Publishing
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Position Music has acquired the catalog of French producer, artist and DJ Gesaffelstein. As part of the deal, Position will own and administer the publishing rights to the catalog prior to his 2016 Sony Music Publishing deal. In addition, the company has also acquired the writer, artist and producer royalties for Gesaffelstein’s entire catalog, including “Lost in the Fire” ft. The Weeknd, “I Was Never There” and “Hurt You” by The Weeknd, “Black Skinhead” by Kanye West, and more.
UMPG has signed Yusuf/Cat Stevens to an exclusive global publishing administration agreement. Known for hits like “Father and Son,” “Wild World,” “The Wind” and “Morning Has Broken,” the singer-songwriter recorded music and publishing catalogs are now united under one roof for the first time at UMG.
Reservoir Media has signed Kings of Leon to a go-forward publishing agreement, including the group’s upcoming project Can We Please Have Fun. The deal arrives just after Kings of Leon announced their 2023 world tour, including 26 cities across the U.S. and Canada.
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Warner Chappell Music has signed Yellowstone actor and artist Luke Grimes to a global publishing deal, in collaboration with Range Media Partners. His debut song “No Horse To Ride” was featured in the mid-season series finale last year, driving Grimes up the Billboard Country charts. His debut album will be released on March 8 under UMG Nashville’s Capitol Records.
The 100 Percenters has linked with Spotify to offer ten $2,500 career stimulus grants for songwriters and producers. The grants are supported by Spotify’s Creator Equity Fund. Applications will open Friday, March 15, and will close Monday, April 15. Applicants must be members of the 100 Percenters community and must have at least two years of professional experience, have three or more commercial songwriting or producer credits, be a U.S. citizen, earn an annual income of less than $100,000 and submit verifiable proof of income.
SMACKsongs has signed an exclusive publishing deal with Sarah Buxton, the Nashville-based hitmaker behind songs like “Stupid Boy” and “Put You In A Song” recorded by Keith Urban, “Sundaze” by Florida Georgia Line, “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” by The Band Perry, and “Fix” by Chris Lane.
BMG has extended its publishing agreement with Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Robin Schulz, which began in 2016. As part of the extension, BMG has also acquired the co-publishing rights to Robin Schulz’s entire song catalog, including “Waves,” “Prayer,” “Sugar,” “Alane,” “All We Got,” and “Young Right Now.”
The Other Songs Live, a songwriter night featuring performances by some of music’s top hitmakers, will be returning to the London Palladium on Monday, May 20. Presented by indie music company The Other Songs in partnership with The Ivors Academy, the event will raise money for three music-related charities, including The BRIT School, The Ivors Academy Trust and Nordoff and Robbins. In the past, the show has featured artists, including Raye, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nile Rodgers, Dave Stewart and Katie Melua.
peermusic UK has signed Nothing But Thieves to a global publishing deal. The deal includes the band’s fifth studio album, which will be released later this year. Their prior catalog remains with Sony Music Publishing.
Warner Chappell Music and Katy Perry‘s Unsub Publishing have signed rising singer, songwriter and producer Debbii Dawson to a global co-publishing deal. Perry says of Dawson, “She’s a rare find and someone I believe has the brightest of futures ahead of her as an artist, songwriter, and creative force.”
The Nashville-based Edgehill Music Publishing has signed songwriter Carys Selvey to a global publishing deal. Founded by Josh and Tara Joseph, Edgehill adds the London-based Selvey to a growing roster that also includes Dave Villa, Rob Williford, LOCASH and more.
Spirit Music Group has signed worldwide publishing administration deals with Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson of rock band The Black Crowes. The deal includes the band’s albums Warpaint and Before The Frost…Until the Freeze as well as their latest album Happiness Bastards, out March 15.
Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with AntsLive, the viral London rapper behind the popular song “Number One Candidate.” Nominated for two MOBO Awards in 2024, including Best Newcomer and Best Video, the musician says he decided to join the WCM roster after attending the company’s songwriting camp in Las Vegas.
BMG has acquired 100% of the catalog of Cologne-based record label Coconut Music, including the recorded rights to tracks by Haddaway, Bad Boys Blue, London Beat, and Wolfgang Petry. The deal builds on BMG’s 2022 acquisition of Haddaway’s recorded music royalties. Under the new agreement, BMG now controls 100% of Haddaway’s biggest track “What Is Love.”
Major Bob Music has re-upped its publishing agreement with writer/producer Colin Healy. Before signing a publishing deal, Healy got his start as bassist and music director for Dustin Lynch, a gig he held for thirteen years. Then, in 2019, he signed to Major Bob Music to further his career as a writer. Since then, Healy has landed cuts with Megan Moroney, Avery Anna, Tayler Holder and more.
Warner Chappell Music has signed Nashville-based talent Josh Montgomery to a global publishing deal. Known for his ability to work across genres, Montgomery has already earned cuts with Ashley Kutcher, Jessie Murph, Tyler Halverson, Graham Barham, Jax, and Dasha.
Wise Music Group‘s Chester Music has signed a new publishing agreement with performer, composer and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Dickson Mbi. Born in Cameroon and raised in East London, the multi-talented Mbi has worked with artists like Russell Maliphant, Boy Blue Entertainment, Robbie Williams, Corrine Bailey-Rae, Black Eyed Peas and choreographed the “Leave A Trace” music video for CHVRCHES.
Wise Music Group has signed Icelandic composer Högni Egilsson has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with the newly opened office, Wise Music Iceland, marking the first signing of the Iceland office, since it launched in November 2022. A leading voice in Iceland’s music scene, Egilsson will be administered by Wise for all future works.
SM Entertainment’s publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights (KMR), announced it has signed 86 songwriters to its roster since launching in September. The fast-growing music publisher also announced plans to expand into Europe and North America. The company says its “top priority” is to recruit top songwriters around the globe, not just writers within SM Entertainment’s […]
The Ivors Academy, a U.K.-based songwriter advocacy organization, has named Roberto Neri as its new CEO.
The organization was previously helmed by Graham Davies, who is now the leader of the Digital Media Association (DiMA) in the United States, and interim CEO Charlie Phillips.
Neri has worked in the music publishing business for over 20 years. Previously, he held C-suite roles as CEO of Believe’s publishing operation and CEO and COO of Utopia Music Services. His other previous positions include executive vp/head of business development at Downtown Music, founder/CEO of Eagle-i Music, vp of international at Bug Music and publishing relations manager at PRS for Music.
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Additionally, Neri has erved as chair of the Music Publishers’ Association and director of the UK Music, PRS for Music, MCPS and PPL/PRS boards. He is the trustee of Music for My Mind, a charity that provides music therapy for dementia patients and their caretakers.
Established in 1944, The Ivors Academy — previously known as the British Academy of Songwiters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) — advocates for songwriters’ best interests in local politics and in the music business. In recent years, it has campaigned to introduce the EU copyright directive, amplified the #BrokenRecord campaign to call out unfair streaming economy practices and partnered with YouTube Music to host a songwriting camp for members. The organization is perhaps best known for its annual songwriter award ceremony, the Ivor Novello awards, one of the biggest nights in music publishing in the United Kingdom.
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“On behalf of the Board and Academy, I am thrilled to welcome Roberto Neri as our new CEO,” said Tom Gray, the Ivors Academy chair. “He brings a huge breadth of industry experience, knowledge and leadership skills. His commitment — and ours to him — is to be the most influential voice for songwriters and composers in the world.”
Neri added, “I am deeply honored and humbled to step into the role of CEO of The Ivors Academy. It is a dream job to fervently advocate for and represent songwriters and composers, who I have been fortunate enough to represent for over two decades globally. I believe now, more than ever, is the pivotal moment to ensure music creators’ interests are protected, championed, valued and recognized for their central and indispensable role in the success of the entire music business.”
The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) warned some of its members on Tuesday that the organizations’ license with TikTok ends April 30 and it “do[es] not anticipate” to renew, extend or form a new license with the platform, according to a letter obtained by Billboard.
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This means that a lot more music could be removed from TikTok come May, spreading the reach of recent music takedowns far beyond what users have already experienced since Universal Music Group began pulling its recorded music and publishing catalogs off the platform in the last month. The NMPA license is used by a number of independent music publishers, but the organization has previously declined to specify which ones.
“Recently, the press has highlighted concerns around TikTok’s licensing practices, concerns that NMPA has heard directly from many of our members,” says the organization in its letter to members.
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If publishers wish to continue to license their works to TikTok, the NMPA’s letter urges publishers using its license to “engage directly with TikTok to negotiate a license beyond April 30.” For those that wish to let the license lapse at the end of April, the NMPA says its attorneys are available to “discuss enforcement options.”
“It is important that all NMPA members understand that without a license in place, TikTok should not be using your musical works on its platform,” the organization wrote.
The NMPA negotiates its TikTok license an optional offering for its membership, allowing them to bypass the strain and cost of negotiating directly with the short-form video app. Though the major music publishers are part of the NMPA’s membership, they do not use the NMPA model license for TikTok and, instead, negotiate their deals directly.
David Israelite, the NMPA’s CEO and president, previously announced that the NMPA license was up for renewal in April, but this is the first time the organization has acknowledged that it will not be pursuing that renewal. “I’m only going to say two things about TikTok,” Israelite said at an Association of Independent Music Publishers’ event in Los Angels on Feb. 1. “The first is I think music is tremendously important to the business model of TikTok, and, secondly, I am just stating the fact that the NMPA model license, which many of you are using, with TikTok expires in April.”
The NMPA is known for its aggressive approach to licensing negotiations with social media sites, streaming services and gaming platforms. On Tuesday, it was announced that a federal judge will allow the NMPA’s multi-million dollar lawsuit against X to go forward, although it tossed some significant elements of the case. The NMPA has also similarly fought back against Twitch, Roblox, and Pandora in recent years.
Read the full letter to NMPA members below:
If you are receiving this Member Alert you are currently participating in a license with TikTok through NMPA’s 2022 model license opt-in.
NMPA is notifying all participants that these two-year licenses are set to expire on April 30, 2024.
Recently, the press has highlighted concerns around TikTok’s licensing practices, concerns that NMPA has heard directly from many of our members.
At this time, we do not anticipate that there will be an option to renew or extend the current NMPA licenses or participate in a new license with TikTok through NMPA.
NMPA members should make their own business determination whether to engage directly with TikTok to negotiate a license beyond April 30, 2024.
It is important that all NMPA members understand that without a license in place, TikTok should not be using your musical works on its platform.
Starting May 1, 2024, any members who are not licensed with TikTok and would like to discuss enforcement options can contact attorneys at NMPA.
If circumstances change prior to the expiration of the current TikTok licenses, NMPA will promptly notify members.
We are here to answer your questions.
On Friday (Feb. 23), the Mechanical Licensing Collective (the MLC) announced that they found $419.2 million in adjusted royalties for the U.S. mechanical royalty rate for streaming for 2018-2022, so when will the publishers and songwriters actually see the new influx of cash?
The MLC says it will begin releasing some of this money to rights holders in May and will continue the pay-out process steadily through the end of the year. This means that independent songwriters who are already signed up with the MLC will see some of these adjusted royalties hit their bank account as soon as May, but signed songwriters will likely see this reflected in the following quarter’s royalty statement from their publishers.
But the $419.2 million sum reported by the MLC is not all about to land in songwriters’ and publishers’ pockets – as much as one third of that amount might have already been paid out.
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The total sum owed to songwriters and publishers is divided into two types of royalties: mechanical and performance. There is $281.4 million in mechanical royalties to be paid out, and $137.8 million in performance, which is not paid out through the MLC but is paid directly to the PROs by the DSPs. However, some of the DSPs actually overpaid publishers for mechanical royalties during the period of 2018-2020 (also called the Phono III “historical unmatched period”) which cuts down the bonus actually owed to songwriters by $28.8 million in extra payments. Taking over-payments into account, the total amounts to around $390 million.
Sources in the U.S. PROs have told Billboard that they are surprised by the so-called performance royalties adjustment of $137.8 million because most of the money has already been paid out; or in the case of money received in the fourth quarter of 2023, will soon be paid out. Removing performance money from the total ultimately lowers the new adjusted royalties due to songwriters and publishers to $252.2 million.
Adjusted mechanical royalties from 2018-2020 that are matched by the digital services and/or their service providers will be distributed to publishers and songwriters by streamers directly, but because this is the period where some overpayments occurred, the bulk of these new adjusted mechanical royalties stem from underpayments made in 2021-2022, which will be paid out by the MLC. (The MLC was founded in 2021, and thus only works with money made after that point, plus unmatched and unclaimed funds before then).
Long Time Coming
Those who have been following the proceedings of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) — the government entity which regulates and determines how much publishers and songwriters get paid for mechanical royalties in the United States — have been waiting on this announcement for years.
The CRB reevaluates these royalty rates every five years, and for the five-year period called “Phonorecords III” or “Phono III,” which refers to 2018-2022, the board initially determined a new royalty rate for on-demand streaming in 2018 that was thought to be especially friendly to the music business. But some of the streaming services fought back with an appeal against that decision the following year, hoping to lower the rate and make it more comparable with the rates for the Phono II period (2013-2017).
That was the start of a lengthy and contentious legal battle between publishers, songwriters and streamers at the CRB, and it lasted until August 2023, when the Phono III rate was finally settled for good. The final rate for Phono III was not as favorable as the CRB’s 2018 initially determined rate, but it was still considered a win by the music business establishment.
Because of this multi-year back-and-forth, the streaming services were unsure of how much to pay publishers and songwriters for that entire five-year period. While they waited for more information from the CRB, some paid publishers at the Phono II rate and some paid publishers at the overturned 2018 Phono III rate, meaning some underpaid publishers and some overpaid. To make matters even more complicated, the way mechanical licensing on the publishing side worked systematically changed during Phono III due to the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018.
The MMA helped alleviate what many believed was an inefficient mechanical licensing system. Previously, streaming services had to license each song on their platform individually, tracking down the proper parties – whether that be an indie songwriter or a publisher – and working with them directly. Due to the complexities of achieving this, hundreds of millions of mechanical streaming royalties for publishers and songwriters got stuck in limbo, forming what many have called “black box royalties.” (The MLC now uses the term “historical unmatched and/or unclaimed royalties.”)
The MMA set up a new licensing system for publishing mechanicals that covers all musical works under one simple blanket license. To administer and implement this new system, the MMA created the MLC, but the MLC did not start its operations until January 2021, meaning mechanicals earned during the first half of the Phono III period (2018-2020) were paid out the old fashioned way, while 2021-2022 mechanicals were paid to the MLC.
There are still more royalties to come: The MLC notes that several streaming services missed their deadline for reporting adjusted royalties and that it expects the total figure to increase by another $10 million to $15 million once those additional royalties come in. Every month that these services are delinquent on their payments, they incur a late fee tied to a percentage of the amount that is outstanding, though given most of those delinquent digital services are delinquent are smaller players, these late fees are not believed to amount to a meaningful number.
All in all, this means somewhere around $270 million in new adjusted mechanical royalty payments are coming to publishers and songwriters this year.
Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group continues to partner with artists with deep-bench catalogs — announcing on Tuesday (March 5) a deal with Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry to acquire half of the suave auteur’s sound recording, publishing, and name, image and likeness rights. The company, which did not disclose financial details of the deal, said it will “develop and expand the renowned artist’s musical legacy to new generations of fans.”
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The deal spans Ferry’s work with glam-turned-sophisti-pop band Roxy Music and his expansive solo career, which combined has yielded 24 albums over 50-plus years. The through-line with Roxy Music is that Ferry wrote almost every one of the group’s songs, from 1972’s art-rock debut to the group’s eighth and final album, the pop-sheened Avalon, at times co-writing with fellow longtime members Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera. The band’s best known songs include “Love Is the Drug,” “All I Want Is You,” “Virginia Plain,” “Dance Away,” “Avalon” and radio staple “More Than This.”
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Ferry’s solo career ran parallel with his band work, starting with 1973’s These Foolish Things all the way to 2018’s Bitter-Sweet. In the middle there he scored his only UK No. 1 with 1985’s Boys and Girls, which also features one Ferry’s biggest hits in America, “Slave to Love.” (The track was further immortalized when he performed it at Live Aid, with an assist from David Gilmour.)
As for accolades, Ferry was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of Roxy Music, and he was awarded a CBE in 2011 for his contribution to British music. Iconic president Jimmy Edwards calls Ferry a “true musical pioneer who blended art, fashion, and rock & roll into a captivating and enduring sound.”
At Iconic, which was co-founded by Azoff and Oliver Chastan, Ferry joins a hall-of-fame roster of acts that includes Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker and CSN bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, among others.
Ferry said, “I’m pleased to be working with everyone at Iconic on finding new ways to share my music with the world. I’m excited to see what possibilities unfold.”
Natascha Augustin, who was named managing director of Warner Chappell Music Germany in January, started at the company as a half-time intern, rotating among various departments. She didn’t yet know what she wanted to do, and when an executive asked her, “I said I wanted to be a bookkeeper,” she remembers with a laugh. “Because there were two old ladies there who every afternoon ate cake.”
“He said, ‘You are not a bookkeeper’ – he knew better.” So, she became an A&R assistant at Warner Chappell in Munich.
The way Augustin talks about music publishing in Germany – the only big country in which Warner Chappell is No. 1 by market share, with 27.8%, according to Official German Charts data – it’s actually hard to imagine her doing anything else. And aside from internships in New York at Matador Records and Beggars Group, and a short stint at Warner Chappell in LA., she really hasn’t.
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Augustin owes much of her success to the rise of German hip-hop – Deutschrap – now the country’s biggest genre by market share. Years ago, Augustin got a call from Farid Bang, a German rapper of Moroccan-Spanish descent, who asked her about a publishing deal. At the time, “German rap was the enfant terrible of the music industry,” remembers Augustin, sitting in the airy listening room of Warner Music Central Europe’s new Berlin headquarters, but “I met with him and his story was interesting – he had done it all himself.”
At a time when the genre was still dominated by imported American stars, indie labels and underground artists, Augustin went all in. “People would call him” – Bang – “and he’d send them to me,” Augustin says. “I just met them on an equal level.”
In 2010, Augustin was named head of A&R. (She was subsequently promoted to Senior Creative Director and then vice president.) Within a decade, Warner Chappell had the No. 1 market share in Germany. This implies an even more impressive record of success with German songwriters given that the company is No. 3 globally and gets less market share in Germany from global music than its competitors.
In some cases, Augustin says, she became “the main point of contact in the industry” for rappers that had independent label or distribution deals. But she also signed a number of major label stars, including Capital Bra, Luciano and Apache 207 – who, with iconic singer Udo Lindenberg had the No. 1 single of 2023, “Komet.” (The song was written in part by Apache 207 and the producer Sira, another Augustin signing.) In 2023, she signed the superstar Shirin David, who might be thought of as a Made-in-Germany Nicki Minaj. “Shirin was very influential,” says Augustin, who still lives in Munich but also spends considerable time in Warner Music Central Europe’s offices in Hamburg and Berlin. “She brought the American rap idea here for women.”
In 2021, Augustin also played a key role in launching Atlantic Records in Berlin as a label focused on German hip-hop – an unusual joint role in recorded music for a publishing executive. She leveraged her connections in hip-hop to sign Yung Hurn, DJ Stickle, and Lil Zey, among others, but with the hiring of an executive to lead Atlantic and Augustin’s promotion, she’s now free to focus exclusively on publishing. One priority for the year ahead is Ayliva, a young rap star who writes her own songs and was the second-most-streamed artist last year after Taylor Swift.
Just days after the Universal Music Group‘s publishing catalog began coming down from TikTok, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) released a new statement stressing its concerns about artificial intelligence and online safety on the short-form video app. The company stated these are “equally” important issues to TikTok lack of “fair compensation” to songwriters.
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UMPG also acknowledged in its new statement that “the disruption is difficult for some of [its songwriters]” but says leaving the TikTok app is “critical for the sustained future value, safety and health of the entire music ecosystem.”
At the end of January, UMG announced in a letter to its artists and songwriters that it would be allowing its license with TikTok to expire, saying that TikTok refused to pay the “fair value” of music and no deal could be reached. (Tiktok fired back with its own statement, hours later, saying UMG’s decision was motivated by “greed”.) Within days, UMG tracks were removed from Tiktok en masse, including the catalogs of superstars Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, BTS and more who are signed to UMG record labels. In the letter, the company noted that these takedowns would also include its publishing arm, UMPG, but the publishing-related removals did not begin until Tuesday, Feb. 26.
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Now, any song, even if it was released by a non-UMG record label, is subject to takedown on TikTok if even one UMPG-signed songwriter was involved in its creation. Because UMPG is the second largest publisher in the world, these publishing takedowns were wide reaching, impacting almost every record label in one way or another.
In response to the publishing takedowns, TikTok said in a statement on Wednesday, “[UMG’s] actions not only affect the songwriters and artists that they represent, but now also impact many artists and songwriters not signed to Universal. We remain committed to reaching an equitable agreement with Universal Music Group.”
Read UMPG’s new statement to its songwriters below in full:
TikTok is removing UMPG songs because there is no license in place. As you may have heard, to-date, they have not agreed to recognize the fair value of your songs, which so many other digital partners around the world have done.
As we previously addressed in our open letter, in addition to fair compensation for your songs, the negotiations have also focused on two other critical and equally important issues: protecting you, human artists and songwriters, from the harmful effects of AI; and online safety for TikTok’s users, including your fans which include young children.
TikTok’s intentions with respect to AI are increasingly apparent. While refusing to respond to our concerns about AI depriving songwriters from fair compensation, or provide assurances that they will not train their AI models on your songs, recent media reports reveal “TikTok and ByteDance leaders have long wanted to move the app beyond music.” Reflecting on our open letter, other commentators have noted where this distancing from the music industry could lead, fueled by AI: “TikTok has an incentive to push the use of these AI recordings rather than the copyrighted and licensed recordings.”
Every indication is that they simply do not value your music.
We understand the disruption is difficult for some of you and your careers, and we are sensitive to how this may affect you around the world. We recognize that this might be uncomfortable at the moment. But it is critical for the sustained future value, safety and health of the entire music ecosystem, including all music fans.
As always, UMPG will only support partners that value songwriters, artists and your songs. We have a long history of successfully fighting for our songwriters and will continue to do so. You should expect nothing less from us.
Bucks Music Group has launched Chelsea Songs, a joint venture with music publishing veteran Eddie Levy. The new publisher represents works by Bill Withers, Andre Rieu, the Barton Music catalog – which contains standards such as “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head,” “Come Fly With Me” and others – and hits such as The Hues Corporation’s “Rock The Boat,” Janet Kay’s “Silly Games,” and Buscemi’s “Ole Ole We Are The Champions” for the UK at launch. As part of the agreement, Bucks will handle administration and creative sync.
Third Side Music has signed the late Alan Watts to a new worldwide publishing deal. Known as one of the defining writers and scholars of the Beat Generation, the deal with Watts is through his estate, The Alan Watts Organization. As part of the deal, Third Side Music will now foster unique creative music opportunities for Watts’ trove of 500+ house of audio commentary, lectures and radio programming for use in new songs, films, TV shows, ads, and more.
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Milk & Honey Music + Sports has signed Grammy-winning songwriter and artist Jozzy (Beyoncé, Summer Walker, 21 Savage) to a new management deal. Along with the new signing, the company’s founder and CEO, Lucas Keller, has announced the addition of manager Jason Ramos (previously of Roc Nation) to the Milk & Honey team.
Prescription Songs has extended its publishing deal with Vaughn Oliver. A multi-platinum producer, sound designer, DJ, and mix engineer, Vaughn began his partnership with Prescription in 2019 and since then, has worked on a number of top tracks, including “Super Freaky Girl” by Nicki Minaj, “Big Energy” by Latto, and “Her” by Megan Thee Stallion.
C3 Management launches C3 Publishing, a joint venture with Warner Chappell Music. Founded by Charlie Walker and Charles Attal of C3 Presents and C3 Management and led by Russell Baltera, the company will employ WCM’s help with a&r, creative, and sync. Its first signee is Natalie Jane, a rising singer-songwriter.
BMG has extended its publishing administration agreement with Too Lost, a music technology company and distributor. The companies’ partnership began in 2021, and under the terms of the deal, the two handle the rights for songs like “Jocelyn Flores” by XXXTENTACION, “BEEF” FloMix by Flo Milli and more.
Universal Music Publishing Group has signed the members of indie pop band The Wallows to global publishing deals. Known best for their song “Are You Bored Yet?” (feat. Clairo), the SoCal trio is comprised of actor Dylan Minnette, Braedon Lemasters and Cole Preston.
Spirit Music Nashville/2 Mix Music has signed Ryan Beaver to a worldwide publishing deal. Named the “Rising Songwriter of the Year” for 2023 by the AIMP Nashville Country Music Awards, Beaver recently penned the track “Pretty Little Poison” b y Warren Zeiders and “Party Mode” by Dustin Lynch. He has also written songs for Blake Shelton, Ryan Hurd, HARDY, Larry Fleet, Parker McCollum, Josh Abbott, Catie Offerman and Luke Bryan.
Warner Chappell Music has signed Brazilian producer Zerb to a global publishing deal. News of the deal arrives just the rise of Zerb’s biggest hit to date: “Mwaki” featuring Kenyan vocalist Sofiya Nzau, which has gained even more traction with recent remixes by Major Lazer and Tiësto.
Warner Chappell Music has signed emerging singer-songwriter Evan Bartels to a global publishing deal.
Wise Music Group‘s Bosworth Music has signed a new long-term administration agreement to represent the publishing catalog of Random Noize Musick. The roster includes German electronic talents like as Markus Popp (Oval), Annika Henderson (Anika), Pilocka Krach, T.Raumschmiere, Apparat, Moderat, and Sascha Ring.
Downtown Music Publishing has signed French artists Boombass and Étienne de Crécy to worldwide publishing agreements. Boombass is best known as one half of the renowned duo Cassius and and de Crécy has gained acclaim as a DJ and producer.
BMG has promoted Los Angeles-based executive Marian Wolf to lead its North American publishing operations. With the official title of senior vp of music publishing, North America, Wolf now heads the company’s single largest business unit, leading employees in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, and Canada.
He will report to Thomas Scherer, the newly appointed president of global catalog recordings and music publishing, North America.
Wolf is a longtime member of the BMG team. He started at the company in Berlin in 2011 before relocating to Los Angeles in 2014 and has worked his way up through various roles, including vp of global writer services and China and senior vp of publishing and chief of staff. During his tenure, the company has added a number of key songwriters to its publishing roster including George Harrison, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Riot Games, Jessie J, and Dave Gibson, among others.
Wolf has also played a key role in BMG partnerships. In 2016, Wolf developed the BMG SoundLab, its songwriting camp, which has collaborated with parters like American Idol, She Is The Music and major U.S. labels. The writing camp even once partnered with the United Nations and Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser. Wolf also has spearheaded opportunities between BMG and its parent company Bertelsmann, including a partnership with European broadcast and content leader RTL.
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The news of Wolf’s promotion arrives after significant restructuring at BMG. In October, the company terminated about 40 employees, including those in its international marketing, film and theatrical divisions, to reconfigure the company. Thomas Coesfeld, the company’s recently appointed chief executive, said this was part of its new strategy, called BMG Next, to better position the company for the future.
“With Marian’s expertise and success in the US and globally, he is the ideal leader for our North American music publishing business,” says Scherer. “We are confident he will continue to grow and transform the opportunities and digital services for our music publishing catalog clients, as well as frontline songwriter signings.“
“I am excited to lead our North American publishing teams into this next chapter,” says Wolf. “Publishing continues to be a corner stone of BMG’s business and I am thrilled to continuously innovate the way we serve our songwriters and publishing clients as creative partners.”