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re: buyers arrive finally Amphead Entertainment has agreements with a significant number of major independent labels and its catalogue is currently distributed through most major music online retailers including iTunes, Telstra Bigpond, Destra, JB Hifi, Sanity and Telecom New Zealand, Swish said.


Swish Group buys stake in Amphead Entertainment
24/04/2006 By: Nicholas Grove

Swish Group (SWG) has agreed to buy 51% of the business and assets of Amphead Entertainment Group, which operates an online digital music and video content business combining online retail, wholesale rights management and label publishing. Amphead has an exclusive agreement with U.S.-based The Orchard, the world’s largest aggregator and marketer of independent music content.

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Swish said the new business, to be called Swish Amphead, is expected to increase the company’s revenues and earnings significantly over the next two years and to be profitable from day one.

Amphead Entertainment, through its agreement with The Orchard, provides local online retailers with access to an international catalogue of over 800,000 audio and video tracks. The company also provides worldwide distribution services for Australian artists and labels through The Orchard’s distribution agreements with major online retailers in 73 countries, Swish said in a press statement.

Amphead Entertainment currently provides approximately 30% of iTunes online music retail catalogue and estimates that it accounts for up to 10% of total independent download music purchases in Australia.

Amphead Entertainment has agreements with a significant number of major independent labels and its catalogue is currently distributed through most major music online retailers including iTunes, Telstra Bigpond, Destra, JB Hifi, Sanity and Telecom New Zealand, Swish said.

The acquisition involves an initial consideration of 3,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares in the Swish Group, a cash component to be paid over the next 12 months and a performance related component based on the performance of the Swish Amphead business over the next two financial years, the company said.

The principals of Amphead Entertainment, Gary Mackenzie and Rick Butterworth, who have extensive experience in the music and online music sales industries, will be joining Swish Group as executives. All former employees of Amphead will also be joining Swish Amphead,” the company added.

“While it is difficult to accurately assess the growth potential of such a business in an industry that is expanding exponentially, the Swish Amphead business is expected to grow significantly in the short to medium term,” Swish Group managing director Cary Stynes said.