FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Al Bell Presents, LLC Announces Reemergence into Current Marketplace with Career Development Division
LITTLE ROCK, AR – June 10, 2013 – Although he never really left the entertainment business after building Stax Records into the nation’s pre-eminent soul music label, industry icon and recent GRAMMY Trustee Award recipient Al Bell is back – and in a big way!
Bell, who also was president of Motown Records Group and currently serves as chairman of the Memphis Music Foundation, founded Al Bell Presents, LLC (ABP) in 2008 with a popular interactive website and soul music internet radio station (www.albellpresents.com). The interactive online portal was designed to “entertain, engage, excite, inform and educate listeners and visitors about true soul music created and performed by what he refers to as “rare performing artists,” and that company mission continues to this day.
Today, Bell announced the formation of a new “Artist Career Development and Entertainment Creation Division” of ABP, engaged in the business of creating and developing careers for a new and up-and-coming, one-of-a-kind and authentic rare performing artists. In this capacity, ABP will perform or arrange all of the functions that managers, promoters, marketing firms, booking agents, record companies, talent agents, and others have done historically, with the focused objective of developing an artist’s career across an entire spectrum of the artist’s potential and generating income for the rest of their lives.
Noting that the continuous growth of the internet has given rise to an “ever-evolving” music industry, Mr. Bell explains that recorded music companies have created models to adapt to these changes and, in many instances, they are beginning to turn the financial corner and generate profits for the first time in years. Within this business landscape, his emphasis is not on recording one-off records for these artists, but instead is on developing artists for holistic career growth in addition to working with a wide range of record companies to get their music released.
Bell said he has been quietly working with a few select artists through this new division of ABP and will be introducing them into the marketplace in the coming months.
Rejuvenated by receiving the highest honor the music industry bestows, the GRAMMY Trustee Award in 2011 for his lifetime of work, Bell says that was the impetus for him to re-enter the field of artist development and begin doing similar work with new artists. “The higher objective in this newly launched division of ABP,” Bell says, “is marketing the artist as an ‘intellectual property,’ much like I did with Isaac Hayes and other artists in the past. This means establishing the entire artist – his/her/their name and appearance, art, cultural place and role, music compositions, and other aspects – as something that speaks to consumers as a valued, trusted, meaningful entertainment brand. The artist – as a developed, meaningful intellectual property – can then find profitable business in recorded music, live performances, film, television, books, merchandise, product endorsements, branding clothes, perfume, publications, live events, television and film, news and public service messages, among other opportunities.”
Perhaps the best example of Bell’s work in this area dates back to his molding the legendary soul superstar Isaac Hayes from a relatively unknown Stax Records songwriter and session musician into one of the most accomplished and internationally recognized musical artists of all time. “I recognized the potential of this songwriter at Stax Records and I knew he had the potential to change the music industry forever,” Bell says. “When we began to cultivate his “Black Moses” image and carefully introduced him into the marketplace with this new, groundbreaking image and musical style, his career skyrocketed and he became the most famous African-American singer of his time.” Hayes went on to win Grammys, a Golden Globe, NAACP Image Awards, was the first African-American to win an Academy Award for music, appeared in more than 60 movies and television shows, wrote cookbooks, owned restaurants, and was involved in dozens of other endeavors.
After his time at Stax and Motown, through his company Bellmark Records, Bell also discovered the group Tag Team and produced their megahit “Whoomp! There It Is”, one of the biggest selling singles ever (over 5million sold in a few months) and gave Prince his biggest hit ever with a multi-platinum-selling single, “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.”
Ultimately, ABP’s goal is to discover, service, cultivate, and grow these new rare performing artists. “Throughout this process we will teach our artists to professionally present themselves as ‘world class’ performers, interact with their audiences in a heart-felt manner filled with their natural emotions, and provide an unforgettable entertainment experience,” Bell explained.
He also stated that ABP was presently engaged in negotiations regarding other major music entertainment businesses and events and would be announcing details shortly.
Bell is available for interviews to discuss the business of Al Bell Presents, LLC, its new artist development division, and other issues of importance to the recorded music industry.
Please contact: Reed Bunzel, EVP/Marketing, Al Bell Presents: 843-388-5024, reedbunzel@gmail.com.