Billy Hyde Division Sold To 'Harvest Label'

AJ Maddah, one of Australia's biggest festival promoters, is believed to have bought the backline hire division of the debt-ridden Billy Hyde company.

As Australian Music Group Holdings, owners of Allans Billy Hyde, winds up its operations at the expense of the retail chain industry mag CX reported this morning that the backline hire division of the Billy Hyde business had been bought by Clementine Music, part of Soundwave/Harvest promoter Maddah's growing empire.

Clementine Music is an in-house label for the organisation, similar in structure to punk label 3Wise but focused on acts appearing on the Harvest line-up. Like 3Wise, which focuses on international acts appearing at Soundwave, the label's distribution is through Sony Music Australia. In mid-October the label released Dark Dark Dark's Who Needs Who and this week they will release Dark Horses' Black Music – both bands appear on this year's Harvest bill.

Although the label hasn't been officially launched, it is unclear what ties the label would have with the Billy Hyde backline service. Although Maddah did not respond to theMusic.com.au's calls in time for deadline today, it is believed that the backline company will work separately from Clementine.