ABBA chose to have Voyage show in London to stick by the UK in wake of Brexit

 Article about when Svana Gisla was at Parliament.

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ABBA chose to have Voyage show in London to stick by the UK in wake of Brexit

Tom Bryant

ABBA chose to have Voyage show in London to stick by the UK in the wake of Brexit

ABBA based their ground-breaking show Voyage in London despite other companies pulling out of the UK amid uncertainty after Brexit, according to the stage show's producer Svana Gisla

ABBA reunite for the first time in years on red carpet ABBA reunite for the first time in years on red carpet

18:54, 7 Dec 2022

ABBA located their ground-breaking show in London because they wanted to stick by the UK in the wake of Brexit.

The band - Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus - made an "emotional choice more than a commercial choice" to stage ABBA Voyage in London, according to show producer Svana Gisla.

She reveals: "There were a lot of companies leaving, there was a lot of uncertainty about the UK at the time and it was ABBA themselves that decided, 'No, we want to come in. They might be leaving, but we want to come in', because ABBA has been incredibly much-loved in the UK."

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She said that the band had enjoyed "great successes" in the UK and loved the country equally just as much back.

"They have all lived in London for a period of their lives, they love London very much and it very quickly just became the only option," she said.

Gisla also said it was their "ambition" to eventually take the show - which features "ABBA-tars" of the band’s younger selves using motion-capture technology - around the world.

She said: "Our ambition is very much to do another ABBA Voyage, let’s say in North America, or Australasia or we could do another one in Europe. We can now duplicate the arena and the show, but it is a heavy commercial venture at the moment."

Vegas would be an "obvious place" for the show, and also potentially Germany which is a "very big market for ABBA", she said.

The east London show, in a specially-built ABBA Arena, has earned rave reviews with tickets on sale for all of next year, up to the end of November.

Gisla made the comments as part of her evidence to a DCMS select committee in Parliament.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/abba-chose-voyage-show-london-28679353

Song data startup Session, co-founded by Max Martin, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, Niclas Molinder, partners with Brazil collection society UBC

 Song data startup Session, co-founded by Max Martin, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, Niclas Molinder, partners with Brazil collection society UBC - Music Business Worldwide

Song data startup Session, co-founded by Max Martin, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, Niclas Molinder, partners with Brazil collection society UBC

Sweden-based song data startup Session has teamed up with Brazilian collection society UBC (Brazilian Union of Composers).

As part of the one-year exclusive partnership, Session’s Session Studio app will roll out for free to all UBC members, allowing them to capture song and recording data at the point of creation and deliver that data to managers, labels, publishers, CMOs and digital service providers.

Founded in 1942, UBC represents more than 50,000 members including authors, performers, musicians, publishers and recording companies.

Session was co-founded by ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Swedish songwriters and record-producers Max Martin and Niclas Molinder in 2019 with the goal of combatting inadequate data collection.

The company’s Session Studio collaboration app can be accessed on mobile and desktop devices. Session Studio is embedded within Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) to capture song information and data at the point of creation.

Back in October, Session launched a partnership with SoundCloud to allow the latter to digitally receive both song audio and song metadata directly from the Session Studio app.

SoundCloud artists can go into their Session Studio profile and ‘connect’ it securely to their SoundCloud account by entering the same credentials.

Each year, royalties worth an estimated $655 million (£500m) globally are not paid to the correct rightsholders due to bad data.

Session and SoundCloud are supporters of Credits Due, a global initiative launched by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus to ensure complete and accurate song metadata is attached to all recordings at the point of creation.

BMG became one of the first international music companies to commit to the initiative, and, in addition to SoundCloud, the likes of Hipgnosis and Kobalt Music Publishing are also listed amongst the campaign’s supporters.

“The Brazilian market has shown impressive growth over the last couple of years, so partnering with the leading CMO – an organization which consistently prioritizes the health and wealth of  its creators – bodes well for both the Latin American market and for the industry as a whole.”

Niclas Molinder, Session

Commenting on the alliance, Session co-founder Niclas Molinder says: ”We are delighted to be working hand-in-hand with UBC to ensure that collectively we make a tangible difference to the work life of a creator.”

“The Brazilian market has shown impressive growth over the last couple of years, so partnering with the leading CMO – an organization which consistently prioritizes the health and wealth of  its creators – bodes well for both the Latin American market and for the industry as a whole.”

Added Molinder: “We know that the digital music industry is expecting to grow by over 10% each year so this is an exciting step forward in ensuring that no creator gets left behind.”

“UBC’s partnership with Session is a project that aims to make life easier, not only for our members, but also for their partners in music.”

Marcelo Castelo Branco, UBC

UBC CEO Marcelo Castelo Branco, added:  “UBC’s partnership with Session is a project that aims to make life easier, not only for our members, but also for their partners in music. It’s an app that captures audio, lyrics and, vitally, the credits of everyone participating in the song.

“This data can then be digitally transferred to industry players such as author societies, record labels, publishers, aggregators, etc. Just press a button. That education, action, and respect for properly crediting everyone who contributes to a song is priority shared by both UBC and Session.”

Music Business Worldwide

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/song-data-startup-session-co-founded-by-max-martin-abbas-bjorn-ulvaeus-niclas-molinder-partners-with-brazil-collection-society-ubc/