Ivri Lider, Jonny Goldstein sign with Universal

Israeli sensations The Young Professionals sign a three-album deal with the world’s biggest record company.

By DAVID BRINN
Ivri Lider, Johnny Goldstein 311 (photo credit: Courtesy of PR)
Ivri Lider, Johnny Goldstein 311
(photo credit: Courtesy of PR)
Israeli club music sensations The Young Professionals – the project of partners Ivri Lider and Johnny Goldstein – have signed a three-album deal with Universal, the world’s biggest record company.
The deal is through Universal’s subsidiary, Polydor France, which will begin releasing their music in France and then to the rest of the world.
An electronic dance music and multi-media collaboration between one of the country’s top singer/songwriters Lider, and wunderkind producer/keyboardist Jonny Goldstein, TYP released its debut album 09:00 To 17:00, 17:00 To Whenever six months ago. Since then, thanks to a hit single “Disco” featuring a campy choreographed video, the duo has already made a splash beyond Israel’s borders, turning up on MTV’s regular rotation and gaining steam in European clubs.
“We discovered The Young Professionals a few months ago, and it didn’t take us long to know we wanted to sign them for the world, outside Israel,” Guenaël Geay, international marketing director of Polydor/ Universal Music France said in a statement.
“TYP is... kitsch flirting with design and humor, classy without being posh, funny but not coarse. Since there are no boundaries, the idea is now to turn TYP into a borders breaker, spreading their success to France, and hopefully the rest of the world in 2012.”
“Disco,” accompanied by new songs and special video content will be released in France this month, with the album to follow in coming months, with plans to break into other countries via Universal’s affiliates.
Lider and Goldstein said in the statement that the signing is “a dream come true” and they hope that it will open a path for other Israeli artists to be signed.
“Throughout my career, I’ve done a lot of different things, and electronic music is not something that’s new to me or to my fans – it’s all me,” Lider told The Jerusalem Post earlier this year upon the release of the album. It’s ironic that this version of him is finally making the world take notice.