Dub dot dash

Flying Finn
The SST has a story on Neil Finn fronting some dosh to help Roger Shepherd buy back Flying Nun, headed "Finn helps finance rebirth of Flying Nun cult record label." Finn is now a part owner of the label. I posted back in mid January on the behind the scene machinations of the FNun deal, after a disgruntled Ben Howe of Arch Hill Records talked about how he had been working behind the scenes with Shepherd on the deal, til it all went pearshaped (which he alludes to) and Howe got the boot. 

As the SST notes... "... [Shephard's) 11th-hour decision to cut out local record label owner Ben Howe from the deal, scuppering a two-year "gentleman's agreement" to purchase the label together, led to a rift between the men and prompted others in the industry to urge them to resolve their differences.

Howe, the founder of Auckland-based independent label Arch Hill Records, has been blogging about the failed partnership. He says he "put considerable time, expertise and cash" into the proposal since learning in 2007 that Warners was open to selling the label. The pair agreed Shepherd would front the talks with Warner, while Howe would do the budgets, fund the expenses and help reintroduce Shepherd to the industry, in which "a lot had changed in the 10 years he had been away".

Howe had been blindsided by a call from Shepherd last November, on the day he had flown him from Wellington for talks with Warner. "He said he was doing it on his own," said Howe. "It was a business decision and he wanted to look after his own interests."

Shepherd said the failed partnership was "really unfortunate" and offered to reimburse the funds Howe had invested in the partnership, which were "not substantial". "I know I managed it badly. Ben's got a right to be upset. But at the end of the day, it was a rather unfortunate, ugly commercial decision that had to be made."