Melbourne, Australia — Paul Dainty is embarking on a new voyage in artist management.
The legendary Australian concert promoter joins forces with his son, Sam Dainty, on Voyager Management Group, which launches proper with its first signing, Charly Oakley.
Voyager was initially created with Brian Walsh, the late publicist and executive director of television at pay-TV platform Foxtel, and is completely separate to TEG Dainty, which Paul Dainty continues to lead.
The new venture serves to oversee several agencies, including IMC and Mark Gogoll Artists, and Monument Management, explains Sam Dainty, a film and TV professional who came on to board in 2022 to help operate the business and was mentored largely by Walsh, who passed in 2023.
“Charly is the first artist Paul has managed and the first artist signed to us,” Sam Dainty tells Billboard. “We had hoped to do this further down the line but when we discovered Charly we were just so impressed and wanted to get moving.”
Paul Dainty knows something about talent. The U.K.-born impresario has forged an impressive career in his adopted homeland, producing tours and concerts with the world’s leading rock and pop artists, and selling more than 50 million tickets along the way.
The Melbourne-based executive established the Dainty Group/Dainty Corporation in the early 1970s, and got on a roll early on with the Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Cat Stevens and the Jackson Five. Dainty produced the Rolling Stones’ tour of 1973, a visit that would set up the success that followed.
It was Dainty who produced ABBA’s 1977 tour of Australia, a visit that remains the stuff of legend. Through the friendships made on that trip, ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus entrusted Dainty to tour Mamma Mia! 25 years later.
Dainty has also produced tours for the likes of Paul McCartney, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem, David Bowie, George Michael, Prince, Katy Perry, and Britney Spears, and expanded the business into international markets.
He continues to serve as president and CEO of TEG Dainty, which, since 2016, has been a part of the TEG Group. The following year, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), and in 2023, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his “distinguished service to the community”. Upcoming TEG Dainty shows include national treks by Ricky Martin, Oprah, and Richard Marx.
A 22-year-old pop singer and songwriter, Oakley celebrates their new deal with the release of a debut single “Against The Odds” through AWAL. Oakley will support the release with a launch show next Thursday, Oct. 30 at Night Cat in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Oakley is a special artist with the world at their feet, Sam Dainty reckons.
“We believe that Australian talent is extremely under-represented on a global stage, we have ambition for Charly in the future to be a huge name and figure in the music world,” Dainty says. “We have been able to give Charly the platform to receive feedback, help and guidance from not only us but huge names in the music industry and they have confirmed out belief in the artist and now it is time for the world to begin to hear the music.”
