Shock publishing shuts down

Wed 9th Jun, 2010 in Local News

One of Australia’s largest independent publishing companies, Shock Music Publishing, has shut down after accruing massive debts.

Former General Manager Clive Hodson released this statement: “It is with sadness I advise that effective immediately Shock Music Publishing has closed operation. All staff including myself have been let go. The company has been put into liquidation with administrators Lawler Draper Dillion now in control. I will contact AMCOS (Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society) this week to ascertain the process to resign from the board. I hope to see you all very soon and if anyone needs a cleaner please give me a call.”

Shock Music Publishing signed its first band in 1993, and since then has grown to represent over 300,000 international copyrights with over 4000 Australian works. The company represented acts like Kings of Leon, Grizzly Bear, Cosmic Psychos, and Dave McCormack.

It’s hard to imagine that a company with such an impressive catalogue could lose money, but Shock Music Publishing’s owners One Stop Entertainment Group Holdings Pty Ltd reported a loss of $7.6 million for the year to June 2008. Shock attributes this to the global financial crisis, difficult trading conditions, and the constant changes in consumer behavior. Administrators are assessing the company’s current debts and the effect of the liquidation on affiliate companies.

Despite this loss, Shock Entertainment maintains that its core business is thriving, and stated that their DVD licensing and distribution division has “performed exceptionally well in difficult market conditions, and this business is growing – bucking the industry trend.”