Digital music services firm Vital PIAS Digital has struck a sales and marketing deal with Hostess Entertainment, the Tokyo-based label management, promotion, sales and distribution company, with immediate effect.
Through the arrangement, unveiled today, VPD will use Hostess Entertainment as a sales and marketing service on the ground in Japan to facilitate local-language dialog with Japanese digital services for its label partners.
A division of London-based indie Vital Distribution and Brussels-based parent music group Play It Again Sam, VPD represents 200-plus independent labels.
“I’m happy to have finally been able to lock down this progressive deal with VPD, expanding on the long-running and successful relationship we already enjoy with PIAS,” Hostess president and founer Andrew “Plug” Lazonby told Billboard.biz.
Founded in 2000 by Lazonby, Hostess is contracted to release the CD of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” in Japan on Dec. 26. Hostess has worked as the Japan representative for PIAS (Play It Again Sam) since 2003.
The new deal is also intended to open doors for VPD labels with Japanese-based digital retail services including Recochoku (Label Mobile), Oricon, Dwango and Music.jp.
Hostess Entertainment will manage all sales and marketing activities for VPD in Japan. The supply of digital services, however, will continue to be controlled and delivered by VPD from its international hub in London.
