New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Core Entertainment, the management company that specializes in discovering and championing new talent in music across genres, and Universal
Music Canada (UMC), today announced a joint venture designed to offer Canadian artists a collaborative and integrated approach to releasing music worldwide.
The Core will offer management services, creative direction and A&R development to artists, bringing key acts to Universal
Music Canada for UMC's consideration to sign to a recorded music deal. Artists signed will benefit from UMC's globally focused strategic insight and project leadership.
Working in tandem, the UMC team, led by Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Remedios and Executive Vice President and General Manager Kristen Burke, together with The Core founders
Kevin "
Chief" Zaruk and
Simon Tikhman, and The Core Canada President Tracy Martin, will hand-select a roster of talent poised to make an impact internationally, developing the acts together in their respective and distinct roles as management and label. The joint venture launches with its first recording artist signing: Grammy-nominated, Nashville-based Canadian singer-songwriter Steven Lee Olsen, who is set to release new music on July 30, 2021.
"I've long admired Chief,
Simon and Tracy's individual strengths, smarts, and passions. The Core Entertainment's vision and drive in championing artists is inspiring. This partnership is an opportunity to work with people we admire to do what we love — supporting a wide-range of artists in lockstep with a formidable management team," said Remedios. "Steven Lee Olsen is a prolific songwriter with a voice that demands to be heard. With his signing, UMC couldn't be prouder to double down on our commitment to country music with Steven at the forefront."
"The Core strives to work with the most innovative and authentic industry leaders, and there's no doubt Jeffrey, Kristen and the Universal
Music Canada team are among the best in the business," said Tikhman, Zaruk, and Martin. "We both know the artist always comes first, and this powerful collaboration will allow us to holistically support some of today's brightest talent across genres. We're thrilled to welcome country singer-songwriter Steven Lee Olsen to the family as our first joint signing and look forward to a long and successful partnership."
Steven Lee Olsen's signing to The Core Entertainment and Universal
Music Canada is the first of many recorded music releases, across all genres, planned to come.
Having solidified himself as a chart-topping lyricist and an artist with a global reach, coupled with The Core Canada's recent appointment of Tracy
Martin to the role of President (fresh from her transformational years at the helm of the Canadian Country
Music Association) and backed by this joint team of innovative industry leaders with deep roots in Nashville and beyond, Steven Lee Olsen is one of 2021's most promising Country singer-songwriters.
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Steven Lee Olsen's path to mainstream success has been a lengthy yet admirable and rewarding journey. Born and raised in a suburb of Toronto, Olsen moved to Nashville in 2004 to pursue his dreams of being a songwriter. He spent years in
Music City working on his songwriting skills by drawing upon his R&B, soul, country and pop influences, eventually breaking into the upper echelons of Nashville songwriters. Olsen's work has been recorded by some of Country music's most significant artists like Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Rascal Flatts, Billy Currington, The Judds,
Dallas Smith and many others. He has notched impressive accolades, including two No.1 hits in the US with his Grammy-nominated, double-platinum certified song "
Blue Ain't Your Color" performed by
Keith Urban and "More Girls Like You" performed by Kip Moore. He also went No.1 in Canada with co-writing credits on the platinum hit "Drop," performed by Dallas Smith.
The Core Entertainment is an entertainment and artist management company formed in partnership with Live Nation that specializes in discovering and championing the brightest talent in music, sports, film, TV, and technology, while also investing in some of today's most innovative industries, including an expansion into the NFT space. Founded in 2019 by veteran music manager
Kevin "
Chief" Zaruk and serial entrepreneur
Simon Tikhman, the burgeoning company uses the co-founders' diverse professional successes to guide and advance the careers of their multi-talented artist roster - from country to pop - along with their broader slate of clients. Their artists include Grammy winner Emily Weisband, Valley, Nate Smith, After Midtown, Bailey Zimmerman, and more.
Universal
Music Canada is Canada's leading music company, engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content. Home to the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMC is committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship in broadening opportunities for our artists on both the domestic and world stages as well as creating new experiences for fans.
Universal
Music Canada is part of Universal
Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment.
