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These days, many in the music business are trying to harness the power of the “superfan” — the highly engaged segment of an artist’s audience that regularly shows up to concerts, buys t-shirts, orders physical albums and obsesses over the artist online. In the digital marketing space, that has meant agencies are increasingly turning their attention to fan pages, hoping to capture the attention of that top tier of listeners online.
“The TikTok influencer campaign has been front and center for marketing songs for a while,” says Ethan Curtis, founder of PushPlay, a digital marketing agency that has promoted songs like “Bad Habit” by Steve Lacy, “Golden Hour” by JVKE and “Glimpse of Us” by Joji. “But as it’s gotten more saturated and more expensive, we found there was interest in creating your own fan pages where you can have total control of the narrative.”
“Fan pages” made sneakily by artists’ teams may have become the digital campaign du jour in the last year or so, but the idea isn’t new. Even before TikTok took over music discovery, management and digital teams quietly used anonymous accounts to pose as fans on sites like Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter, sharing interviews, videos and other content around the artists because, as Curtis puts it, “It is a space you can own.”
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Curtis is now taking that concept a step further with his innovative, albeit controversial, new company WtrCoolr, a spinoff of his digital firm that’s dedicated to creating “fan fiction” pages for artists. To put it simply, WtrCoolr is hired to create viral-worthy fake stories about their clients, which include Shaboozey and Young Nudy, among others. While Curtis says he is open to creating videos with all kinds of “imaginative” new narratives, he says he draws the line at any fan fiction that could be “negative” or “cause backlash” for the people featured in the videos.
The results speak for themselves. One popular WtrCoolr-made TikTok video that falsely claimed that Dolly Parton is Shaboozey’s godmother has 1.1 million views and 121,500 likes to date. Posted to the digital agency’s fan account @ShaboozeysVault, Curtis says that the popular video was made by splicing together old interview clips of the artists, along with some AI voiceovers.
“We are huge fans of pop culture, fan fiction and satire,” says Curtis. “We see it as creating our own version of a Marvel Universe but with pop stars.”
All of the TikTok accounts made by WtrCoolr note in their bios that their content is “fan fiction.” The videos on these pages also include “Easter eggs,” which Curtis says point to the fact that the videos are fabrications. But plenty of fans are still falling for it. Many viewers of the Parton video, for example, took it as gospel truth, posting comments like “how many god children does Dolly have and where can I sign up?” and “Dolly is an angel on Earth.”
In the future, Curtis thinks this novel form of “fan fiction” will be useful beyond just trying to engage fan bases online. He sees potential for the pages to serve as “a testing ground” for real-life decisions — like an artist choosing to collaborate with another — to see how the fan base would react. “Traditionally, you don’t get to look before you jump,” he says. “Maybe in the future we will.”
What was the first “fan fiction” post that took off for WtrCoolr?
It was the video of Shaq being a superfan to the rapper Young Nudy [10.4 million views, 1.7 million likes on TikTok]. We had been working on [promoting] the Young Nudy song, “Peaches & Eggplants,” mostly on the influencer side. We had dances and all sorts of different trends going. It was becoming a top rap song by that point and then we sold the client [Young Nudy’s team] on doing one of these fan pages where we just tested out a bunch of stuff. The first narrative video we tried was this video where we found some footage of Shaq — I think it was at Lollapalooza — where he was in the front of the crowd [for a different artist], vibing and head banging. It was a really funny visual. We just got clever with the editing and created the story that Shaq was showing up at every Young Nudy show, and then it went crazy viral.
It was really exciting to see. It brought fans to Nudy and also made existing Nudy fans super excited that Shaq was engaging. Then there was tons of goodwill for Shaq that came from it too. Lots of comments like “protect Shaq at all costs” or “Shaq’s a damn near perfect human being.” It was all around a positive experience. We put on our pages that this is a fan page and fan fiction. We don’t really push that it’s the truth. We’re just having fun and we let that be known.
There was some pickup after that video went viral. Weren’t there some rap blogs posting about the video and taking it as truth?
I don’t know if they were taking it as true necessarily. We didn’t really have any conversations with anyone, but it was definitely getting shared all around — whether it was because of that or just because it was such a funny video. Even Nudy reacted and thought it was funny. I think the label may have reached out to Shaq and invited him to a show, and he thought it was funny but was on the other side of the country that day and couldn’t make it.
I’m sure there’s some people who thought it was true, but a lot of the videos we’ll put Easter eggs at the end that make it obvious that it’s not true. Then in our bios we write that it is fan fiction.
Do you think that there’s anything bad that could come from fans and blogs believing these videos are real — only to later realize later that it was fake?
I don’t know if anything is really bad. We don’t claim for it to be true, and we’re just having fun, weaving stories and basically saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if?” or, “Wouldn’t it be heartwarming if?” I don’t think we’re really ever touching on stuff that’s of any importance, that could lead to any negative energy or backlash. We’re just trying to make fun stuff that fans enjoy. Just fun little moments. It’s no different from taking a video out of context and slapping meme headings on it.
Do you see this as the future of memes?
I do. I also think there’s a future where what we’re doing becomes sort of like a testing ground for real-life collabs or TV show concepts. I could see a label coming to us and asking us to test how a new post-beef collab between Drake and Kendrick would be received, for example. They could say, “Can you create a post about this and we can see if people turn on Kendrick for backtracking, or if fans will lose their shit over them coming together?” We could see if it’s a disaster or potentially the biggest release of their careers. Traditionally, you don’t get to look before you jump. Maybe in the future we will. But even now with the Shaq video, it basically proved that if Shaq went to an unexpected show and was raging in the front row people would love it. I mean, if it’s been so successful on socials, why wouldn’t it be so successful in real life?
It seemed like the Shaboozey and Dolly Parton video inserted Shaboozey’s name and other new phrases using an AI voice filter. Do you rely on AI in these videos a lot or is it primarily about careful editing?
The majority of it is just clever editing. Every now and then we may change a word up or something [using AI], but the majority of it is just collaging clips together.
How time intensive is it to create these videos?
The process has been changing. It used to be much more time intensive back before we realized that clever editing was more efficient. In the beginning, we would write scripts for the videos, run them through AI and then try to find clips to match the scripts and stuff like that. You have to match the edit up with the artist’s lips so it looks like lip synching. That’s just super time intensive. Then we started realizing that it’s easier to just define a basic objective, go out on the internet and see what we can find. We develop a story from there so that we only have to do a few fake [AI-assisted] words here and there, and then we’ll cut away from the video, show some footage from a music video or something like that. It makes it more efficient.
As far as you know, is WtrCoolr the first team in digital marketing that is trying to do these false-narrative, storytelling videos, or is this something that is seen all over the internet?
We were definitely the first to do it. There’s definitely people that are imitating it now. We see it generally in the content that exists online, especially on meme pages. It’s becoming part of the culture.
Do you run your ideas for fan fiction narratives by the artist before you do them?
We’re working with them, and we’re talking through ideas. There’s as much communication as they want. Some artists want to know what’s going on, but some artists just don’t care to be involved.
It seems like, so far, no one has had any issues with being used in the videos — they even see this positively — but are you concerned about the legal implications of using someone’s likeness to endorse an artist or idea that they haven’t really endorsed?
We’re not claiming it to be true. We include disclaimers that it’s just fan fiction. So, I think if we were claiming for it to be true then that’s a different story, but that’s not what we are doing.
That’s listed on all the page bios, but it isn’t listed on the actual video captions, right?
It’s listed on the profiles, and then a lot of videos we just do Easter eggs at the end that make it sort of apparent that it’s a joke.
I found the idea that you mentioned earlier to be interesting — the idea that you could test out collaborations or things without having to get the artist involved initially, whether it’s Drake and Kendrick collaborating or something else. It reminds me of when people tease a song before they slate it for official release. Do you feel that is a fair comparison?
Totally. What TikTok did for song teasing, this has done for situation teasing.
This story was published as part of Billboard’s new music technology newsletter ‘Machine Learnings.’ Sign up for ‘Machine Learnings,’ and Billboard’s other newsletters, here.
Vans and a Brooklyn art collective have reached a settlement to end a long-running trademark lawsuit over Tyga‘s “Wavy Baby” sneakers – a parody of the company’s classic Old Skool.
Vans claimed the shoe, released in 2022 by a group called MSCHF, was “blatant” infringement. The creators argued it was legal parody protected by the First Amendment since it was designed to criticize “sneakerhead” consumerist culture. But federal courts repeatedly ruled for Vans.
On Tuesday, attorneys for both sides told a federal judge they had agreed to resolve the lawsuit. MSCHF agreed that the “Wavy Baby” had infringed Vans’ trademarks and agreed to never sell it again. Other terms of the “confidential settlement agreement,” including a potential monetary payment, were not disclosed in court filings. Neither side immediately returned request for comment.
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Tyga announced the Wavy Baby in April 2022, sparking plenty of buzz but also immediate comparisons to Vans. Footwear News said the shoe “appears to be loosely based on the classic Vans Old Skool” that had been altered with a “wave-like aesthetic.” The site HighSnobiety went with a bolder headline: “MSCHF & Tyga’s Insane Skate Shoes Look Like Liquified Vans.”
Three days before the shoes were set to drop, Vans filed a lawsuit – claiming MSCHF’s sneakers violated its trademark rights and demanding an immediate restraining order. The lawsuit targeted only MSCHF itself and did not name Tyga (real name: Micheal Stevenson) as a defendant.
Legal trouble was nothing new for MSCHF: the group had previously partnered with Lil Nas X to release a “Satan Shoe” that looked like a pair of Nikes – and had been promptly hit with a similar infringement lawsuit from that sneaker giant. They quickly reached a settlement that saw MSCHF issue voluntary recall on the shoes and offer a buy-back program.
In the case over Tyga’s sneaker, Vans argued that consumers would think Wavy Baby was an authorized product artist endorsement deal rather than a parody by a separate company. The company cited previous partnerships with A$AP Rocky, Metallica and Foo Fighters.
“Given Vans’ history of collaborations with musical artists, on information and belief, the collaboration between MSCHF and Michael Stevenson is intended to deceive consumers into believing they are purchasing a product made by, sponsored by, approved by, or otherwise associated with Vans,” the company’s lawyers wrote at the time.
Unlike the Nike case, MSCHF fought back against the case filed by Vans. It admitted that the Wavy Baby was based on the Old Skool, but said it had a legal right under the First Amendment to use the shoe as “the cultural and physical anchor when creating its art.” The company said it wanted to critique “consumerism inherent in sneakerhead culture” and “the phenomenon of sneaker companies collaborating with anyone to garner clout and shoe sales.”
But a federal judge quickly rejected those arguments and issued a restraining order banning MSCHF from selling any more Wavy Babys. In issuing his ruling, Judge William F. Kuntz said that he – and, more importantly, consumers – didn’t quite get the joke.
“Whatever the actual artistic merits of the Wavy Baby shoes, the shoes do not meet the requirements for a successful parody,” the judge wrote in his April 2022 decision. “While the manifesto accompanying the shoes may contain protected parodic expression, the Wavy Baby shoes and packaging in and of themselves fail to convey the satirical message.”
A federal appeals court later upheld that ruling.
Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communication is launching a new master’s degree in music business in 2025. The addition expands on the undergraduate program in the recording and entertainment industries. Both degree programs are named after renowned music publishing executive and former head of Sony Music Publishing Martin (Marty) Bandier, who graduated from Syracuse in 1962. […]
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired what it describes as “select publishing assets” belonging to singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy, whose credits include Bruno Mars hits like “That’s What I Like,” Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” and Ciara’s “Love Sex Magic.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A four-time Grammy winner — including song of the year and best R&B song for “That’s What I Like” — Fauntleroy has worked with Rihanna, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Drake, SZA, Nipsey Hussle, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar, among many others. Most recently, he helped write “Die with a Smile,” the new single from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.
Fauntleroy is also a member of the songwriter/producer/musician collective 1500 or Nothin’ and a co-founder of the 1500 Sound Academy, a music school for aspiring young talent that’s based in his hometown of Inglewood.
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“James Fauntleroy has made an incredible impact with his contributions across several genres,” said HarbourView founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares. “With a keen ear for creating global hits, he has solidified his position as one of the best singer/songwriters and producers of this generation.”
HarbourView has scooped up over 60 music catalogs since forming in 2021, including assets by Christine McVie, Brad Paisley, Jeremih, Nelly, Luis Fonsi, Pat Benatar, Wiz Khalifa and, most recently, OneRepublic collaborator Noel Zancanella. Beyond music, the Newark-based investment firm also pounces on opportunities across the entertainment, sports and media sectors.
In a statement, Fauntleroy called the sale of publishing assets to HarbourView the “culmination of years of work and dedication invested into the creative community and the craft of songwriting,” adding, “This partnership has already opened up more doors for growth and opportunity for me, and I’m incredibly excited and thankful to enter into this next chapter together.”
MELBOURNE, Australia — Veteran live entertainment professional Meagan (Meg) Walker will join ASM Global (APAC) later this year as group director of arena operations.
Effective Oct. 10, ASM Global will join the venues management specialist from Live Nation, with responsibilities for the company’s arena network in Australia while supporting other arena venues in the region, reads a statement, with a focus on event acquisition, operational planning for best practice patron experience and event delivery.
Walker’s resume includes senior management roles with some of Australia’s most successful venues including Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, John Cain Arena and Palais Theatre.
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In her new role, Walker replaces Tim Worton, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
“The depth and scale of Meg’s experience in the operation of major events and live entertainment is the perfect fit to lead our portfolio of world class arenas, frequently featured in Billboard, Pollstar and Rolling Stone,” ASM APAC chairman and CEO Harvey Lister says.“Both Meg Walker and Tim Worton have long been recognized as legends in the industry and we are so fortunate to be the recipients of their expertise and professionalism as part of our management team.“Meg has proven to be an accomplished event professional with strategic and collaborative leadership skills.”
One of Walker’s great talents, says Lister, is the ability to mentor the next generation of aspiring venue managers, which will be a key part of her role to support the company’s continuing growth.
The company is currently enjoying “exponential growth and development” for its portfolio of entertainment venues in Australia, the Asia Pacific and MENA regions. Worldwide, ASM Global operates over 400 venues on five continents.
“I look forward to contributing to the ongoing strong performance and growth of the ASM Global portfolio by collaborating with all stakeholders and supporting the team to achieve their personal and professional goals,” adds Walker, “while ensuring ASM arenas maintain their world’s best practice reputation.”
Worton, meanwhile, is leaving the live entertainment industry for a new career path. As previously reported, he will step away from ASM Global at year’s end, at which time he will enter 12 months’ full-time studies at Moore Theological College in Sydney. When completed, Worton will endeavor to work in a pastoral, chaplaincy or ministry role.
Sydney-based Worton has logged 33 years in the entertainment business, including 25 years with ASM Global (previously AEG Ogden). For the past 19 years, he has served as the venues and event management specialist’s group director of arenas for APAC. Worton will work with Walker during the transition.
SiriusXM signed a multi-year agreement with podcast star Alex Cooper that will give the company exclusive advertising and distribution rights to Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast as well as other titles under Unwell Audio Network, a production house she founded in 2023. Cooper became a leading Gen Z media figure when Call Her Daddy launched […]
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Taylor Swift’s legal options after Donald Trump falsely claims she endorsed him; a guilty plea for YoungBoy Never Broke Again on a federal gun charge; Mariah Carey’s arguments to dismiss a copyright case over “All I Want For Christmas”; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Will Taylor Protect Her … Reputation?
When Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted AI-generated images to social media that falsely suggested Taylor Swift had endorsed him, many Swifties and Democrats asked the same question all at once: Can she sue him? After all, Taylor is no MAGA fan. In 2020, she urged her legions of fans to vote Trump out of office, blasting him for “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism” and endorsing then-candidate Joe Biden. The superstar hasn’t endorsed anybody yet in 2024, but you can be pretty certain that it’s not going to be Trump. But there it was: an AI-generated image of Swift herself, dressed up as Uncle Sam in the style of a World War II-era recruiting poster, bearing a clear message: “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” At the top of the post, Trump himself responded to the apparent endorsement: “I accept!” Can Taylor file a lawsuit? On what grounds? And should she do so? Go read our full story here to find out.
Other top stories this week…
YOUNGBOY GUILTY PLEA – YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) notified a judge that he would plead guilty to a federal gun charge that has seen him held under house arrest for more than two years while awaiting trial. But the deal won’t resolve dozens of newer charges in Utah over claims that he ran a “large scale prescription fraud ring” while living under house arrest. CLASS DISMISSED – Adidas AG won a ruling tossing out a class action that claimed the company violated U.S. securities laws by failing to warn shareholders about internal offensive behavior from Ye (formerly Kanye West) before the company split with him in 2022. Though the judge said she did not condone his “erratic, inappropriate, and antisemitic” behavior and said it was “troubling” that it had happened at Adidas, she ruled that the company’s actions didn’t rise to securities fraud: “The question before this court is not whether to admonish Ye or hold Adidas morally accountable for Ye’s conduct.” SAMPLE SETTLEMENT – Elsewhere in Kanye-world, the rapper reached a settlement in a copyright lawsuit that accused him of using an uncleared sample from the pioneering rap group Boogie Down Productions in his song “Life of the Party.” The case was one of more than a dozen such cases he’s faced during his career, including a high-profile battle with the estate of Donna Summer that settled earlier this year. GRACELAND SCAM – A Missouri woman named Lisa Jeanine Findley was arrested and charged with attempting to defraud the family of Elvis Presley and steal their ownership interest in Graceland. The alleged scheme is what led to the bizarre, largely unexplained incident that saw the famed Memphis mansion seemingly put up for auction earlier this summer. NO MORE YSL TRIAL? As Young Thug’s gang trial drags on in Atlanta, a Republican challenger to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis now says she will end the case if she’s elected. In a statement, Courtney Kramer said the trial against Thug’s YSL was designed to “bring fame” to Willis rather than “bring justice to the community,” and that it’s resulted in “endless amounts of taxpayer dollars” being spent “on a prosecution that is based almost entirely on witnesses with little to no credibility.” HIPGNOSIS SUES MANILOW – Hipgnosis Song Fund filed a lawsuit against Barry Manilow in U.K. court over bonus payments relating to its acquisition of the singer’s catalog four years ago, accusing the singer of breach of contract and other wrongdoing over a deal that saw the company buy the rights to 917 songs including “Mandy,” “Looks Like We Made It” and many others. CHRISTMAS CLASH – Mariah Carey asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit claiming she stole her perennial holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” from an earlier song of the same name by songwriter Vince Vance. The star’s lawyers argued that the two songs share only “an unprotectable jumble of elements,” including “a title and hook phrase used by many earlier Christmas songs,” a series of “Christmas tropes” and other rudimental elements “scattered throughout these completely different songs.” RONDO DRUG PLEA – Rapper Quando Rondo pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana, resolving an indictment issued in December that saddled him with more extensive charges involving conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine. State gang and drug charges are still pending against him.
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Symphonic Distribution has forged a partnership with AI attribution and license management company, Musical AI, that will allow its users to become part of a licensed dataset used in AI training. Joining the dataset is a choice that Symphonic users must opt-in to and participating artists can earn additional income for their contribution.
Musical AI’s goal is to clean up what it calls the “Wild West of AI” by providing a way to track every time an AI model uses a given song in the dataset in hopes that this will help compensate the proper copyright owner for each time their work is employed by the AI model. Symphonic is the first major rights holder to partner with Musical AI, and Musical AI’s co-founder and COO Matt Adell says his team is currently “build[ing] a new layer based on attribution and security for training AI to the benefit of all involved.”
The AI training process is one of the most contentious areas of the burgeoning tech field. To learn how to generate realistic results, generative AI models must train on millions, if not billions, of works. Often, this includes copyrighted material that the AI company has not licensed or otherwise paid for. Today, many of the world’s biggest AI companies, including ChatGPT creator OpenAI and music AI generators Suno and Udio, take the stance that ingesting this copyrighted material is a form of “fair use” and that compensation is not required. Many copyright owners, however, believe that AI companies must obtain their consent prior to using their works and that they should receive some form of compensation.
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Already, this issue has sparked major legal battles in the music business. The three major music companies — Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music — filed a lawsuit against Suno and Udio in June, arguing that training on their copyrights without permission or compensation was a form of widespread copyright infringement. A similar argument was made in a 2023 lawsuit filed by UMG, Concord, and ABKCO against Anthropic for allegedly using their copyrighted lyrics in training without proper licenses.
According to a spokesperson for the companies, one AI firm, who wishes to remain anonymous, has already signed up to use the Symphonic-affiliated dataset, and in the future, the dataset will likely be used by more. Artists who wish to participate can only opt-in if they totally control their own publishing and records to ensure there are no rights issues.
Licenses made between AI companies, Musical AI and Symphonic will vary, but ultimately that license will stipulate a certain percentage of revenue made will belong to rights holders represented in the dataset. Musical AI will create an attribution report that details how each song in the dataset was used by the AI company, and then AI companies will either pay out rights holders directly or through Musical AI, depending on what their deal looks like.
“Symphonic’s catalog has clear value to AI companies who need both excellent music by passionate artists and a broad representation of genres and sounds,” says Adell. “We’re thrilled to make them our first major rights holder partner.”
“We strive to make our services the most advanced in the business to support our artists. But any new technology needs to work for our artists and clients — not against them,” adds Jorge Brea, founder and CEO of Symphonic. “By partnering with Musical AI, we’re unlocking a truly sustainable approach to generative AI that honors our community.”
Ye (formerly Kanye West) has reached a settlement in a copyright lawsuit that accused him of using an uncleared sample from the pioneering rap group Boogie Down Productions in his song “Life of the Party.”
In court documents filed Monday, attorneys for both sides agreed that Ye should be dismissed from the case, with each side to pay their own legal bills. No other terms of the agreement were disclosed publicly, and neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
The Boogie Down lawsuit was one of more than a dozen such cases that have been filed against Ye over claims of unlicensed sampling or interpolating during his prolific career. The controversial rapper has faced nine such infringement cases since 2019 alone, including a high-profile battle with estate of Donna Summer that settled earlier this year.
Filed in November 2022, the current lawsuit was lodged by Phase One Network, the group that owns Boogie Down’s copyrights, over allegations that Ye had used incorporated key aspects from the 1986 song “South Bronx” into “Life of the Party,” which was released on his 2021album Donda.
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Echoing several other sampling lawsuits against Ye, Phase One claimed that the rapper’s representatives had reached out to legally clear the use of the Boogie Down song – but then released it anyway when a deal was never struck.
“The communications confirmed that ‘South Bronx’ had been incorporated into the infringing track even though West had yet to obtain such license,” Phase One’s lawyers wrote. “Despite the fact that final clearance for use of ‘South Bronx’ in the infringing track was never authorized, the infringing track was nevertheless reproduced, sold, distributed, publicly performed and exploited.”
Last summer, attorneys for Ye fought back with an unusual argument: That Boogie Down founder KRS-One had publicly promised all future rappers that “you will not get sued” over sampling the group’s catalog. They cited a 2006 documentary called The Art of 16 Bars, in which KRS-One said “I give to all MCs my entire catalogue.”
Phase One later called that a “bizarre argument,” noting that, when the documentary was made, KRS-One didn’t actually own the music he was claiming to place in the public domain: “Movants cite to no law to support such a theory. KRS-One also could not have placed the Work in the public domain as he did not own it.”
Following Monday’s agreement, Ye and his Yeezy LLC will be dropped from the lawsuit but the case will continue against other several defendants, including the company behind the Stem Player platform on which the song was allegedly released.
Warner Records has signed Madrid-based pop singer and multi-instrumentalist Rusowsky via a joint venture with Rusia IDK, an artist collective led by Rusowsky and singer-producer Ralphie Choo.
Rusowsky (real name Ruslan Mediavilla) is a well-known figure in Madrid’s alternative music scene. He started releasing music in 2019 and has since collaborated with artists including C. Tangana, DELLAFUENTE and Choo; he’s also played festivals including AXE Ceremonia, Sonar and Lollapalooza in South America. According to a press release, he’s racked up more than 115 million global streams across his catalog.
“This partnership is emblematic of Warner Records’ storied history as a home for true artists across all genres,” said Jackson Harris, manager of A&R at Warner Records, in a statement. “Rusowsky and RUSIA IDK are inspiring a musical and cultural revolution. From head-turning music to mesmerizing live performances, I’m excited for new audiences to learn about these brilliant musicians.”
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Added RUSIA IDK founder Manuel Jubera Suárez: “This is an unprecedented partnership that not only marks a before and after in the Spanish music scene, but also represents a key to enter the American market. The intention is to open new doors for Spanish music, bringing its essence and diversity to a global stage. Thanks to Aaron Bay-Schuck, Tom Corson, Jeff Sosnow and Jackson Harris. And, of course, it would never have been possible without mori, DRUMMIE, Ralphie Choo, Rusowsky and TRISTÁN!, the true essence of RUSIA-IDK.”
Rusowsky is represented by agent Devin Landau at TBA.
Elsewhere…
Katharine McPhee signed a label deal with Nashville-based company Melody Place, which will release new music from the singer and actress early next year. McPhee is slated to make her Grand Ole Opry debut on Oct. 12.
U.K. band The Last Dinner Party signed with PPL for the collection of their international neighboring rights royalties. In February, the five-piece group notched a No. 1 album in the United Kingdom with their debut studio set Prelude to Ecstasy. According to a press release, the band accumulated more than 688,000 seconds of airplay between April 2023 and May 2024, with the majority (62%) of that coming from their debut single “Nothing Matters.”
PULSE Records signed former America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal. The label released her new single, “Call It What You Want,” on Friday (Aug. 16); it will be followed by an album next spring. VanderWaal is managed by Brad Cohen at Raw Material and booked by Janet Kim at UTA.
BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville signed country singer-songwriter Lanie Gardner, who first rose to attention with her rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” She was recently featured on the Twisters soundtrack with the track “Chasing the Wind” and is slated to tour with Jelly Roll and ZZ Ward. Her most recent single is “Lord Knows.”
Red Bull Records signed singer-songwriter Morgan (“ADCT”) and released her new single, “Bum Bum,” on Friday (Aug. 16). Morgan previously released collaborations with and wrote songs for the dance group Rudimental before collaborating with acts like Purple Disco Machine, Sonny Fodera and Sigma. She released her debut solo EP, Alien, in 2020.
Music, audio post-production and sonic branding company Barking Owl added composer, songwriter and producer Dan Romer to its roster. Barking Owl will exclusively represent Romer — whose scores include Beasts of the Southern Wild, ABC’s The Good Doctor and HBO MAX’s Station Eleven, among others — for advertising and branded content. His production credits include A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera’s “Say Something” and Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better.”
Pop-rock artist Bailey Spinn, known for her popular YouTube covers of songs including Olivia Rodrigo’s “Traitor,” signed with AWAL, which released the acoustic version of her viral song “Happy Ending” on Aug. 7 (to be followed by the release of her debut album). Spinn is managed by Temima Shames at Next Step Talent and booked by Jason Parent at Sound Talent Group.
Canberra, Australia band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers signed with Mom + Pop for the world (minus Australia and New Zealand). The band is ramping up for the release of I Love You Too, an extended version of its debut album I Love You, on Sept. 20; the set will feature three new songs, including the newly-released “Dull.” The Jean Teasers opened up dates for Foo Fighters in Australia and are slated to play several shows in the U.S. later this year, including a slot at Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival.
Wasserman Music signed country singer-songwriter Angie K to its roster, with Wasserman’s Nate Ritches representing her for worldwide representation. A 2024 CMT Listen Up Artist, Angie K is repped by JR Schumann for management, Huskins-Harris for business management and Essential Broadcast Media for public relations. – Jessica Nicholson
Singer-songwriter Christian Hayes, who first garnered attention when he posted a video of himself singing his song “Leaving” on Instagram in September 2023, has signed with WME, Universal Music Publishing Group and Flood Bumstead McCready & McCarthy for business management. He is managed by Helena Capps at Wildrose Projects. According to a press release, Hayes’ single “LILY” has racked up more than two million streams since its release this spring.
Warner Music Nashville signed The Band Loula and will release its major label debut track, “Don’t Call Me,” on Friday (Aug. 23). The band is managed by Mary Hilliard Harrington, Chip Dorsch and Christina Dunkley and booked by Grace Stern and Jay Williams at WME.
Artist-composer duo Idle Echoes (composed of Arkfoo and Jeff Dodson) has released its debut album Velvet Phoenix on the ALIBI Music label. ALIBI Music is best known as a provider of music and sound effects for licensing in film, TV, advertising, video games and more.