Soundtrax and Mana Music merge to form one-stop music services business Franklin Road

Music composition and audio production company Soundtrax, and music supervision and licensing company Mana Music have merged.

The companies, both veterans of music services to the film, television and advertising industry, have become Franklin Road, a one-stop music services business.

Franklin Rd will offer composition, music supervision and licensing, and audio post services under one roof. It will be run by joint managing directors Stacey Thomas Wah and Jonathan Hughes (pictured).

Wah is a director and producer at Soundtrax with more than 15 yearsaudio production experience to her name, while Hughes is a partner inMana and has a background in music marketing and artist management inNew Zealand and England.

The merger, says Wah, is a beautiful marriage: “We’d been workingtogether on an ad-hoc basis over the last few months, with each of usstepping into the other’s domain, and it started to make sense toconsider moving in together.”

Adds Hughes: “We all liked the idea of starting afresh and being able to create a full-service music offering.”

Franklin Rd will operate from new purpose-built offices and studios at84-86 Franklin Rd in Auckland’s Freemans Bay, on the right side goingup.

Soundtrax’s Jim Hall and Mana’s Chris Gough will remain as shareholders of the new enterprise alongside Wah and Hughes.

Hall, whose body of work includes Gold Clios, Axis and Cannes Lionsawards for a host of blue chip New Zealand advertisers, will also takea role as one of two in-house composers. Gough will consult to FranklinRd in much the same way as he has been doing lately with Mana in NewZealand.

The merger excites both Hall and Gough. “Both companies encompass agreat deal of experience in their respective fields and we believeStacey and Jonathan working together will provide an outstanding levelof service and commitment to clients,” Gough says.

For Hall, it brings a great sense of relief and freedom: “Phew!Soundtrax began life as purely a support system for me as a composer,but in 25 years had grown to be far more than this. Franklin Road givesme the freedom to go back to concentrate on doing what I love which iswriting and recording music. It’s something I’ve had my heart set onfor about twenty years.”

Franklin Rd will also bring Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper (M.Mus) to the foldas a second in-house composer. Mahuia is a classically-trained composerand multi-instrumentalist who has most recently been working withLiquid Studios on advertising campaigns including VW, Kia, McDonalds,Farmers, AA Insurance and Sky TV among others.

All full-time staff from Soundtrax and Mana will move to Franklin Rd,with the exception of Mana’s Savina Kim who will hang her Mana hat upto focus 100 per cent on Native Tongue Music Publishing’s New Zealandoperation. (Native Tongue’s contact details will remain the same.)

Franklin Rd’s new doors will open for business Monday January 18.

Franklin Rd’s new contact details are:

84-86 Franklin Rd

Freemans Bay

Auckland 1011

New Zealand

Telephone +64 9 370 0414 (from January 18)

Facsimile + 64 9 370 0430 (from January 18)

Stacey Thomas Wah +64 21 498 322 / stacey@franklinrd.co.nz

Jonathan Hughes +64 21 952 937 / jonathan@franklinrd.co.nz

Web: www.franklinrd.co.nz