In one of the more curious music industry developments, Metropolitan Talent, which promotes concerts, manages artists and owns a record label, and CMJ Networks, which produces the annual CMJ Music Marathon in New York and publishes a college and non-commercial radio journal, are merging.
When Metropolitan Talent underwent reorganization a couple of months ago, it said it would have a major announcement in the near future. CMJ moved its staff into Metropolitan’s office about three weeks ago.
The merged company will focus on the college music market, including college radio stations, artist development and new music. It will also develop stand-alone events modeled after the CMJ Music Marathon. Metropolitan Talent will continue to book acts into venues of all sizes, primarily in the Northeast.
“We couldn’t be more enthusiastic about our planned merger with Metropolitan,” said CMJ’s husband/wife team of CEO Bobby Haber and Music Marathon Executive Producer Joanne Abbot Green in a statement. “Metro’s dedication to the discovery and development of new artists, legendary insight into talent in the live, management and recording arenas, and drive to connect music with its fans in dynamic ways, mirror the fundamentals of CMJ Network. We are proud to be working with John [Scher] and Al [Cafaro] to build a bold new company to help redefine the new music business.”
Industry veterans Scher and Cafaro are co-CEOs of Metropolitan Talent.
“Bobby, Joanne and I have been friends for a very long time and have always exchanged ideas regarding each other’s businesses,” added Scher. “It seems like a perfect time to combine our strengths and create new opportunities for both of the companies.”
The next CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is scheduled to take place October 20-24 in nearly 75 venues across New York City.
