SJM and Prime announce JV to manage New Order
SJM Management has partnered with Rebecca Boulton and Andrew Robinson of Prime Management on a joint venture to manage both New Order and members of Joy Division.
The JV with Conrad Murray, Simon Moran and the SJM Management team is designed to ensure the band’s catalogue releases, live shows and new musical output continue to influence new generations.
Boulton and Robinson have represented the band since the death of legendary Manchester music figure Rob Gretton in 1999.
“We have sought to future proof the band’s management and protect their legacy so the merger with SJM management is a good fit and maintains our independent sensibilities”
“We have sought to future proof the band’s management and protect their legacy so the merger with SJM management is a good fit and maintains our independent sensibilities,” says a statement from Boulton and Robinson.
“It’s a great honour for SJM Management to be working with New Order and Joy Division, two of the greatest acts of all-time, and joining forces with Rebecca and Andrew at Prime Management,” adds SJM’s Murray.
New Order, who most recently toured North America in autumn 2022, release a box set of their 1985 album Low-Life on 27 January and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the biggest-selling 12” of all time, Blue Monday, in March.
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New Order managers to receive top prize at A&MAs
Prime Management’s Rebecca Boulton and Andy Robinson, the longtime managers of New Order, will be presented with the coveted managers’ manager award at the 2019 Artist & Manager Awards (A&MAs) this November.
The award, sponsored by SJM Concerts, is given to an individual or company who has gained the respect of their peers over a sustained career. Previous recipients of the prize, formerly known as the Peter Grant award, are Modest! Management (2018), Jonathan Kessler (2017), Peter Rudge (2016), Jim Beach (2015), Paul Loasby (2014), Terry Blamey (2012) and John Glover (2011).
With Prime, Boulton and Robinson have represented the electronic music pioneers since 1999, following the premature death of original manager Rob Gretton. In 2015, following a decade-long absence, New Order released an album of new material, Music Complete on Mute Records, and the band continue to headline festivals and shows worldwide, notably releasing live album ∑(NO,12K,LG,17MIF), captured during the 2017 Manchester International Festival, last month.
“For protecting and nurturing a legacy, while enabling the creators of that legacy to thrive, Rebecca and Andy are deserving recipients of the MMF’s ultimate honour,” say awards organisers Music Managers Forum (MMF) and Featured Artists Coalition (FAC).
In a joint statement, the Prime pair say: “In 1999, after the untimely death of Joy Division and New Order’s mercurial manager, Rob Gretton, the opportunity arose to manage two of the greatest bands ever. Fortunately they let us do it, and 20 years later we’re still here.
“What Rebecca and Andy have achieved is almost without precedent”
“Despite some ups and downs, we’ve had great success working with their new material and two of the most influential and credible catalogues from any UK artists.”
Under the A&MAs’ previous incarnation, the British Music Roll of Honour, the award was received by Simon Fuller (2008), Bill Curbishley (2007), Paul McGuiness (2006), David Enthoven and Tim Clark (2004), Jazz Summers (2003), Ian McAndrew and Colin Lester (2002), Chris Morrison (2001), Tony Smith (2000), Rod Smallwood (1999), Ed Bicknell (1998), Gail Colson (1997) and Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee (1996).
Annabella Coldrick, chief executive of the MMF, says: “What Rebecca and Andy have achieved is, I think, almost without precedent. Having assumed management of one of the UK’s greatest and most independent acts, they have successfully navigated New Order through tragedy and pitfalls – keeping a heavyweight legacy intact, while ensuring the band’s creative relevance endures for a new generation of fans.
“They are a complete inspiration, and I am delighted both have accepted this recognition from the music management community.”
Celebrating achievements in the UK’s artist and management community, 2019’s A&MAs takes place at the Bloomsbury Big Top in London on Thursday 14 November.
As previously announced, Nile Rodgers will receive the artists’ artist award. Other winners will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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