John O'Donnell (born 1962) is a long-standing member of the
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
music industry. Starting as a freelance writer, he eventually became the
music editor of ''
Rolling Stone Australia
''Rolling Stone Australia'' is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...
'' before leaving to co-found and edit ''
Juice Magazine''.
In 1994 O'Donnell created the Murmur label for Sony Music Australia and went on to sign bands including
Silverchair,
Ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...
,
Jebediah
Jebediah are an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. They were formed by Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Bob Evans (musician), Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Vanessa T ...
and
Something for Kate. He later worked for Sony at the corporate level before leaving for
EMI Music Australia in 2002. Ultimately O'Donnell was the
CEO of
EMI in the
Oceania
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
region from 2002 until September 2008. Because O'Donnell's departure from EMI was quickly followed by the departure of many of its biggest selling artists (
Missy Higgins
Melissa Morrison "Missy" Higgins (born 19 August 1983) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her most popular singles include "Scar", " Steer", and " Where I Stood". Her Australian number-one albums are '' The Sound of White'' (2004 ...
,
Silverchair), the situation was interpreted by some in the media as symptomatic of the difficult takeover of EMI by
Terra Firma.
O'Donnell is also active in a number of industry bodies such as
ARIA
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
and
PPCA.
Management
In November 2009, O'Donnell and
John Watson announced that they were jointly assuming the management of one of Australia's longest running and most successful rock bands,
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...
.
Bibliography
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, John
1962 births
Living people
Australian music journalists
Australian record producers