Publishing
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CTM Outlander has acquired Dutch music label and publishing house Strengholt Music Group. Founded in 1928, Stengholt was originally part of European entertainment powerhouse Strengholt B.V. and was considered an early pioneer in the Dutch music business. The catalog contains over 100 Dutch No. 1 hits, including works composed by Boudewijn de Groot, Lennaert Nijgh, Ramses Shaffy, Pierre Kartner, Hans van Hemert, Ferry Corsten, Radboud Miedema, John Ewbank, Eric van Tijn and Jochem Fluitsma, and including “Engelbewaarder” by Marco Schuitmaker. (The management and rights activities of Purple Eye Publishing and Purple Eye ENtertainment are excluded from this transaction.)
Grammy Songwriter of the Year nominee Nija Charles and Legion founder Christian McCurdy have launched Anomaly, a new publishing company. Already, the pair has signed Jack Rochon, Serg Dior and Tre-Von Waters to the new publishing house. To date, the company is not partnered with another publisher but is in the process of finalizing a deal now.
Sol Was has signed a worldwide publishing administrative agreement with Warner Chappell Music‘s Wallace Joseph and Gabz Landman. With recent credits on Beyoncé’s Renaissance, this marks the up-and-coming songwriter and producer’s first-ever publishing deal. He is managed by David Silberstein, Jeremy Levin, Haley Evans and Laura Higbee of Mega House Music.
Spirit Music Nashville has signed Tyler Reeve to a worldwide co-publishing agreement. A writer for Luke Combs, Eric Church, Chris Young, Scotty McCreery and Brett Young, his accomplishments include winning BMI’s Country Song of the Year and multiple multi-platinum certifications.
peermusic Nashville has signed songwriter and engineer Nick Brophy to an exclusive worldwide publishing deal. A songwriter to stars like Jason Aldean, Hootie & the Blowfish, Rascal Flatts and engineers to Avril Lavigne, The Rolling Stones and Everclear — Brophy has the “ability to write across genres with impact in Nashville and into global markets,” says Michael Knox, president of peermusic Nashville.
Downtown Music Publishing has signed Raja Kumari, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and rapper, to a global administration agreement. As part of the deal, Downtown will administer Kumari’s debut album The Bridge along with her collaboration with John Legend for Johnny Walker India. The deal also includes administration for all future writing credits during the deal term.
Angry Mob Music Group presented a five-day writing camp from June 26-30 in Downtown LA, drawing over 30 writers, artists and producers from various cultural backgrounds. Called The New Normal Writing Camp, it was founded by Ralph Torrefranca, senior director of a&r at Angry Mob, and was created to bring together underrepresented songwriters and to encourage new ways of thinking. Of the attendees, 50% were women producers and 70% were women artists and writers.
Distiller Music Group has announced a new co-publishing agreement with songwriter/producer Gil Lewis (Leah Kate, Nina Nesbitt, Icona Pop, Cheat Codes). The deal is an agreement with Stellar Songs and part of a wider partnership that Distiller Music Group is developing with Tim Blacksmith and Danny D’s publishing company. It will be administered by Warner Chappell Music.
Criminal Records, a London-based indie label, has launched a new publishing arm and North American partnership with Purley Sounds. With diverse signees, ranging from ska-punk to punk, Criminal Records hopes the new move will “further empower independent artists.”
Warner Chappell Music has signed Laufey to a global publishing agreement. The Icelandic-Chinese artist is considered one of the brightest new stars in jazz, re-popularizing the genre for Gen Z. The deal announcement arrives just ahead of her sophomore album Bewitched, arriving Sept. 8 via AWAL, and her upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Ford Ampitheatre in Los Angeles.
Laufey’s songs have always fared well on TikTok, in part because the singer is active in sharing her work on the app — but in the last month, her May single “From the Start,” began to hit true virality. With a bossa nova-inspired groove and wistful lyrics, fans began creating videos to a sped-up version of the single and that activity has led to real streams on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and other DSPs. U.S. on-demand streams for the week ending July 14, when the song began to take off, went up 50% from the previous week’s total and its streams climbed to 644,000 per day.
Laufey said of the new signing that she is “honored to join the ranks of some of the most iconic songwriters and artists in history at Warner Chappell. Gabz, David, Ryan, Guy, Carianne, and the rest of the team at Warner Chappell have been fervent songwriter advocates for years, and I’m elated to call the company my new publishing partner.”
Gabz Landman, vp of a&r, and David Goldsen, vp and head of a&r of Australia for Warner Chappell Music said in a joint statement: “At Warner Chappell, we pride ourselves on working with the most talented storytellers in the world, so Laufey is the perfect addition to our roster. Laufey’s innate musicality, lyrical ingenuity, deep relationship with her fans, and world class live show are just a few factors that make it no surprise her star is rising. We’re thrilled to be working with such an exceptional, generational talent, and thank Laufey, Max Gredinger, and Harry Roberts for trusting us at this exciting point in her career.”
“Laufey is a gifted songwriter who has a distinct sound that balances classic elements with modern songwriting, and her music has been resonating with audiences all around the world. She’s exposing jazz and classical music to a whole new generation of fans, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome her to the Warner Chappell family,” added Ryan Press, president of North America at Warner Chappell Music.
Argentine star Maria Becerra has signed an exclusive administration deal with Warner Chappell Music (WCM), Billboard has learned. The agreement comes three months after Becerra signed with Warner Music Latina in a joint venture with 300 Entertainment, who she’s been signed to since 2020.
“Thanks to the entire Warner Chappell team for 100% trusting and empowering me and my team,” Becerra said in a statement. “I’m so thrilled and happy to officially be joining the family and continuing to grow! And a huge shoutout to my managers Jose Levy, Natanael Real, and Armando Lozano for believing in me; my creative director Julian Levy; my music producer Xross; and everyone, for always supporting my music vision and making me trust myself even more.”
Since her breakout year in 2019 — when she released her EP 222 — Becerra has so far scored three entries on the Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart, including her hit “Qué Más Pues?” with J Balvin, as well as two top 10 entries on Latin Airplay (the No. 1 hit “Te Espero” with Prince Royce and “Éxtasis” with Manuel Turizo at No. 9), and five entries on Latin Rhythm Airplay.
In 2021, she released her debut album Animal featuring collabs with Cazzu, Tiago PZK and Becky G, to name a few. The set earned her a Latin Grammy nomination for best urban music album. That same year, Becerra was nominated for best new artist at the Latin Grammys. In May, the 23-year-old artist received the visionary award at the inaugural Billboard Latin Women in Music gala. Becerra’s latest album La Nena de Argentina — her most multifaceted album to date — garnered more than 301 million plays on Spotify alone.
“I’ve been following Maria since she erupted onto the scene, and she continues to surprise me with her incredible and relentless artistic growth. We’re very happy to finally have her in our Warner Chappell Music family,” expressed Gustavo Menéndez, president, U.S. Latin & Latin America, WCM.
“Maria has become one of the most outstanding and versatile artists and songwriters in the music scene, and it is a true honor to have a great ally like Warner Chappell to continue developing her career globally,” said her manager Jose Levy. “Thank you to the entire team for their commitment – we’re excited to face these challenges and reach new goals together, accompanying Maria in everything she sets out to do.”
When a young Evan Bogart tried his hand at writing a few pop songs for a girl group he managed, he had no idea he would score one of the biggest Billboard hits of 2006.
After the act disbanded, Bogart decided to pitch the songs to labels. One of them landed with a then-fledgling pop artist named Rihanna, who was signed to Def Jam Recordings. Bogart’s song, “S.O.S.,” not only broke Rihanna — it jumped 33 spots to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week — it minted his songwriting career.
Multiple hits later, Bogart runs his own publishing company and label, Seeker Music, where he encourages his songwriters to create “pitch records” — songs written by songwriters, recorded as demos, and then shopped to various artists. It’s a common practice that increasingly employs a new — albeit controversial — hack: artificial intelligence voice synthesis, which mimics the voice of the artist being pitched.
Bogart says the technology helps his roster better tailor pitches to talent and enables the artists to envision themselves on the track. At a time when acts are demanding a weightier role in the song creation process, AI voice generation offers a creative way to get their attention.
“Producers and writers have always tried to mimic the artists’ voice on these demos anyway,” says attorney Jason Berger, whose producer and songwriter clients are beginning to experiment with AI vocals for their pitches. “I feel like this technology is very impactful because now you can skip that step with AI.”
Traditionally, songwriters will either sing through the track themselves for a demo recording or employ a demo singer. In cases when writers have a specific artist in mind, a soundalike demo singer may be employed to mimic the artist’s voice for about $250-500 per cut. (One songwriter manager said there are a few in particular who make good money imitating Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Justin Bieber, and other top tier acts. In general, however, nearly all demo singers hold other jobs in music like background singing, writing, producing or engineering.)
The emerging technology doesn’t generate a melody and vocal from scratch but instead maps the AI-generated tone of the artist’s voice atop a prerecorded vocal. Popular platforms include CoversAI, Uberduck, KitsAI, and Grimes’ own voice model, which she made available for public use in May. Still, these models yield mixed results.
Some artists’ voices might be easier for AI to imitate because they employ Auto-Tune or other voice-processing technology when they record, normalizing the voice and giving it an already computerized feel. A large catalog of recordings also helps because it offers more training material.
“Certain voices sound really good, but others are not so good,” Bogart says, but he adds that he actually “likes that it sounds a little different from a real voice. I’m not trying to pretend the artist is truly on the song. I’m just sending people a robotic version of the artist to help them hear if the song is a good fit.”
Training is one of the most contentious areas of generative AI because the algorithms are often fed copyrighted material, like sound recordings, without owners’ knowledge or compensation. The legality of this is still being determined in the United States and other countries, but any restrictions that arise probably won’t apply to pitch records because they aren’t released commercially.
“I really haven’t had any negative reactions,” Bogart says of his efforts. “No one’s said ‘did you just pitch your song with my artists’ voice on it to me?’”
Stefán Heinrich, founder and CEO of CoversAI creator mayk.it, says voice re-creation tools could even democratize the songwriting profession altogether, allowing talented unknown writers a chance at getting noticed. “Until now, you had to have the right connections to pitch your songs to artists,” he says. “Now an unknown songwriter can use the power of the technology and the reach of TikTok to show your skills to others and get invited into those rooms.”
While Nick Jarjour — founder and CEO of JarjourCo, advisor to mayk.it and former global head of song management at Hipgnosis — supports the ethical use of this technology, he believes that the industry should take a different approach to applying AI voices on pitches. “The solution is letting the artist who is receiving the demos decide to put their AI voice onto it themselves,” he says, as opposed to publishers and writers sending over demos with the AI treatment already provided. To do this, artists can create their own personal voice models that are more accurate and tailored to their needs, much like Grimes has already done, and then apply those to pitches they receive.
Still, as Berger says, “this is evolving by the day.” Most publishers haven’t put this technology into every day practice yet, but now more are discussing the idea publicly. At the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) annual conference in New York City last month, Katie Fagan, head of A&R for Prescription Songs Nashville, said that she recently saw AI vocals on a pitch record for the first time. One of her writers had tested AI to add the voice of Cardi B to the demo. “It could be an interesting pitch tool in the future,” she said, noting that this technology could be used even more simply to change the gender of the demo singer when pitching the same demo to a mix of male and female artists.
“I really don’t see why you wouldn’t pitch a song with a voice that sounds as close as possible to the artist, given the goal is helping the artist hear themselves on the track,” says Berger. “My guess is that people will get used to this pretty quick. I think in six months we are going to have even more to talk about.”
In the more distant future, Bogart wonders what might happen if, as the technology advances, pitch records become the final step in the creative process. “What would be really scary is if someone asks the artist, ‘Hey, do you want to cut this?’ And they reply, ‘I don’t have to, that’s me.’”
The Jenni Rivera Estate has signed a global deal with Universal Music Publishing Group to administer the publishing rights for Jenni Rivera’s global catalog, Billboard has learned. “I’m so excited about this new partnership with Universal Music Publishing. It’ll bring great achievements for my mom’s legacy and for Jenni Rivera Enterprises,” said Jacqie Rivera, CEO of Jenni […]
BMI is exploring potential sale possibilities, a year after its transition into a for-profit entity, according to an internal memo from CEO Mike O’Neill that was obtained by Billboard. In the note to staff, O’Neill said, “Delivering for our affiliates is always our top priority, and we have a responsibility to engage in discussions with outside parties if they can help further that mission. That is exactly what we are doing right now, and no final decisions have been made.”
The discussions come a year after BMI had engaged Goldman Sachs to explore strategic opportunities in 2022, with one of the options at the time being a potential sale; that process ultimately did not lead to a deal. Reuters first reported that talks had reopened over a potential sale now. A spokesperson for BMI declined to comment.
In the memo, O’Neill wrote that after ending the strategic opportunities process last year, BMI chose to invest in the company “to grow the value of our affiliates’ music,” and that the change to the for-profit model, in addition to that investment, “has only intensified that outside interest.”
“It’s an exciting time for BMI and we’re in a strong position,” O’Neill wrote. “And the most important thing for us to do is keep focus and continue the great work that makes BMI the best PRO in the business. The future is filled with potential and there is no better team to tackle the numerous opportunities that lie ahead for our company and our affiliates.”
BMI, founded in 1939, represents more than 20 million works by more than 1 million songwriters, composers and publishers, including artists like Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar. In its most recent annual report, for the year ended June 30, 2022, the performance rights organization tallied revenues of $1.573 billion and distributed $1.471 billion to songwriters, its highest mark ever.
Read O’Neill’s full note below.
Hi Team,
A few press articles have come out today speculating that BMI is considering a sale. I am reaching out now because I want you to hear the background directly from me.
Not surprisingly, interest in BMI has continued since we announced a year ago that we were no longer considering a sale of our company. You may recall this was one of the options on the table when we were evaluating strategic opportunities to best position BMI for the future. Since then, the success of our business model change and our commitment to investing in BMI to grow the value of our affiliates’ music has only intensified that outside interest.
Delivering for our affiliates is always our top priority, and we have a responsibility to engage in discussions with outside parties if they can help further that mission. That is exactly what we are doing right now, and no final decisions have been made. By its very nature, speculation can often contain mischaracterizations and inaccurate information. Please don’t be distracted by this and know that I will update you directly on any new developments.
It’s an exciting time for BMI and we’re in a strong position. And the most important thing for us to do is keep focus and continue the great work that makes BMI the best PRO in the business. The future is filled with potential and there is no better team to tackle the numerous opportunities that lie ahead for our company and our affiliates.
Thank you, as always, for all you do.
MON
Imagine Dragons, one of the most successful rock bands of the past decade, has signed a global administration deal with Warner Chappell Music (WCM). “Songwriting has always been at the heart of everything we do as a band,” Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds said in a statement. “We’re excited to have great partners with our […]
With film and television production shut down for the foreseeable future, the Hollywood writer and actor strikes are ravaging all the businesses that touch the movie industry, from catering to editing to flower delivery — including music synchs. After generating $382 million for record labels and nearly $1.5 billion for publishers in 2022, the sector is beginning to struggle as the strikes proceed.
“That’s been quite a dark thing,” says Stephanie Diaz Matos, head of music supervision for writer-actress Issa Rae’s Raedio, a music company that includes a publisher and label. “We have several shows that, once the actors went on strike, they stopped production.”
Adds a music publishing source: “It could be bumpy if this goes on for a really long time.”
Since the Writers Guild of America strike began in early May — and the Screen Actors Guild joined earlier this month — labels and publishers report receiving fewer requests for pitching songs. “The amount of film and TV briefs I get have gone way down,” says Mara Kuge, founder and president of Superior Music Publishing. “Briefs for trailers [some of the most highly paid placements] have also been in more mild decline as well,” adds Jack Ormandy, co-founder and CEO of SILO: Music, a publishing, management and synch house.
The Writers Guild of America, East and West, represent 11,500 movie and TV writers and have been unable to agree on a new contract with Hollywood studios and streaming services over issues like higher compensation in the streaming economy, protection from the effects of artificial intelligence, more contributions to health and pension funds and improvements in workplace standards. Thousands of actors in the SAG-AFTRA union joined the writers’ picket line July 14 after negotiations broke down with studios over a new contract of their own.
While there’s hope the strikes could be resolved by the fall, some sources fear they could drag on into 2024, frequently citing a chilling quote from an unnamed studio executive in a recent Deadline article: “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
“I don’t know what that’s going to look like in three months or six months. I’m hopeful this will come to a resolution and [the striking actors and writers] get the benefits they hope for,” says Esther Friedman, senior vp of creative film and television licensing for Sony Music Publishing. “We felt it in the late-night TV shows. Those stopped right away.”
Synch revenue is a major, and growing, source of income in the music business. According to the RIAA, synchronization licensing — the right required to use music along with visual media — increased by 24.8% in 2022, and the synch business made up 26% of all publishing royalties, says the NMPA. Placements in studio film and TV projects can earn artists up to six figures, and prominent synchs can lead to even greater financial ripple effects after a show’s release. Perhaps the greatest recent example is Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” which catapulted to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 after an appearance in Netflix’s Stranger Things repopularized the original 1985 single.
The strikes have shocked the multimillion-dollar synch system of movie and TV music supervisors sending briefs to music publishers and labels. “Usually, if we are not getting a ton of briefs, or it’s a slower time, we’re wining-and-dining clients, checking in,” says Jessica Vaughn, head of sync for Venice. “But it’s hard to justify going to music supervisors right now and being, like, ‘Hey, how are you doing, looking for any music?’ Because some supervisors might be out of work or about to finish up one project and not sure what they’re doing next.”
For labels and publishers, the key to surviving the Hollywood strikes may be diversification — many are looking to advertisements, reality and unscripted TV shows, documentaries and overseas films to bolster synch revenue. Also: video games. According to MIDiA Research’s 2022 study on music and gaming, the gaming industry earned $138 billion in 2020, and games make up a sizable portion of the synch business. After the Hollywood strikes, Ormandy hired a new employee at his company to focus specifically on video-game licensing. Adds Vaughn: “I see this as an opportunity right now to focus in on gaming. Some people overlook gaming, but it really is huge.”
For now, labels and publishers are focusing on shows and films made before the strikes that are in post-production, and will still contribute to the synch business in the short term. But it’s tricky. “You sometimes can’t finish episodes without your writers or actors because things like voiceovers need to be added in,” Diaz Matos says.
Plus, if the strikes drag on, actors won’t be available for crucial film and TV promotion. Because of this problem, some studios are beginning to push back release dates, including the Luca Guadagnino film Challengers, starring Zendaya, which has moved from its Sept. 15 release to April 26, 2024. Because synch payments are made around three to six months after the date of a film’s release, these delays will be a pain point for music licensors, even if the placement was completed before the actors’ strike. “Down the line is where you start to feel it — three to six months out,” says the publishing source.
Superior Music Publishing’s Kuge adds that synch revenue is known to vary widely quarter by quarter. “It’s very up and down regardless,” she says. “People who deal with the world of synch are so used to it that they’re not going to feel the effects too much unless the strikes drag on for two or three quarters straight — that’s the point when it starts getting past the normal ups and downs.”
If this kind of diversification helps synch departments withstand losses from the strikes, music supervisors — those who compile soundtracks for film and TV and act as the go-between for productions and licensors — are not able to wait as long. Most supervisors are freelance contractors, working on a project-by-project basis. Sources say a number of notable music supervision firms have laid off staff members, citing the lack of projects in the pipeline.
“I actually furloughed my coordinator yesterday. I have one project I think is going to get a waiver [granted by the unions to certain independent films] — once that goes back, I think I can get her back,” says Lindsay Wolfington, a veteran music supervisor for streaming shows such as Virgin River, Monster High and the upcoming movie Love at First Sight. “We’ve all had to figure out healthcare on our own. The bank account’s not fun to look at.”
Music supervisors are not unionized, but the roughly 150-200 of them who work at Netflix are awaiting a National Labor Relations Board decision on a union-certification motion they filed last October. They’re seeking representation with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and their demands overlap with those of the striking writers and actors: more reliable payment deliveries, cost-of-living increases and healthcare and retirement and pension plans. “The rates haven’t changed in years, and it’s the same with writers and actors,” Wolfington says.
Julie Glaze Houlihan, another veteran music supervisor who has worked on Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and other hit shows and movies, predicts the strikes will cause pain for the music business. “Clearance is going to slow down, record labels and publishers are going to lose revenue because music isn’t being licensed. It is a domino effect,” she says. “Nobody wants this to go on.” But SILO: Music’s Ormandy is more optimistic. “Though COVID was completely different for many reasons, it was also a time when the film industry just stopped, too,” he says. “What I’m banking on is that we know how to weather a similar storm.”
Universal Music Publishing China has signed Tia Ray to a global publishing deal. Ray is a superstar in her home country and made history in 2018 with her song “Be Apart,” which sold enough worldwide to earn the No. 7 spot of IFPI’s Top 10 Global Singles Chart that year. She was the only Chinese artist to crack the top ten that year.
Reservoir has acquired the rights to rock talent Greg Kilhn. This includes publishing, recording, and distribution rights to Kihn’s Beserkley Records-era catalog. Songs from this time period include “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” both of which charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the early 1980s.
Cutting Edge Media Music has acquired a majority interest in White Stork, a publishing company founded by film/tv composer Tom Howe (Ted Lasso, Daisy Jones and The Six, The Great British Bakeoff). As part of the deal, CEMM has invested in growing the publisher as a joint venture. Tamsin Dove, Chief Commercial Officer, has been selected to expand the business and drive global sync strategy.
Raedio has signed three new acts: Patrick Paige II, Ego Ella May, and Flwr Chyld. Each act will work with Raedio’s record label, music supervision and podcast ecosystem as part of their new agreements with the Issa Rae-founded firm.
Position Music has signed artist and songwriter KANNER to a worldwide publishing deal. Though she has earned credits on songs released by Katy Perry, Royal & the Serpent, Krewella, Siiickbrain, Rebecca Black and more, KANNER is also an artist in her own right. Her next single “MEGAPHONE MOUTH” will be released Friday, July 21.
Concord Music Publishing signs country artist and songwriter Tyler Halverson to his first-ever publishing deal. The worldwide agreement includes all of his future works.
Daytripper Music Publishing, the creative division of CCS Rights Management, has signed Ron Gallo to a worldwide co-publishing deal. On the label side, the Philadelphia-based singer songwriter is signed to Kill Rock Stars.
MNRK Music Group has partnered with Steel Sessions and its producers Francis “Buda Da Future” Ubiera, Dan “Grandz Muzik” Garcia, and Michael “Mike Kuz” Kuzoian. As part of the new partnership, the producers — along with the rising talent from Steel Sessions — will develop artists in the studio, sign them to MNRK, and provide production services for MNRK Urban’s releases.
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired selected recorded and publishing assets of Blackbear, the hit songwriter and artist whose credits include “Hot Girl Bummer,” “Do Re Mi” and songwriting collaborations like Justin Bieber‘s “Boyfriend.” In the U.S., Blackbear’s catalog has generated 4.45 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. While the deal announcement doesn’t specify what […]