Soli Deo Gloria
Sir John Eliot Gardiner's label, Soli Deo Gloria, was launched in January 2005 to make the performances of his 2000 Bach Cantatas Pilgrimage with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists available to the CD-buying public.

Our approach to the launch campaign took advantage of the fact that SDG would be the first label set up by a musician of John Eliot's profile and stature. This represented a natural next step, after the creation of orchestras' own labels, in the evolution of the recording industry. We succeeded in interesting The Guardian in this angle who devoted the whole of page 3 in the main body of the newspaper to the story. The result was that press interest was ignited around the world, and the first release, SDG 101, won the Gramophone Record of the Year Award for 2005.

We have maintained this momentum for all subsequent releases, ensuring that the project didn't disappear from the mind of the public after the initial impact had been made. We have also replicated the PR success of this story in international territories, so that the SDG label maintains a consistently high profile worldwide, each release generating massive interest and widespread critical acclaim in what is a competitive field.

Ruth Palmer
Ruth first became a client several years ago, on the occasion of her Wigmore Hall debut. She then engaged our services again for the launch of her first CD, a recording of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto and Violin Sonata. We attracted a huge amount of attention from the press. The CD featured as Classic FM Magazine's Concerto Recording of the Month and Ruth was also profiled in Gramophone's One To Watch column. There were reviews in all the music magazines, as well as the Independent on Sunday, the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and BBC Radio 3's CD Review.

As was the case with Soli Deo Gloria, the challenge was to find an approach that would attract the attention of the press. In this instance the story was of a young, passionate, hugely talented musician who refused to give up on her dreams of becoming a solo violinist. In a show of great confidence and determination, Ruth, on her own, raised a large sum of money to hire no less than the Philharmonia Orchestra to record, produce and market her own disc.

After the critical success of the CD release, we wanted to maintain campaign momentum, so we lobbied actively for Ruth to be nominated for, and then to win, the Classical Brits' Young Performer of the Year award. Since that win in early May, which attracted eager press attention in, among other places, Canada, the United States and Japan, Ruth has been offered a tour of Japan and concerts in the UK. There has also been considerable interest shown by various record labels.

The potent combination of her musical talents and determination coupled with Albion’s ability to tell her story persuasively with maximum use of our contacts has started Ruth an assured international career.