Blue Raincoat Music announce four key appointments

02 November 2023 - Press release

Dan Walton, James Barton, Ben Asplin & Tian Anderson Join Team

Blue Raincoat Music, which is part of the Reservoir group of companies, have announced four new appointments with Dan Walton, Ben Asplin, James Batsford and Tian Anderson joining the London based team in key roles.

Dan Walton joins the company as Project Manager (Catalogue) from his previous position as Product Manager at Demon Music Group. Dan will report to Dermot James, Senior Vice President, Chrysalis Catalogue. After beginning as a label assistant at Repertoire Records, Dan moved on to Demon Music Group, where some of the notable release campaigns he headed included Pixies 'Live In Brixton', Bob Mould 'Distortion', 'Intrigue: Progressive Sounds In British Music 1979-1989' with Steven Wilson, Suede’s thirtieth-anniversary celebration campaign, and most recently, the career-spanning retrospective compilation ‘Produced By Tony Visconti’. He also project managed a multitude of reissues from acts such as Frank Black, The Yardbirds, Simple Minds, Echo And The Bunnymen, and The Fall. Additionally, Dan led on the launch of the ‘half-speed master’ vinyl range in collaboration with AIR Studios, as well as Demon’s annual Record Store Day campaign, a key event in the label’s calendar.

Also joining the company’s catalogue team as Project Manager is James Batsford, who will report directly to Dermot James. Starting in music retail at Rough Trade West, James moved into the live sector, independently promoting shows across London before joining Domino Records where he coordinated D2C releases and campaigns across both front line and catalogue. James subsequently moved into a freelance role working for a number of catalogue clients while founding two labels, hip hop reissue specialists Omerta Inc. and high end Jazz imprint New Land Records.

Ben Asplin has been appointed Copyright Manager, Commercial Music Operations and will report to Tina McBye, Vice President, Commercial Music Operations. He joins Blue Raincoat Music from BMG where he was Royalties Manager. Ben started his music industry journey in the Public Performance department at PPL in 2013 subsequently joining the organisation’s Member Relations team and overseeing a large roster of high value Performers and Record Labels. He joined BMG in 2020, helping to build a bespoke neighbouring rights service as a part of a small team with a fast-growing VIP roster including some of the biggest names in British music.

Tian Anderson has been announced as Artist Management Assistant for Blue Raincoat Artists, the artist management division of Blue Raincoat Music. Reporting jointly to Amy Frenchum and Rupert King, Tian will be assisting both across their roster of artists, which include Ezra Collective, Nova Twins, and Yazmin Lacey. 
 
Launched originally as an artist management company, Blue Raincoat Music diversified into music publishing in 2016. Later that year, it acquired legendary independent record label Chrysalis Records, which added recorded music operations to its portfolio. Since then, Blue Raincoat Music’s management, publishing, and recorded music divisions have operated as Blue Raincoat Artists, Blue Raincoat Music Publishing, and Chrysalis Records, respectively.

Alison Wenham, Chief Operating Officer at Blue Raincoat Music said, “As Blue Raincoat Music continues to enjoy growth across all of its divisions, finding the right people to help oversee our strategy and steer our projects is mission critical. In Dan, James, Ben, and Tian we have added four hugely talented and passionate members to our team.”