Power 50 - #9: Rachael Comerford

BACKGROUND CHECK

Rachael Comerford moved from Cairns to Sydney at the age of 17 to study at Australian Institute Of Management (AIM). While studying, she did some work experience at Modular Records and Hub Artist Services where she accepted a full-time position, working for about three years with artists including Dappled Cities and Megan Washington. After moving to Melbourne, Comerford started working with Ralph Carr, looking after Vanessa Amorosi, Cosentino, Jon Stevens and Kate Ceberano, and also overseeing other artists and staff within the company. Comerford started working with Vance Joy around July 2013 alongside her husband and business partner Jaddan and the pair now co-manage the international careers of Joy, Amy Shark and producer Edwin White. She has spent the last four years touring while based in New York and LA.

THE YEAR THAT WAS

It's no secret that Amy Shark and Vance Joy (and, in turn, his drummer/musical director Edwin White) had dream 2018s, for which Comerford, as their co-manager, deserves high praise. Joy took home the Best Adult Contemporary Album ARIA for his Gold-certified Nation Of Two album, the second highest-selling Australian album of 2018. Joy's second record topped the ARIA Albums Chart, came in at #2 on the Canadian charts and #10 on the Billboard 200 (US). I'm With You achieved Gold status, while Lay It On Me was certified three times Platinum and We're Going Home, which was the 18th most-played song on Australian radio according to AirCheck, and Saturday Sun went Platinum. In Pollstar’s mid-year report, Joy was the only Australian featured on their top-grossing worldwide tours list (#95) thanks to 250,000 tickets sold across North America and 55,000 tickets sold in Australia. 

Shark collected four ARIA Awards – Album Of The Year, Best Pop Release, Best Female Artist and Producer Of The Year (Dann Hume and M Phazes for I Said Hi) – and released the highest-selling Australian album of 2018 in Love Monster (which peaked at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified Gold). Her three times Platinum single I Said Hi was the ninth most-played track on Australian radio for 2018 and another Shark single, All Loved Up, also achieved Gold status.

As well as co-producing Joy's albums, Edwin White produced Shark's single Leave Us Alone and co-wrote Jack River's Limo Song.