Going global: “Music is sold by people that turn up”
Michael Bublé hails from British Columbia in Canada, but his path to global fame was routed through South Africa.
Dion Singer, now senior vice president, international artist development, Warner Music, was working for the company in South Africa when he first heard Bublé’s music.
“I thought we have nothing like this. Some people wrongly identified him as a jazz singer, but he’s not, he’s a pop artist.”
Bublé’s album reached Gold status in South Africa and sold in Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Singer thought the Canadian performer, with his quirky sense of humour, had an appeal in Commonwealth countries, but might not connect in Europe. Then Bublé’s manager Bruce Allen, credited by Singer as one of the best in the business, said that his tour in Asia was wrapping up and he was sending him back to Vancouver.
“I called my people across Europe. I said: ‘If I can get you Michael Bublé this weekend, what can you do with him?’ My Italian guy called back and said he didn’t have anything lined up, but he didn’t want to miss the chance and would set something up. I trusted him and we put Bublé on a plane. We got him onto a leading Italian radio show. They loved his song and used it to promote the show. Suddenly Moondance was number one in Italy!”
“He became a real pop star in Italy. There were teenage girls screaming for him! So we figured, if he works in Italy, he might work in Spain. And sure enough, he did. And then we were able to use that momentum to go into even more markets.”
Michael Bublé has gone on to enjoy global success, selling more than 40 million albums worldwide.
Singer stresses his mantra is:
“Music is sold by people that turn up. If you like an artist, we’ll move heaven and earth to get them to you.”
