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Morten Harket (38) is tired of the record business and is
looking for
millions (of krones) in fresh risk capital/franchise to finance
the
release of his new international album. The London-based broker
Erik
Henriksen is most probably one of the investor's in Morten
Harket's
album project.
The multiple millionaire is behind the company Trader Navigation
and
Rowan Investment, which was, amongst others, the 'godfather' for
the
offshore company and stockmarket winner Discoverer ASA, of which
Henriksen is also the leader of the board.
Childhood friend
Henriksen, who is a childhood friend of Harket's from Heggedal
in
Asker, is used to dealing with sums of money in the hundreds of
millions
[literally, "three-digit million sums"] through his job as a
sales agent.
It is not unreasonable to accept the fact that Henriksen is
willing to
put fresh risc-capital in Harket's small production company,
Compas
Point A/S, which was founded in 1996.
In effect, this is sympomatic for the new era in the music biz,
where
artists with good contacts and backed by monay do not longer
have to
rely on large multinational record companies to record, release
and
promote an international album. But new times with new,
uncertain
technological solutions, none the least on the distribution
aspect,
also need ne ways of thinking and new solutions, none the least
financial solutions. Harket's stragegic partner is Atle Kigen at
Geelmuyden-Kiese (where brother Haakon Harket has been installed
as book
publisher) and impressario Petter Sandberg, who's running the
newly
founded Sirkus A/S which groups many musical artists (including
Harket)
and TV personalities.
In the mean time, Kigen does not have so much to report, ecxept
that he
has been asked to plan Harket's future international career.
It is interesting to point out that Sandberg, Harket's Norwegian
manager, has said before that Norwegian economy holds a lot of
money,
which can as well be invested in a musical artist or a soccer
team.
Sandberg and Sirkus A/S may now what could happen after big
investors
Christian Ringnes (1) and Einar Chr. Nagell-Erichsen have put
millions
in the company.
A lot is possible
It is therefore not unthinkable that many Norwegian investors
may be
interested in the Harket project.
For now, the details on Harket's new album remain vague. The
only thing
that is certain, is that Harket wants be free in respect to the
the
record biz, which he is more than tired of.
For example : Harket was extremely displeased when Warner
Music's
head-office didn't lift a finger to promote "Wild Seed"
internationally, even when the album itself sold 200000 copies
in
Norway alone. Harket himself claims that Warner in London
counteracted
him in the preparations for a second album.
Harket's releases after a-ha show that the man doesn't want to
bind
himself to one single record company. The album "Poetenes
Evangelium"
at Kirkelig Kulturverksted, "Wild Seed" at Warner Lusic Norway
and
"Vogt's Villa" at BMG Ariola were all produced and released
under
one-release contracts.
(1) Ringnes in the name of one of Norway's best known beers. I
suppose
this person belongs to that family/group, and if my mind serves
me
correctly the Ringnes family is one of the richest in Norway...
But I
could be wrong !!
(from VG, February 12, 1998 - translation by Sabine)
RICH THROUGH a-ha
It is difficult to say how much Morten Harket has earned during
the
a-ha adventure, but it was definitely a game of many, many
millions (of
krones).
Already the mansion just out of London, which Harket bought
after the
a-ha success, was worth ten million krones. In other words, it
is not
out of shortage of monay that Harket is now on the hunt for
investors.
Today, Harket owns two properties at Oslo's west side, which
together
costed barely 5 million krones. Harket announced that he would
move
back from England to Norway in November 1995. In the last two
months of
the past year, the popstar earned almost 300000 krones netto.
(From VG, February 12, 1998 - translation by Sabine)
HARKET'S RICH BUSINESS PARTNER
Morten Harket's new business partner Erik Henriksen is good for
half a
billion krones. Morten Harket is but a little fish compared to
his
childhood friend Erik Henriksen, who already dreamed of his very
own
tankship at the age of 7. When London broker Henriksen became 40
lat
year, Harket and Arne N¦ss, who is Henriksen's neighbour in
Switzerland
by the way, were two of the 120 guests invited to Champagne in
France.
"Morten Harket has an incredible intellect", Henriksen has said
about
his partner in Økonomisk Rapport ('Economical Report').
"Ever since I shot him in the chest with a (toy) arrow when we
were
playing cowboy and indian in the woods around Heggedal, we've
been
especially good friends", Henriksen continues.
Henriksen could also tell us that he was on the verge of
becoming
Harket's business partner.
"We will further develop his projects. There is a power
coalition in
the record business, and that is not good", Henriksen constataed.
He
thinks it is objectionable that Warner Music didn't succeed to
make the
album "Wild Seed" an international hit.
(From VG, February 12, 1998 - translation by Sabine)
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