Dew Process Expands, Rebrands Secret Sounds Artist Management (EXCLUSIVE)

Dew Process is returning to its management origins.

Paul Piticco’s independent music company snaffles Secret Sounds Artist Management, where it is rebranded as Dew Process Artist Management, The Music Network can exclusively reveal.

The management business comes to Dew Process as a new alliance between Piticco, Managing Director Dew Process Group, and long-term colleagues, now partners, CFO Brian Quinn and Senior Artist Manager Rachael Dixon.

Secret Sounds Artist Management was initially bundled up in a sweeping deal stuck in 2016, which saw Live Nation Entertainment acquire 51% of Secret Sounds Group, led at the time by co-CEOs Piticco and Jess Ducrou.

That arrangement included Secret Sounds’ festival brands Splendour in the Grass and Falls Music & Arts Festival, touring, sponsorship, PR, domestic agency and artist management arms.

Now, those management activities return to their independent roots.

“It’s where I started,” Piticco says of artist management. “I was booking a venue before that, then the very next thing I did was manage bands. I’ve always wanted to be as close to the creativity as possible, and management was it. Short of being a producer, which I didn’t have the skill to do, that was as close as you could get. I always loved it and it always gave me a great view of all the facets of the business,” he explains, “you saw from the manager’s seat the best of the industry, how everyone performed.”

The buy-back made sense following “the huge success of the label of the last 20 years and the publishing company for the past 14-15 years,” Piticco tells The Music Network. “I’ve never been a big one for names, but Dew Process is quite identifiable and identifiable with Brisbane and it has a long history in artist development.”

For the city of Brisbane, the 2032 Olympic City, Piticco is arguably the most important music scene-builder of his generation.

Piticco managed Powderfinger from 1990 onwards, and guided the beloved rock band through a streak of five consecutive No. 1 studio albums, before they finished on a high – and a farewell tour that shifted more than 200,000 tickets.

The entrepreneur founded Secret Service Artist Management in the mid- 90s and went on to establish Dew Process Recordings and Publishing, working with such artists as Sam Fender, Mumford & Sons, Bernard Fanning, London Grammar, The Living End, Sarah Blasko and others.

With the development, which comes off back of Powderfinger and Bernard Fanning landing a combined four tracks on triple j’s Hottest 100 of Australian Songs, a record, the Dew Process empire is an expanding one. 

Today, Dew Process Group unveils the signings of Georgia Mooney, Spacey Jane and Tkay Maidza.

“With a new album in the works, shows booked across the UK, Canada, Australia, and a growing international team I could not be more excited about what’s to come,” comments Rachael Dixon, Senior Artist Manager Dew Process Artist Management, who signed Mooney, founding member of the folk quartet All Our Exes Live in Texas.

Meanwhile, Dew Process Publishing re-signs Perth indie-rock outfit Spacey Jane to a global administration agreement, a partnership that follows the release of their third album, If That Makes Sense, and a sold-out ANZ tour in support of it, which shifted over 60,000 tickets.

“Working closely with Spacey over the last five years has been incredibly special,” comments Fergus Jenkins, GM of Publishing & Sync at Dew Process. “They’ve embraced the challenges of following up early success and delivered their most ambitious art yet in If That Makes Sense.”

Jenkins also pays tribute to Simon Moor and the global team at Kobalt Music “for their outstanding publishing administration services.”

Also announced today, Tkay Maidza, the reigning ARIA Award winner for best soul/R&B release, who re-signs with Dew Process Records, the label home of Tyne-James Organ, Mallrat, Old Mervs and more.

“It’s always a blessing to work with Tkay,” says Johnny Mullen, Head of A&R Dew Process Records. “Her energy and commitment to her craft is unparalleled. And beyond that, she’s just such a great person. She brings a special energy into every room she walks into and that spark carries through into her music.”

Adopting the Dew Process brand reflects the collective companies’ long-term partnership and connection, the shared ethos in artist development and its commitment to a supportive and collaborative environment, a statement reads.

Projects in the pipeline include the 20-year anniversary celebration of Fanning’s solo debut Tea & Sympathy, originally released in October 2005.

Piticco continues to serve with Live Nation Australasia as Director of Touring and Venue Development. He was a co-founder in Brisbane’s The Triffid, which opened for business in 2014 and in which Live Nation bought an interest, and has played a similar role with the Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall and Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall, both part of the LN’s portfolio.

“Getting right in and getting involved in the earliest phases of someone’s career,” he explains, “I find that extremely interesting and it’s something I’m passionate about. And that happens more around management, label and publishing. They’re the nucleus of where a band is creating.” On Dew Process, he continues, “standby for some big announcements’ forthcoming for the group.”