Ghostlight Records Joins with Razor & Tie Music Publishing to Support New Composers

By: Jan. 15, 2014
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Razor & Tie Music Publishing and Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records have created a joint venture to sign and nurture the talents of a new generation of theatrical composers and writers. The venture's first signing is New York City based songwriter and artist Shaina Taub, who straddles the world of theater music and contemporary pop performance. The venture is an extension into the publishing arena of the successful longstanding distribution and marketing relationship between Razor & Tie and Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records.

Kurt Deutsch of Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records explains, "Through our new publishing venture we hope to fill a major void in the musical theatre community. There are very few publishers who are willing to focus and spend the time to help nurture theatrical songwriters in developing their craft. We will identify talent early and help these writers and artists to find success both in the theater community as well as on a larger scale."

Razor & Tie co-owner Craig Balsam adds, "There are many talented artists and writers who start out writing for theater, but whose talents can and should be recognized on a broader level. Our new venture will allow theatrical songwriters to crossover and have success in other arenas such as pop, country and film and television"

Shaina Taub will perform the 'The Songs of Shaina Taub' on January 20th at 7pm at 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club.

Shaina Taub is a songwriter and performer raised in Vermont and living in Brooklyn. She was an Ars Nova's 2012 Composer-in-Residence and is currently playing the role of Princess Mary in the critically acclaimed off -Broadway electropop opera, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Her original soul-folk opera, The Daughters, was a finalist for the Richard Rodgers Award, and has been developed by the Yale Institute of Music Theater and CAP21 Theater Company. She is currently writing songs for two new musicals: There's A House, commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, with playwright, Kim Rosenstock, and Robin, commissioned by Ars Nova, with playwright Jen Silverman. She has developed songs for Walt Disney Imagineering, been a member of the Johnny Mercer Songwriter's Project, and recently gave a TEDx Talk on why artistic communities are crucial to creativity. As a singer/songwriter, she plays regularly in New York with her trio, has released two albums, What Otters Do and ShainaTaub Trio, and her headlining Joe's Pub concert was featured on NPR/WNYC's Best Gigs of the Year. NPR/WNYCraves, "Shaina has a playful blend of Billy Joel's piano-driven pop, Aretha's soul and Regina Spektor's whimsy."She has traveled the world as a musician and performer, appearing on stages from Abu Dhabi to Germany to Nashville, and venues including the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center and the Beacon Theater. She has received a Macdowell Fellowship, a Sundance Institute Fellowship, aYaddo Fellowship, served on the music theater faculty at Pace University and is a University Scholar alumnus of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. www.shainataub.com

Razor & Tie Music Publishing (RTMP) was established five years ago and has distinguished itself with a focused, proactive approach to multi-media song placement, royalty administration and career development. The company is led by a seasoned and energetic executive team with representatives in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. RTMP recently celebrated their third #1 Country hit in less than twelve months which also which scored the company two consecutive quarters in the top ten on the Billboard Top 10 Country Publishers Airplay Chart. The number one songs include: Double platinum certified #1 Country hit "God Gave Me You" was performed by Blake Shelton and written by singer/songwriter Dave Barnes, the platinum certified #1 Country hit "Alone With You" was performed by Jake Owen and co-written by Catt Gravitt and the gold certified #1 Country hit "Over" was performed by Blake Shelton and co-written by David Elliott Johnson. This year RTMP also touts the Quadruple-Platinum sales success of RTMP singer/songwriter Greg Holden's song "Home" (as performed by American Idol Winner Phillip Phillips). "Home" is the most successful song of any American Idol winner and captured the #1 spot on ten Billboard charts. Most recently, Razor & Tie Music Publishing (RTMP) celebrated a #9 position on the Billboard Top 10 Publishers Airplay Chart. This marks the second time on this chart within twelve months and third time since the company's formation. The company is self-administered in North America and has aligned with a strong team of sub-publishers throughout the rest of the world. www.razorandtiemusicpublishing.com

Sh-K-Boom with its imprint Ghostlight Records has become the leading independent force in Original Broadway Cast Recordings - building a library of over 130 records in the last 13 years, featuring the most successful Broadway musicals and solo albums by Broadway's biggest stars. Ghostlight has won two Grammy Awards (for The Book of Mormon & In the Heights) and is a frequent nominee, most recently for the OBCR of Disney's Newsies and new cast recording of Anything Goes. Other notable recent releases include Pippin, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Hands on a Hardbody, plus The Last Five Years, Giant, Dogfight, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and the premiere recording of Carrie. The label has also released solo albums from some of Broadway's biggest stars: Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Alice Ripley, Christine Ebersole, Melissa Errico and Ben Vereen. Additional titles on Ghostlight include Next to Normal, Hair, Legally Blonde, Everyday Rapture, Passing Strange, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Drowsy Chaperone. Sh-K Boom Entertainment is a producer of the upcoming film version of The Last Five Years, written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. It is expected for release this year. www.sh-k-boom.com



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