September 03, 2009

By By Jen Wilson, London

Members of U.K. melodic rock outfit Snow Patrol have formed a new publishing venture, Polar Music. The venture is independent of their deal with Universal Music Publishing and will be administered by Kobalt Music in London.

The company aims to help nurture new songwriting talent without the pressure of a long-term contract. Lead singer Gary Lightbody, drummer Jonny Quinn and guitarist Nathan Connolly will all take on A&R duties.

"We intend to do one-album deals at a time so we don't tie anyone into a five-album deal because we've been through it ourselves," Quinn tells Billboard.biz. "Hopefully if we do a good job they'll come back and do another album with us."

Polar's first signing will be 32-year-old Johnny McDaid, formerly of Northern Ireland outfit Vega4. His CV already includes production on Ingrid Michaelson's "Grey's Anatomy"-featured song "Keep Breathing" and he is currently working with German dance producer Paul van Dyk, with the pair co-writing the finale song for the forthcoming 30th anniversary celebrations of the Berlin wall being torn down.

Quinn says finding suitable co-writes for McDaid is a priority and Snow Patrol plan to use their "connections" to make it happen.

Polar Music will not restrict its roster to any particular genre, as Quinn explains "there is no agenda - if it's good enough and we believe in it 110%, we will sign it."

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