Publishing
Welcome to a snug-fitting Publishing Briefs, our semimonthly bulletin of recent signings, deals and doings in the wide world of music publishing. Since the last edition, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder signed himself, Deadmau5 sold his catalog, Kobalt launched a new platform targeting the creator middle class, a deal for the $uicideBoy$’ publishing catalog is being shopped, and Primary Wave signed a marketing and admin deal with “Wichita Lineman” songwriter Jimmy Webb.
Caught up? Here’s what else is going on:
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Reservoir Media paired with PopArabia to acquire the publishing and master rights to Egyptian star Omar Kamal‘s catalog. Kamal is a key figure in popularizing mahraganat, a genre blending Egyptian rhythms, electronic music and rap. His 2020 hit “Mahragan Bent El Geran” with Hassan Shakosh became a cultural phenomenon, earning over 700 million YouTube views, and subsequent hits, “Oud Al Batal” and “LGHBTITA,” have attracted over 500 million and 300 million YouTube views, respectively. PopArabia vp of A&R Wissam Khodur highlighted Kamal’s ability to “pivot into mahraganat with his own unique twist,” while Reservoir CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi called the acquisition “another key growth moment” for both companies’ efforts in the booming Egyptian market. “This deal builds upon our other recent strategic acquisitions and further supports our efforts to become a major tastemaker in the region,” she said.
A Lau inked a global publishing deal with Position Music, joining artists like Tinashe and Cannons. Known for his work with Ice Spice, Lil Tjay and French Montana, Lau is a rising executive producer in NYC’s hip-hop scene. His credits include Ice Spice’s “Butterfly Ku” and Lil Tjay’s “Bla Bla.” Lau owns Off Record Studio in Manhattan and leads the Off Record producer collective, focusing on artist development, and this year plans to executive produce records for Ice Spice, Megan Thee Stallion and Babytron. Position Music’s vp of A&R Delmar Powell and partner Mark Chipello praised Lau’s record-crafting skills and talent for building connections, with Powell calling him a “dynamic producer with a sharp ear and a relentless work ethic.” He’s managed by Peter Robinson of Olympus Projects.
Kobalt signed South Arcade to a global publishing deal, representing the band’s entire catalog. The Oxford-based group, formed in 2021, has quickly gained prominence with over 20 million streams on their debut EP and nearly 800,000 monthly Spotify listeners, leading to multiple sold-out headline shows and support slots for bands like Dead Pony and Yours Truly. South Arcade has received significant radio support, including BBC Radio 1 features. Kobalt executives praised the band’s talent and potential, with head of creative (UK and GSA) Kenny McGoff highlighting their music as brimming with “energy and life,” and svp of creative Melissa Emert-Hutner saying the group “embodies everything that draws me to an artist – immense talent, unwavering drive, and incredibly catchy songs.” Manager Ben Karter offered props to Team Kobalt, which “truly understood the band’s vision and music, rather than just buying into their data.”
Concord Music Publishing signed Wyoming rapper Ryan Charles to a global publishing deal, covering his full catalog and future works. Charles, whose style blends cowboy culture with 2000s rap, is known for standout tracks including “Gettin’ Western,” “Old Dirt Fancy” and “New Boot Goofin’,” which he performed on American Song Contest as representative of his home state. He also collaborated with Ian Munsick on “Cowboy Killer,” amassing over 37 million Spotify streams. In 2023, he released tracks like “Turquoise Stones,” “Cold Beer Diet” and “Heartbreak Rodeo,” surpassing 65 million global streams. Melissa Spillman, VP A&R at Concord, praised Charles for his crossover appeal to country and rap fans, adding, “I can confidently say Ryan is unlike anyone I’ve ever worked with.”
Concord Music Publishing ANZ, established after Concord acquired Native Tongue in 2022, signed a worldwide publishing deal with Melbourne artist Glass Beams. Led by a masked Rajan Silva, Glass Beams blends Indian and South Asian heritage with psychedelic soundscapes, leaning heavily on live instrumentation and DIY electronica sounds. Their debut EP Mirage and breakout EP Mahal have propelled them to international success, with the group set to perform at Coachella and Primavera Sound this year. Jaime Gough, Managing Director of Concord ANZ, praised Rajan as a “supremely gifted artist and songwriter, who through Glass Beams has created a unique brand of serpentine, psychedelic-tinged music, capturing a spirit that drifts between worlds; mystical, elusive, and endlessly mesmerizing.”
Downtown Music Publishing signed writer-producer Cameron Montgomery, who has contributed to hit songs for Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown, 24kGoldn, HARDY and more. Based in both Nashville and Los Angeles, Montgomery is also working on music for film, brands and collaborations in the visual arts space. Downtown Music Publishing also represents Jason Isbell, Sadler Vaden, Tommy Prine and is aligned with the John Prine Estate, which it represents along with Oh Boy Records. –Jessica Nicholson
Regalias Digitales, an independent music publisher specializing in both Latin and non-Latin music, has signed several notable talents to global publishing administration deals. Among them are Peysoh and Wallie The Sensei, both collaborators on Kendrick Lamar’s latest album GNX. The roster also includes Mexican hip-hop icon Dharius, hip-hop artist 03 Greedo, rising roots/bluegrass artist Lindsay Lou, popular EDM duo Bonnie X Clyde, Cypress Hill member Eric “Bobo” Correa, New Age act Beautiful Chorus, and Uncle Murda, a protégé of 50 Cent.
Arden Records is expanding its artist-first lo-fi music label with a new publishing division. Founded in 2021 in partnership with Platoon, the label connects lo-fi artists, producers and songwriters. Co-founded by Nepalese artist sagun and executives Jordan Smith and Andrew Kwan, its roster includes sagun, clay house, DAVI JUNO and French WiFi. The publishing arm aims to create opportunities for lo-fi creators. Arden’s ethos, inspired by nature and tranquility, is reflected in projects like its Earth Day compilation. Smith stresses their commitment to community, while Kwan underscores their dedication to authentic musicianship amid the rise of AI-generated music. “We remain steadfast in championing our artists, ensuring their authentic musicianship receives the recognition it deserves,” said Kwan. “Now, through the launch of our publishing venture, we are excited to continue this mission from a fresh and dynamic perspective.”
Pixel Grip, a darkwave/club pop band, signed a co-publishing deal with Brill Building Music Publishing. Known for underground staples like “ALPHAPUSSY” and “Stamina,” the band’s next single, “Split,” drops on March 14, followed by their album Percepticide: The Death of Reality in May. Recently, they opened for HEALTH on a sold-out tour, further solidifying their presence in the scene.
MUSIC CITY MINUTES: Spirit Music Group renewed its co-publishing agreement with songwriter David Garcia and acquired rights to some of his catalog … The Warner Chappell Music Live Song Pitch Round is scheduled for March 13 at The Listening Room. Among the writers performing are Lydia Vaughan, Josh Kerr and Summer Overstreet … Finalists were revealed for the AIMP Nashville Awards, presented by the Association for Independent Music Publishers on April 8 at Marathon Music Works. Jordan Davis, Shaboozey and Carly Pearce are on the ballot, along with double nominees Tucker Wetmore, ERNEST, Laci Kaye Booth, Vincent Mason, Daniel Ross and Jessi Jo Dillon.
Last Publishing Briefs: ‘Cowgirls’ Co-Writer Finds Home at Range
Ryan Tedder has signed a global publishing agreement with Runner Music, a new music publishing company he co-founded with Ron Laffitte and Andrew Sparkler in 2023. While plenty of hitmakers have launched their own publishing joint ventures or companies over the years, it’s still relatively rare for a hitmaker to sign to their own outfit.
Under this new agreement Tedder’s catalog from 2021 onwards, including songs like “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic, “II MOST WANTED” by Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus, “greedy” by Tate McRae and “Rockstar” by LISA. (Runner’s publishing administration for frontline talent runs through Downtown).
“My first gig in the music industry at 19 was working for a publishing company in Nashville, I never dreamed one day I’d be signing to my own,” says Tedder of the deal.
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Runner Music is a fast-growing publisher, interested in both acquiring top catalogs and signing frontline publishing deals. With Melody Holdings, an affiliate of Blackstone Group, as an equity partner, the company has already signed a number of top writers, including Alexander 23 (Renee Rapp, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo) and Tyler Spry (Bad Bunny, Tate McRae, OneRepublic). Now, Tedder himself joins Runner’s ranks.
Since he started his career as frontman for OneRepublic and a songwriter, Tedder has partnered with a number of publishers and conducted multiple of catalog deals. In 2016, he sold some of his publishing rights for 170 songs to Downtown, and in 2021, he sold a majority stake in the publishing of all songs he wrote for other artists released after Jan. 1, 2016 to global investment giant KKR. This KKR deal also included a majority stake in all songs he wrote which were released by OneRepublic, regardless of the date of release. Most recently, he was published Sony Music Publishing.
News of the deal comes just days after it was announced that Tedder was teaming up with HYBE’s Bang Si-Hyuk and Scooter Braun to launch a global search for the next boy band, and the release of Tate McRae’s So Close To What, featuring Tedder cuts like “Sports car” and “It’s ok I’m ok.”
“Signing to Runner feels like the culmination of a dream I’ve had for years — not just about music, but about finding the right people to make it all come to life. With Amanda Hill, Andrew Sparkler and the team they’ve assembled by my side, I’ve got a community of music-obsessed operators that share the same vision, passion, and relentless drive. I’m blown away with what Runner has accomplished in such a short period of time and I’m ecstatic about what’s to come,” adds Tedder.
“I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of each of the Runner writers in such a short period of time. Welcoming Ryan to the Runner roster further shares our story as the greatest new destination for songwriters, and personally, it is a true joy to get to continue working with one of my favorite songwriters in the world,” says Amanda Hill, co-chief creative officer of Runner.
Runner CEO Andrew Sparkler says, “The momentum at Runner is truly exceptional right now. We’re not only collaborating closely with Ryan to nurture emerging songwriters, but we’re also thrilled to partner with established hit-makers. Ryan joining our roster is a powerful testament to our growth and success.”
The recorded music assets of the $uicideBoy$, the rap duo from New Orleans that has evolved into an indie powerhouse with its own label, a touring brand and a mega-merch business, are up for sale, sources tell Billboard. The properties on the block consist of the group’s recorded music masters and its music publishing catalog, those people say.
The deal is being shopped by Tim Mandelbaum, a partner with the law firm Fox Rothschild, who reached out to potential key strategic buyers including the majors and some financial music asset buyers. While some sources indicate the masters and publishing assets are being shopped together, others indicate that some potential suitors have bid solely on the publishing.
Sources say the asking price for the duo’s masters — including a go-forward deal covering an unknown number of future releases — is above $300 million alone, while it’s unclear what the asking price is on the publishing; the duo’s blockbuster merch business is not part of the proposed transaction. In addition, some sources say the duo’s G*59 label, which has a roster that includes releases by Night Lovell, Ramirez, Germ, Shakewell and Chetta — who combined for 450,000 album consumption units in the U.S. in 2024 — is not up for sale, though others disagree.
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The cult hip-hop act has averaged an impressive 2.4 million album consumption units in the U.S. and 4.6 billion global streams annually over the last three years, even though their songs have rarely charted. Nevertheless, they’ve landed four songs on the Hot 100 — “Us Vs. Them” (No. 96), “Thorns” (No. 91), “Burgundy” (No. 86) and “The Thing Grey Line” (No. 71), all of which hit the chart in 2024 — and four of their seven albums have reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The group’s most-streamed songs include “Kill Yourself Pt. III” with nearly 708 million streams; “And to Those I Love, Thanks for Sticking Around,” with nearly 675 million streams; and “Paris,” with about 526 million streams.
According to Luminate, since the rap duo began their career, their masters have accumulated 11.21 million album consumption units, including 15.7 billion on-demand streams — and that’s just in the U.S. What’s more, the duo’s U.S. popularity has been picking up steam: the catalog generated 842,000 album consumption units in 2020, growing to 1.22 million in 2021, then to 1.93 million in 2022, 2.46 million in 2023 and 2.71 million last year, according to Luminate. So far this year, $uicideBoy$ has already garnered 325,000 album consumption units, including 439 million on-demand streams.
However, unlike many other huge recording acts, $uicideBoy$’s popularity mainly is in the United States. Over the last three years, the U.S. market annually accounts for about 70% of the catalog’s streams and almost 83% of its song downloads. On the other hand, that could translate into more upside for potential sales and streaming activity going forward, if a concentrated effort is made on establishing the brand globally.
But even with the group’s already impressive numbers and further potential for increased sales and streaming activity abroad, the price tag that sources say the catalog fetched also comes with some peril. That’s because streaming activity is still spiking and decay hasn’t yet set in, meaning there’s no telling where the group’s catalog activity will level out in the future. But the going-forward component of the deal provides financial safety rails for the acquirers, especially if that is structured as a joint venture.
Billboard estimates that the $uicideBoy$ catalog averaged almost $24 million in revenue annually over the last three years. After paying out for cost of goods including distribution and publishing, Billboard estimates that net label share is about $20 million.
On the publishing side, Billboard estimates the duo’s masters generated about $6.5 million in royalties annually over the past three years, with the two members serving as the sole co-writers on the vast majority of their songs. It’s unclear if all the publishing is up for sale, or the amount of publishing advances already paid out, but not recouped; either could impact the valuation.
Between the master recordings and the publishing, the combined net label/net publisher share (or gross profit) could be in the $24 million to $26 million range, Billboard estimates, depending on how much unrecouped publishing advances play into the deal. Applied against a potential blended 16 times multiple, the combined assets could be worth as much as $400 million. But that might be an over-valuation considering the catalog’s activity is still on the rise; most sources say the combined assets are likely to wind up bringing in upwards of $300 million if a deal is finally completed.
Currently, the catalog resides at The Orchard, the Sony Music company that signed the band and its label G*59 to a distribution deal in 2021. Prior to that, the band and the label had been with Virgin Music, a distributor in the UMG portfolio. It’s expected that the $uicideBoy$ catalog will move in the event of an acquisition.
As of press time, reps for UMG, a lawyer for $uicideBoy$ and The Orchard either declined to comment or had not responded to requests for comment.
“The middle class is growing, and it’s only going to accelerate with AI,” says Laurent Hubert, CEO of Kobalt. It’s a sentiment that’s widely held in the music industry today and one that’s backed by hard data. According to Luminate’s Midyear Music Report for 2024, the number of mid-tier artists — those earning between 1 million and 10 million on-demand audio streams — grew to 29,253, a 5.1% increase from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024. That number is set to grow even more in the coming year.
Though the recorded music sector has already moved fast to capture the value amassed by these middle-classers by creating or acquiring distribution and artist services companies, the publishing industry has yet to do the same. Currently, there are DIY songwriter administration services, like Songtrust and Sentric, that automate practically all services and are open for anyone to sign up for a one-year minimum term; and traditional music publishers — like the majors, Kobalt and other indies — that selectively offer advances and sometimes take a piece of copyright ownership in exchange.
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But as Jacob Paul, director of creative strategy at Kobalt, stresses, “there’s a lot of people in-between. The middle class is growing year on year, and yet this community is still locked out of publishing earnings because publishing is so complicated.” Enter: KOSIGN, Kobalt’s new platform targeting the creator middle class. Whether it’s an anti-establishment-minded songwriter who wants to be independent forever, a fast-rising singer-songwriter who wants to hold for another year before signing a traditional deal, or a seasoned vet who needs a place to collect their royalties in between publishers, KOSIGN promises to be a high-tech, transparent solution for those with about $5,000 or more to collect. It’s not for the “long, long tail” says Paul, but it’s not just for bankable stars either.
There’s no advance, but there are also no strings attached. A KOSIGN agreement operates on a rolling quarterly basis, can be used on a partial or full catalog, and features an 80% writer/20% publisher royalty split. And some KOSIGN writers will have the ability to upstream to Kobalt if desired.
For the Kobalt team, it feels like a win-win. With KOSIGN, “underserved artists,” as Jeanette Perez, president/CCO, puts it, have the ability to collect royalties that are nearly impossible to collect without a publishing partner, while Kobalt captures value from middle-class talent and forges bonds with tomorrow’s stars before its competitors are even looking. “We’ve found the market is chomping at the bit for this type of solution,” says Paul. “The inbound interest for KOSIGN is already incredible.”
What sparked the idea for KOSIGN?
HUBERT: We looked at the market and what we’ve seen in recorded music is that there was a large market [of up-and-coming artists] that was being serviced by distribution companies but there was no equivalent on the publishing side. We saw an opportunity to target an underserved market, and it is one that is also growing. We believe that AI will also flex that. We said that we have to be in this space. We have the capabilities from what we’ve built over the last 20 years. We have a best-in-class platform, and the idea was to… provide that service to a market that deserves [more help.]
Kobalt was the original home of AWAL, one of the biggest success stories in the artist services/distribution market today and now home to talent like Laufey, Jungle, Djo and more. In 2021, Kobalt sold AWAL to Sony Music. What did you learn from building AWAL that could apply to KOSIGN, which also targets a similar demographic of music creators?
HUBERT: What was interesting with AWAL is we really designed this not as a label service business but as an artist service business, so really focusing on the need of the creator. In that particular case, it was the artist. With KOSIGN, it’s the writer. We learned from AWAL that we had to find a path to minimize friction, and also, we needed to learn how to speak to that audience. It’s a different audience than your traditional one.
PEREZ: One of the theses behind AWAL, even back then, was this growing middle class of artists. That has just held through year after year. That is something else that we ported into the thesis for KOSIGN. The other important thing then and now is the idea that you can give artists flexibility.
It seems that the recorded music side of the industry has gone all-in on companies like AWAL — the artist service companies — since that flexibility is what many middle-class or rising artists want. To date, there has not been a good equivalent on the publishing side. Why do you think that is?
PAUL: The advantage Kobalt has had is that we’ve always been a service company. We’ve always been oriented that way. Because when we first launched, even 25 years ago, we weren’t launching on a model of copyright acquisition. I think traditionally, the publishing industry was predicated on the idea of acquiring copyrights and not necessarily the idea of servicing, but for Kobalt, even at its first founding, we started with the idea that we’d have admin deals, and we’re gonna have three-year terms.
At Kobalt, every three years, we have to re-earn [our writers’] trust so that they stay here. We’re not 50% owners of their copyrights. So I think Kobalt already had the service orientation, and I think that’s what helped us to view this middle market as a group to be serviced and not a group to merely be acquired.
PEREZ: Scaling a publishing platform is much more challenging than scaling a recorded music distribution platform. The number of sources you have to collect from on the publishing side is tenfold what you have to collect from on the recorded music side. You have to have an infrastructure and a foundation to then unlock that.
HUBERT: The challenge is that we have to manage the complexity [of publishing collections] in a way that still works on a pure unit economics as you go down the deal curve. We’ve been able to do that. It requires enormous amounts of resources.
There are some options on the market for DIY songwriters today, including Songtrust and Sentric, but unlike KOSIGN, these companies are open to all and really target the smallest creators. What did you learn from watching those companies develop?
PAUL: One thing that we’ve learned is that being open to everyone and prioritizing openness and volume doesn’t work from a scalable service perspective. That’s never been our interest. That’s a key difference between KOSIGN and others who are in this space. We very much want to be accessible in the sense that it’s extremely easy to apply and to join, you can get going very quickly, but we’re not really interested in touching the long tail where, frankly, there isn’t enough out there to collect to justify a Kobalt level of service. That’s the critical difference. It’s what allows us to not compromise on the level of core admin service that we’re providing.
There’s some other critical differences. One is our infrastructure, which we believe remains best in class. We think that client experience, the actual going-onto-the-portal, and the beauty and simplicity of the [app], is peerless. And then the last thing I would say is that when you look at the publishing terms of service for KOSIGN, we truly think that they’re the most flexible in the industry. Our goal here is to have something that’s not only simple to use and simple to understand but is truly simple from a deal perspective.
How does KOSIGN provide a competitive advantage for Kobalt?
PAUL: We really look forward to seeing KOSIGN as a pipeline for Kobalt in cases where it is right for the artist… KOSIGN allows us to open a door much earlier and much more often. We’re in a landscape creatively where access to the tools to create the next hit are more available than ever, and we see important artist stories and song stories accelerating really quickly these days, and it’s hard to predict where they’re going to come from. KOSIGN allows us to open the funnel.
HUBERT: It also reinforces our core value of empowerment. We created the business over 25 years ago to empower songwriters, and that’s what we’re doing here, in a way that is going down the deal curve but still aligned with our mission.
PAUL: We’re covering really the full life cycle of the songwriter in one ecosystem now. We don’t think other platforms in the space are able to do that the way that Kobalt and KOSIGN can.
Why do you think that none of the majors ever tried to build their own KOSIGN before you?
HUBERT: First, I don’t see that as being core to their strategy. At least there’s no real sign that this is something that they are focusing on. Number two, as we said earlier, you need to have built the proper infrastructure. If you look at many of the measures, they’re still relying on legacy tech stacks. So I think both strategically and operationally, this would present a challenge. It doesn’t mean that they could never get into that space. It would be naive to think that, but also, we have always built a business based on service, not on ownership. This only works when you really do it on a pure service level.
PEREZ: We are, in comparison to other players in the market, a fairly young company. We can still behave as a start-up, which enables us to move very quickly and be nimble. We don’t have 100 years of catalog to bring along.
It sounds like the app is quite transparent, but still, publishing is confusing and a lot of artists and writers don’t understand it. When you’re trying to run a lean, mostly automated service platform, I imagine this will be a point of friction. How do you plan to manage customer service and education for KOSIGN signees?
PAUL: There’s three layers to this. One is to build the platform, which we think we’ve done, and we’ll continue to invest in it. It is so beautiful and simple to use [that] in a way, it explains how publishing works by virtue of its design. Two is our messaging to the marketplace. So not only are we investing in the platform, we’re going to invest in educational materials, and we’re going to invest in content to reach up-and-coming artists and songwriters. Three is that we are really investing in the service aspect [of the] platform. So if you have a question, if you need help on the platform, you can go to a very specific place where you can really quickly get resources that we’re constantly going to be buildingto answer questions. And then if that doesn’t go all the way, you still have access to an admin team.
PEREZ: Again, we get to rely heavily on what we already paid to build out for Kobalt. That’s an advantage. There’s something called Kobalt Knowledge which is hundreds of articles about music publishing and navigating the publishing business. All of that will be immediately available to a KOSIGN client. We aren’t starting at zero.
Primary Wave Music has signed a marketing and administration agreement with legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb to represent a major portion of his music publishing catalog, including such classic songs as “Wichita Lineman,” “The Worst That Could Happen,” “Galveston,” “By the Time I Get To Phoenix,” the Grammy-winning “MacArthur Park” and “Up, Up and Away.” Moreover, […]
This is Publishing Briefs, a semimonthly bulletin of recent signings, deals and doings in the wide world of music publishing.
In case you missed it, the Copyright Office requested public comment on “factors that may be contributing to the formation of new PROs” and Puerto Rican reggaetón star Yandel signed a worldwide publishing administration deal with Warner Chappell Music.
Caught up? Here’s what else is going on:
Reach Music Publishing signed a deal with Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, lead vocalist of Fitz and The Tantrums, granting them copyright interest in his entire back catalog of around 100 songs, including hits like “Handclap,” “Out of My League” and “The Walker.” The agreement also includes administration of Fitz’s solo album Summer of Us and the upcoming Fitz and The Tantrums album set for release in 2025. Reach Music had previously administered much of Fitz’s catalog through Dangerbird Records since the band’s 2010 debut. Michael Closter, Reach Music’s founder, expressed excitement about completing the circle and officially representing Fitz’s catalog, while Fitz praised Reach Music’s passion and “hustle,” adding “I couldn’t be more excited about this deal and to make the future happen.” Reach Music, an independent publisher with offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York, specializes in publishing administration and copyright acquisitions, managing works from artists like Public Enemy, Judas Priest, John Mayer and Zac Brown.
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Concord Music Publishing signed rising country artist-songwriter Cole Goodwin to a worldwide publishing deal, covering his full catalog and all future works. Originally from Pooler, Ga., outside Savannah, Goodwin gained attention with his 2023 self-produced EP Soon Enough and has since toured the Southeast, opening for acts like Austin Snell, Conner Smith and Zach Top. Goodwin’s latest single, “Fast Track Back,” was released in January. He will be touring extensively this spring and summer, joining Top, Smith and Dylan Marlowe, and Luke Bryan’s stadium tour. “He is proof that traditional country music is alive and well in the next generation of hitmakers and I am thrilled that he has chosen Concord as his publishing home,” said Courtney Allen, CMP’s senior director of A&R.
The Hello Group Publishing and Sony Music Publishing Benelux renewed their multi-year partnership, enhancing global collaboration in A&R, sync, licensing and administration. This deal expands THG’s reach, especially in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2021, THG has become a leader in K-pop and J-pop, working with artists like NCT Dream and TWICE Japan. They operate in Hollywood, London, Seoul, Mumbai and Dubai, with a roster that includes new signings like Avery Walker and Nanee. THG CEO and global head of creative Taylor Jones praised Sony for its global support, saying the music giant “allowed our flexible operating ideas to flourish, and supported our trajectory in fast-growing international markets such as India, Middle East and of course, our continued traction in South Korea and Japan.”
Mau P, a Dutch DJ and producer, signed a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music Benelux. Born Maurits Jan Westveen but also known as Maurice West, Mau P gained fame with underground club hits. He rebranded and released “Drugs from Amsterdam,” which topped Beatport’s Top 10 and garnered over 200 million streams. His follow-up, “Gimme That Bounce,” coincided with his first North American tour. Mau P’s success continued with tracks like “Your Mind is Dirty” and “Dress Code,” remixes for top artists and sets at Tomorrowland and EDC Las Vegas, among other events. Last year saw the launch of his show concept, BADDEST BEHAVIOUR, which debuted in NYC. WMG Benelux president Niels Walboomers praised Mau P’s talent, saying his “approach to production aligns perfectly with our vision to champion great artistry.”
Range Music Publishing expanded its roster with four new additions: Darius Coleman, Alex Goose, James Maddocks and Simon Oscroft. Coleman, in partnership with Tommy Brown and Champagne Therapy Music Group, has collaborated with artists like Normani and Chris Brown, and co-wrote “You See Me” from The Color Purple soundtrack. Goose, a producer/songwriter, has worked with Childish Gambino and composed for brands like Nike and Apple. Maddocks, co-wrote Morgan Wallen’s No. 1 hit “Cowgirls” and has worked with Post Malone and Khalid. Oscroft, a New Zealand native, co-wrote and produced Almost Monday’s No. 1 Alternative hit “Can’t Slow Down.” Range Music’s roster also includes artists like Shaboozey, Jack Harlow and Saweetie.
Story House Collective, founded by Christian artist/songwriter Matthew West, signed to its roster producer/songwriter Carter Frodge, who has worked with artists including Cain (“The Commission”), Newsboys (Stand), Jordan St. Cyr (“Be My Defender”) and The Afters (“God Is With Us”). Story House Collective also represents artists including West, Anne Wilson and Peter Burton.
Prescription Songs signed EJAE, a Korean American singer, songwriter and vocal producer. The NYC-based EJAE has worked with top K-pop groups like AESPA, TWICE, Red Velvet and NMIXX, contributing to hits such as Red Velvet’s “Psycho” and AESPA’s “Drama.” Recently, she has been the lead singing voice and songwriter for an upcoming animated K-pop movie on Netflix. Prescription Songs A&R Nick Guilmette praised EJAE’s ability to craft compelling melodies and concepts across genres, saying she’s “already has a catalog of international hits with over a combined billion streams, and is truly just getting started.”
Leon Else, a Los Angeles-based artist and singer-songwriter from the UK, signed a co-publishing deal with Brill Building Music Publishing. Known for his releases through Interscope and as an independent artist, Else’s music has been featured on numerous Apple and Spotify editorial playlists, as well as in various sync placements. Most recently, he co-wrote BTS member Jin’s “I Will Come To You,” which sold over 1 million copies in its first week.
Gangsta, the Colombian producer behind global hits such as Kapo’s “Ohnana”, “UWAIE” and “Aloh Aloh,” as well as Fariana’s “Caballito” and Wolfine’s “Bella”, signed a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing Colombia and NEON16. The alliance “aims to unite the strengths of two powerhouse teams within the Latin music industry to bring GANGSTA’s sound to different markets worldwide,” according to a press release. Gangsta, who has a deep knowledge of Caribbean and African music (afrobeat, amapiano, salsa, and reggaetón), has also worked with Piso 21, Mariah Angeliq, Pedro Capó, Wisin, Elena Rose and Farruko, among other artists. –Sigal Ratner-Arias
Matt Lang signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Anthem Entertainment and partnered with WME and River House Artists for booking and management. These alliances aim to boost his presence in the U.S. country scene while maintaining his success in Canada. Since his 2018 debut EP, Lang has achieved over 50 million streams, three Top 10 radio singles and multiple award nominations, including three Canadian Country Music Association nods. He has performed at major festivals like Boots & Hearts and Lasso Montreal, and internationally at Berlin’s C2C and the UK’s Buckle & Boots Festivals. Lang’s latest single, “Back To The Bar,” dropped this month.
APG and WZRD BLD’s In The Cut Publishing signed producer and writer Will Carlson. Known for his genre-blending style, Carlson leads the project Bilmuri on Columbia Records and has over 35 collaborative tracks. He co-wrote and produced four songs for Knox’s upcoming Atlantic Records debut. Carlson is also co-producing We Came As Romans’ new album and has upcoming singles with Pop Evil and Bad Wolves.
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Warner Chappell Music (WCM) has promoted Gabz Landman to senior vp of A&R at the company. News of Landman’s promotion comes just weeks after her longtime management and publishing client, Amy Allen, took home the Grammy for songwriter of the year, making her the first-ever woman to receive the honor. Landman got her start in […]
Look at your favorite album from the past year, and there’s a good chance that 10 to 30 different producers contributed to it. And yet in this “age of collaboration” that continues to produce culture-defining hits, we have a problem: How do we handle all these producer contracts?
In the U.S. model, producer deals are seldom discussed until after a label signs a recording agreement with an artist. Once the deal is set, the artist contracts directly with any producers working on their music — a requirement in the artist’s deal with the label. The artist then requests that the label pay, credit and account to the producer per the terms of their agreement. Unfortunately, this complicated process often becomes a game of broken telephone.
Discussions on this topic can quickly lead to finger-pointing. But the issues that producers are facing today, speaking generally, are not a matter of “us versus them.” The label, which has no direct contractual relationship with the producers, is asked by the artist on multiple occasions to honor deal terms that the label had little role in negotiating. Even if the producer agreement says the producer will be paid within five days of signing, unless the label agrees to pay within that timeframe, that schedule won’t be honored and the producer’s only option is to take it up with the artist.
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This disconnect becomes even more problematic when the volume increases. I currently represent over 30 producers and, on average, my office handles 20 to 40 producer agreements a week. That includes review on behalf of our producers as well as drafting agreements for our artist clients, the latter of which could require multiple agreements — even as many as five or six — to clear one song. For a boutique firm like mine, it keeps us busy and the clearances can be a big headache if not done in a correct and timely way. In some cases, they can hold up release dates and, if not executed properly, result in copyright infringement claims that could lead to lawsuits.
When negotiating a record deal for an artist, I make sure to have pointed conversations with the label about how they pay and account to producers because securing clarity in advance about the label’s policies is an absolute must.
It hasn’t always been this way. In the past, prior to the start of recording a project, artists would submit a budget proposal to the label encompassing all the creators on a given project. Oftentimes, the artist would use the label-provided budget to hire one producer, who would be responsible for hiring, managing and paying the musicians and other creatives needed to complete the album.
Today, however, unless you’re already an industry-leading producer, the odds are you’re coming into the studio on spec. This means that you and over 20 other hopeful producers work with the artist on 40 or so songs, with 12 to 15 songs typically making the final cut for the album. The songs that don’t make it are considered speculative, trial-based work done for free. If one or more songs by a given producer do make the cut, the hope is that that producer’s lawyer can negotiate good terms.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of good music that doesn’t see the light of day due to clearance issues, not to mention music that gets removed from streaming services after release due to a failure to adhere to producer deals (or a failure to do them at all). But even in the best-case scenario when things can be worked out, most producers typically have to wait a long time before they get a single cent due to an overly complicated process.
In the first step of this process, the agreement has to be signed by both the artist and producer, a sometimes daunting task if that artist is touring. After that, the label has to accept the agreement (which can sometimes conflict with the recording deal originally inked with the artist), receive an invoice (sometimes multiple times before it’s actually “received” and in line with label policies) and new vendor paperwork, and wait for the producer to register with the label’s specific payment system.
“A lot of people think that all we do is push a button and money goes out, but there are so many checks and balances that admin does on the back end to ensure that payments are processed properly and within a timely fashion,” says one senior executive at a major label who asked to remain unnamed. Of course, we have to understand the logistical burdens and practical business realities that label employees are up against. But at the same time, we have to recognize the plight of producers who, despite making money for the label, are forced to wait on the payments they depend on to feed their families. Many employees at the labels understand this and know the system has to change.
“There is a huge disconnect when it comes to paying creatives in a decent time frame,” says Malita Rice, vp of A&R at Warner Records. “We have to keep their livelihood in mind and not only think from a label and artist perspective. If you can’t walk out the grocery store without paying, why should music be released without the creative getting paid or waiting months or years to be paid?”
While these systems and disconnects continue to exist, producers who have “made it” will continue to struggle to pay bills, even while their music becomes a viral TikTok sound.
Managing these clearances is such a burden on resources that any lawyer aspiring to make it in music should learn clearance docs first. And for producers who want to put themselves in a better situation? My friend and colleague, Bob Celestin, shares this advice: “One of the many obstacles to producers and songwriters getting paid their publishing monies is the neglect or outright refusal, at times, to document their respective ownership interests in songs they jointly create,” he says. “The easiest way to solve this problem is by utilizing split sheets at some point after they’ve jointly created a song.”
Still, while being diligent about this can help producers, it doesn’t fix the overall problems with the system itself.
So what’s the path forward here? Suggestions have been floating around for years: Unionize producers. Leverage AI to cut down on admin work. Develop a new “default” producer agreement that kickstarts the process. Go the way of the U.K. music industry and have labels contract directly with producers.
The truth is, all of these so-called solutions would help alleviate the current problems while also creating new ones. This isn’t about producers versus labels versus artists but rather about fixing a problem that has negative ripple effects across the industry. It’s imperative that we bring everyone to the table to create a more just system.
Acclaimed attorney Matt Buser leads Buser Legal — the Miami-based law firm at the crossroads of entertainment, sports and intellectual property matters — dedicated to empowering creators and safeguarding elite talent with strategic, personalized counsel. Since its founding in 2014, his blend of deep legal expertise, business acumen, and a passion for the arts has earned the firm acknowledgment from Billboard to USA Today, embodying the innovative spirit behind #NotYourAverageLawFirm.
Reggaetón icon Yandel has signed a worldwide publishing administration deal with Warner Chappell Music, the company announced on Thursday (Feb. 13). The hitmaker joins the publishing company after signing a recording deal with Warner Music Latina in September 2023, which marked his first deal with a major label after releasing albums via his own company, […]
SYDNEY, Australia — Warner Chappell Music has struck an exclusive worldwide administration deal with Luke Steele, frontman and co-songwriter Australian electronic pop outfit Empire of the Sun.
Born in New Zealand and raised in Perth, Steele is a one of the highest-flying talents of his generation to emerge from Down Under.
Steele (as Emperor Steele) and Nick Littlemore (Lord Littlemore) have released four studio albums as Empire of the Sun, each of them cracking the ARIA Top 10. Along the way, the act has snagged eight ARIA Awards, two APRAs, and a APRA Billions Award for “Walking on a Dream,” awarded to APRA AMCOS songwriter members and their publishers for one billion streams of a song.
“Walking on a Dream” was an ARIA Top 10 hit in 2008, and belatedly drove into the Billboard 100 it was synced to a Honda Civic commercial in 2016. In the U.S. the song drove all the way to No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and to No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, their second leader on the tally after 2013’s “Alive”.
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Debut album Walking on a Dream peaked at No. 97 on the Billboard 200 in 2016, Ice on the Dune went to No 20 in 2013 and Two Vines climbed to No. 51, also in 2016.
Empire of the Sun’s catalog has shifted over 5.5 million albums worldwide, reps say, and accumulated more than 7.6 billion streams.
Steele has also released two albums and two EPs with the Sleepy Jackson, a solo album Listen To The Water, and worked with the likes of Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
“I’m a longtime fan of Luke,” comments Guy Moot, co-chair and CEO of WCM. “As one of Australia’s most influential and successful musical talents, he’s consistently pushed boundaries and delivered groundbreaking work with every release. We’re proud to be supporting him at such a pivotal moment in his career and look forward to seeing where his vision takes electronic music next.”
Adds Dan Rosen, president, Recording and Publishing, Australasia, WMG: “Luke is an exceptional songwriter and artist. He has been at the forefront of the Australian music scene for almost two decades and has had significant global impact with his music.” This signing, says Rosen, is “super exciting” for “everyone at Warner Chappell Music and we’re honored to be a part of this next stage in Luke’s artistic journey.”
Later this month, Empire of the Sun embarks on their world tour in support of Ask That God, their fourth and latest studio album, the expanded version of which dropped last week. The deluxe version includes “Somebody’s Son,” featuring Lindsey Buckingham.
When Empire of the Sun reunite, “we’re trying to find that rare jewel every time,” Steele told Billboard last year, ahead of the release of Ask Their God. “That’s what keeps it exciting for us.”