JIM CARROLLon music
It’s just what you need to see in the morning before you butter your toast: a Russian oligarch taking a slice of your business.
HMV’s shareholders discovered this week that Alexander Mamut, the 655th richest dude in the world, according to Forbes, had spent £5 million (€5.85 million) to take his stake in the entertainment retail group to 3 per cent.
Once known as “the Yeltsin family banker”, Mamut’s business interests include blogging site Livejournal.com, Russia’s Evroset mobile phone retail chain, the country’s Spar franchise, a publishing house, an art-house cinema, bookshops, silver production, restaurants and assorted media bits and pieces.
A keen football fan, he was said to be interested in buying Blackburn Rovers a few years ago but, unluckily for Big Sam, didn’t follow his close mucker Roman Abramovich down that road in the end.
While Mamut’s move into HMV is said to have caught the company on the hop, it does highlight that the entrepreneur sees untapped value in the company. He’s certainly not buying those shares because he fancies getting a discount on box sets for Christmas.
In recent times, as revenue from what was once its core business of selling recorded music has fallen, HMV has diversified by moving into live music through its takeover of the MAMA group of venues.
However, given that Mamut has experience in the retail and technology sectors, analysts believe it more likely that his focus will be on these areas.
It also goes to show that a record shop’s best friends may not, after all, be a bunch of fortysomething male record-buyers looking for rare vinyl releases, but rather a rich Russian with five million quid to spare.
New music
MAVERICK SABRE
Wexford-raised singer-songwriter whose smart, tough tunes mix hip-hop, soul, folk and reggae. Already receiving a lot of love from BBC Radio One’s Zane Lowe and has supported Plan B, Speech Debelle and others. myspace.com/ mavericksabre
KASETTE
A Mixed Tape, the lovely debut EP from these three Dublin school friends who first started making music while on a J1 trip to Vancouver, will remind you of folk-pop sirens such as Mountain Man and Au Revoir Simone. myspace.com/kasettetape
ELAN TAMARA
East London artist making superb, weirdly shaped art-pop with jazzy frills, folky fringes and electronic buttons attached. New EP Shadows has been produced by Kwes and released on his Bokkle label. myspace.com/elantamara
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