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User:Mmapetrol/CM Murphy

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CM Murphy is one of Australia's most successful music and multimedia entrepreneurs.

Murphy began his career at the age of 17 and over the next two decades, he transformed his family's theatrical booking agency into a multi faceted international music business with offices across the globe.

Best known for steering the career of rock group, INXS, he took the band out of the pubs of Sydney and onto world stages, while selling more than 30 million albums worldwide. INXS went on to become the only Australian act ever to headline their own sold out show at the world famous, Wembley Stadium. Over the course of directing INXS' trajectory, Murphy was acknowledged as one of the top 4 managers in the music business worldwide. BRW magazine awarded him the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year title in 1987, at the age of 33. Murphy also oversaw the rise of The Models, driving them to achieve their only two Top 5 hits.

In the 90's, Murphy sold his publishing company, MMA Music, to Polygram Music Publishing. With over a quarter of a million titles in it's catalogue, the company included numerous hits from many of the world's most successful artists. Renowned for his star spotting skills, Murphy, signed a number of up and coming Australian acts to his independent record label, rooArt, which went on to have phenomenal success. Signings Ratcat and You Am I both achieved simultaneous Number 1 single and album positions on the ARIA charts. These performances along with acts including Wendy Matthews and The Screaming Jets transformed rooArt into the number one record label in Australia and the subject of the largest record industry joint venture ever done in Australia. He concluded the deal with entertainment giant, Time Warner Inc, in 1992.

In 1995, Murphy resigned his position with INXS due to family reasons. Not one to lie idle, he embarked upon a number of business ventures. He purchased a 50% stake in Australian Style magazine and invested in Sydney radio station, 2SM. Over the next 4 years, 2SM's earnings doubled and Australian Style increased by 40%. Always innovative and one to spot new business opportunities, Murphy was attracted to digital technology and was one of the first to spot the potential of this market. This lead to the formation of Australia's first digital music broadcasting company, Digital One in 1999. He also oversaw the first interactive audio service available via mobile phone. From here, Petrol Records Pty Ltd emerged in 2001.

CM Murphy travelled around the world searching for the most exotic music and sounds he could find to create a number of world music compilations. The series sold massive amounts and produced over 500 Top 20 hits. This success lead to deals with Time Warner LIFE and Apple iTunes and a Grammy Award nomination. Another of his successful ventures was the "Not Lost in Translation" series, accessing foreign language for youth culture zeitgeists. This series achieved a staggering 7 out of the Top 10 downloads on iTunes in the US and earned CM Murphy the 2009 NSW Premiers Award for Export for Arts & Entertainment.

After 15 years apart, Murphy rejoined forces with INXS, signing them to Petrol Electric and realising the highly acclaimed project, "Original Sin". The project took nearly two years to complete and set about re‐imagining some of the band's most outstanding songs with some of the world’s most outstanding vocalists.


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