| 5th October 01 AIM USGranada hotels hosts inaugural reception at CMJ AIM US is hosting its inaugural reception at CMJ next Friday 12th October. Venue and time: 7-8.30pm, VOID, 16 Mercer Street (at Mercer & Howard), NYC.
A body with vast potential on a par with AIM UK, AIM US was founded over the summer, by a grouping together of AIM members with US offices. The concept was first mooted by AIM Chair & Chief Executive Alison Wenham, and developed by Board member Doug D'Arcy, who has an advisory role.
The rationale is simple - AIM US will enable AIM members with offices in North America to: share expertise and collectively negotiate better deals feed know-how back to Luzern hotelsUK members. There are many differences between the US and UK markets (release timelines, radio formats and touring to mention just three) and the benefits to other UK labels trying to break the US are immense.
AIM US comprises a variety of AIM members with offices in North America including Mute, V2, Warp, Ninja Tune, Wall of Sound, Cooking Vinyl and PIAS. It is chaired by Lesley Bleakley (CEO of Beggars Group USA).
It's early days, but so far the following issues are being addressed:
IMMIGRATIONhoteles Verona - Traffic Control has set prohibitive new fees. AIM US is considering hiring a dedicated attonery/clerk (who could deal with all members' requests for immigration matters, and hopefully cut out Traffic Control's fees), as well as taking steps to see if the UK government can assist.
SOUNDSCAN - AIM US is seeking to source a preferential rate for access to Soundscan - the US equivalent to CIN and the only means of establishing accurate sales data (which is very costly).
TRAVEL - AIM US is looking into the possibility of an AIM discount for travel and hotel accommodation.
HEALTH & DENTAL- AIM US is investigating bulk rates for both Health and Dental.
TOURING - The following areas were highlighted as possible areas to save money. Equipment hire Van / Tour buses Hotel Chain Discounts The remit is vast and other areas include distribution strategies, royalty payments and accountancy/payroll services.
Says Lesley Bleakley, Chair of AIM US and CEO of Beggars Group USA: "after watching the success of AIM on so many different levels, AIM USprachtvolles Hotel Mikonos seemed a natural next step. In time we hope the benefits to the independent sector, both those already doing business here and those attempting take that leap, will be substantial". music empowered by  About AIM AIM is a non-profit making trade body representing independent record companies across the UK in all genres. AIM's remit is to promote the use of its members' recorded music and maximise the sector's collective strength in relation to the music market as a whole, an example being its recent deals with Napster, OD2 and Wippit.
AIM has 550 members labels, including Beggars Group, Glasgow Underground, Grand Central, Gut, Ministry of Sound, Mushroom, Mute, Ninja Tune, One Little Indian, Soma, Telstar, V2, Wall Of Sound, Warp, and XL Recordings.
AIM operates a 'Friends of AIM' scheme for companies wishing to ally themselves with the UK independent record sector.
MusicIndie, an independent company part-owned by AIM, has been set up to find ways of increasing UK independent labels' market share; through creative deals, negotiation services and economy of scale software.
About the UK independent record industry Independent record companies are the lifeblood of the UK recording industry and represent almost 30% of the UK market. They operate at the cutting edge, experimenting with untried trends and acts, and are able to develop new trends and artists effectively, with the result that the independent sector is responsible for the diversity and success of the record industry at large.
Antwerp luxury hotels This is borne out by the fact that independent record companies sourced 40% of new British artists who produced UK gold albums and 30% of those who produced UK platinum or multi-platinum albums during the 1990s. This early adopter mentality is mirrored in all aspects of the independents' business and they are usually the first to break new markets and take advantage of technological developments.
The ability of the independents to move quickly and ahead of the majors was one of the main reasons AIM was established -- to maximise these opportunities and leverage their collective market share. By acting collectively, AIM can strike deals that otherwise only a major could negotiate.
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