Sandoval, among others.

The announcement marks the end of a 23-year management partnership between McLachlan and Nettwerk, the label responsible for launching her career by releasing her debut album, Touch, in 1988.

McLachlan went on to sell more than 40 million records worldwide and remains Nettwerk’s best-selling artist in its 25-plus-year history. As a label, Nettwerk has sold more than 100 million albums around the globe.

McLachlan’s landmark 1997 album Surfacing earned four Juno Awards and two Grammy Awards and set the scene for the all-women festival tour Lilith Fair, which McBride co-executive produced.

The late ’90s and early 2000s would be Nettwerk’s most ambitious period with Lilith topping major changes that also included founding Nettwerk Management in 1995 and expanding the Nettwerk umbrella, as well as signing the Barenaked Ladies in 1996, introducing the world to Coldplay, fighting the Recording Industry Association of America’s suing illegal downloaders and championing the early stages of the digital music sales era, as well as signing a wide-ranging distribution agreement with Sony in 2005.

In recent years, however, the company has had its fair share of difficulties.

In 2008, Canadian pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne left Nettwerk after selling 30 million albums under the label’s guidance.

In 2009, the Barenaked Ladies did the same after a tumultuous few months following frontman Steven Page’s arrest for cocaine possession and his departure from the band.

Other big-name acts that have left Nettwerk over the years in either a management or label capacity include Chantal Kreviazuk, Dido, Sum 41 and Billy Talent.

In 2010, Nettwerk cut ties with Sony and signed a new distribution agreement with Warner Music Group’s Alternative Distribution Alliance.

That same year, Nettwerk and McLachlan, along with promoter Live Nation, resurrected the Lilith festival tour, which was plagued with logistical issues and had to cancel dates due to poor ticket sales.

McLachlan’s latest effort Laws of Illusion was released through Nettwerk in conjunction with the Lilith announcement last year, and recently garnered McLachlan three nominations for the 2011 Juno Awards, including Artist of the Year and Pop Album of the Year.