Publishing
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Omar Apollo has signed a global publishing deal with Concord Music Publishing. The new partnership comes after the Latin singer-songwriter’s major label debut album, Ivory (2022) via Warner Records, and a juggernaut soulful single “Evergreen (You Didn’t Deserve Me At All),” which recently landed at No. 51 on the Hot 100.
The contract with Concord will cover his complete music catalog, which includes Ivory and future works.
“Omar has already proven himself to be one of the most exciting artists, pushing music forward,” Jeremy Yohai, senior vp of A&R at Concord, said in a statement. “It’s been amazing working Omar together with Dylan [Shanks, management] and his current music success is only the beginning.”
“Working with Jeremy and the Concord Music Publishing team has been great,” adds Apollo.
The independent music publishing company also houses the works of acclaimed songwriters like The 1975, BIA, Daft Punk, and Duff McKagan, and represents the catalogs of legends such as Benny Blanco, Phil Collins, and Joan Sebastian among others.
Prior to Ivory, the Mexican-American artist was already a force to be reckoned with. He carved out a space as a prolific, millions-streaming SoundCloud creator; entered the top 20 of Heatseekers Albums for both 2019’s EP Friends and 2020’s mixtape Apolonio releases; and earned two Latin Grammy nominations in 2021. Plus, he’s been building a fervid, cult fan base that’s now ready for a mainstream breakthrough.
With a heady mix of pop-punk (“Talk”), delectable funk (“No Good Reason”), Spanglish trap (“Tamagochi”), and plenty of bluesy cuts in the new album, Apollo further testifies his genre-spanning prowess and song-crafting eminence and that’s equipped for global consumption. Proof? For starters, Ivory debuted at No. 1 of the Heatseekers Albums chart, and singles like “Evergreen” racked up about 66 million plays across streaming channels.
This year, the bilingual star made memorable appearances in major festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, and ALC Fest. He also guested on Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and is preparing for another headlining tour Stateside that includes stops at Brooklyn’s King Theatre and Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre.
Music publishing can sometimes be a drag, but today, that’s not a bad thing: Producers Entertainment Group (PEG) officially launches PEG Music Publishing on Thursday (Oct. 20), in collaboration with Warner Chappell Music (WCM), Billboard can reveal.
The LGBTQ+ talent management company’s newly created music publishing arm has an administration deal with WCM, which is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The freshly inked deal involves some of the biggest names in contemporary drag culture: Alaska Thunderfuck, Bob the Drag Queen, Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Manila Luzon, Miz Cracker, Peppermint, Sherry Vine and Trixie Mattel are the first signings as part of this arrangement. Additionally, country singer-songwriter Brandon Stansell, whose sophomore album This Must Be the Place was released over the summer, is also part of PEG’s deal with WCM. PEG says more signings from the company’s roster are to come.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been passionately dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ artists,” says Ryan Aceto, PEG Records head of A&R. “I’m thrilled that with this partnership, our artists and songwriters will have even more opportunities and resources to get their art out into the world. PEG Records is committed to putting our artists on the same level as other mainstream artists.”
“We’re excited to partner with Ryan and the PEG team to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ music creators – finding new ways to market their music and tell their stories through playlisting and strategic partnerships, as well as creating new opportunities for them to collaborate with other Warner Chappell songwriters,” says Ashley Winton, WCM svp of creative services.
The admin deal between PEG Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music applies to the aforementioned artists’ catalogs and future compositions. At the top of 2022, Warner Chappell Music – which has offices in more than 20 countries — made headlines when it was announced that WCM had acquired the rights to David Bowie’s catalog, including every song written by the late icon.
PEG Records’ Aceto has previously overseen partnerships with ADA/Warner Music Group, the Recording Academy, Epic Games, Peloton and the Grammy Museum. PEG Records is a member label of Warner Music Group’s Alternative Distribution Alliance.
Songclip has announced a partnership with Hipgnosis. Known as the “world’s only patented music clip company,” Songclip helps the music industry get clips of songs uploaded and properly licensed for apps like TikTok. The deal will allow Songclips to work with 100,000 new songs administered by Hipgnosis. This news arrives months after the 2022 NMPA Annual Meeting in which its CEO and president, David Israelite, announced that the organization will be partnering with Songclip to help remedy the issue of unlicensed music on emerging apps. To date, Songclip also has deals in place WMG, UMG, BMG, Kobalt and more.
Sony Music Publishing U.K. has signed producer and artist Lostboy to a global publishing deal. Known for his work with Tiesto and Ava Max’s “The Motto” as well as cuts with Bebe Rexha, Zedd, Kehlani, Why Don’t We, and more, he is considered by the Sony team to be one of brightest talents straddling pop, dance and electronic music. “He is without a doubt one of the world’s most exciting songwriters,” says Saul Fitton, senior a&r manager at SMP U.K.
Concord Music Publishing has signed Russell Dickerson, a multi-platinum country artist and songwriter. The deal includes Dickerson’s back catalog of songs — including “Yours,” “Every Little Thing,” and “Blue Tacoma” — as well as works made moving forward. Dickerson says of the deal, “I love that they are an independent company with worldwide reach. They value songwriters and today I’m humbled to be joining their roster of incredible talent.”
Bosworth Music (Wise Music Group) has announced its new worldwide publishing deal with Grandbrothers. The German-Swiss duo, made up of Erol Sarp and Lukas Vogel, release records via indie label City Slang and also work on respected film compositions, including a score for Hors Normes which debuted at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Warner Chappell Music has signed up-and-coming Nashville talent Jon Kraft to a publishing deal. A songwriter and artist in his own right, he will be represented by the company worldwide.
BDi Music has signed Aimée to a global publishing deal. The up-and-coming Irish pop writer and singer has been releasing music since 2018, and she now joins talents like Novo Amor, Amy Wadge, and more on BDi’s roster.
Michael Knox has been promoted to president of peermusic Nashville. Knox, who joined the company in 2010, previously served as senior vp of peermusic Nashville.
Under Knox’s guidance, peermusic Nashville published the 2016 SESAC country song of the year, Dierks Bentley‘s “Somewhere on a Beach,” co-written by Michael Tyler and Jaron Boyer, as well as the 2013 ASCAP country music song of the year, Randy Houser‘s “How Country Feels” (co-written by Neil Thrasher and Vicky McGehee). Other peermusic Nashville publishing highlights include Jason Aldean‘s “Rearview Town,” Jon Pardi‘s “Ain’t Always The Cowboy,” Cole Swindell‘s “Love You Too Late,” Riley Green‘s “There Was This Girl” and Dustin Lynch‘s “Hell of a Night.”
“In the 12 years that he has been with peermusic, Michael Knox has distinctively guided our Nashville office song by song, hit by hit, resulting in major impact for our roster of songwriters,” said Kathy Spanberger, president/COO peermusic, via a statement. “Knox is one of the most prolific publishers and music producers in Nashville with an extraordinary amount of production credits to his name, but it’s his thoughtful approach, quick humor, and devotion to our music creators that really draws people to want to build their careers with peermusic Nashville. Knox is delivering career-making opportunities for our writers.”
“For over 94 years, the Peers have been widely considered the first family of country music publishing with a history of delivering ‘firsts’ in the industry,” Knox added. “I jumped at the invitation to be a part of this publishing team 12 years ago and to work alongside some of the best and most trusted music publishers in the business. The important legacy that we’re building upon here in Nashville, our commitment to continue delivering ‘firsts’ for songwriters, and the genuine connections we have with our peermusic writers is something that I’m flat-out proud to be a part of. I’m thankful to Kathy, Mary Megan Peer, Ralph Peer II, and our peermusic team for this opportunity.”
In addition to his work leading peermusic Nashville, Knox is an accomplished producer known for his longtime work with Aldean and others. Knox topped Billboard’s Top Country Producers chart for the first time last year (notching his 13th year earning Top 10 Country Producers honors) after the release of the Aldean/Carrie Underwood collaboration “If I Didn’t Love You,” which Knox solely produced. The song stayed atop the Billboard Country Airplay chart for three weeks, and earned single of the year honors at the 57th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The song is nominated for music event of the year at the upcoming 56th annual Country Music Association awards.
Knox’s production credits have contributed to over 55 million singles and 30 million albums sold, including songs recorded by Thomas Rhett (“It Goes Like This”), Trace Adkins (“Just Fishin’”), Kelly Clarkson and Aldean (“Don’t You Wanna Stay”), Aldean, Luke Bryan and Eric Church (“The Only Way I Know”), Montgomery Gentry (“Where I Come From”) and more. He also co-produced “The Wrong Song,” featuring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere with T Bone Burnett for the television show Nashville.
Prior to joining peermusic, Knox opened the song plugging company Hit Pluggers in 1991. From 1992 until 2002, Knox served as a vice president at Warner Chappell, responsible for writer and artist development and song placements. He signed and oversaw writers and catalogs including Aldean, John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Emily West, Jeff Stevens, Steve Bogard, Marv Green, Terry McBride, Wendell Mobley, and Dave Loggins. Knox has previously served on the ACM Board of Directors and the CMA Board of Directors.
Additionally, Knox is a label exec with the Music Knox Records imprint with BBR Music Group/BMG. He signed Tim Montana to the label in 2020. He also launched the nationally syndicated radio show Knox Country 360, which he serves as host and producer on. Earlier this year, Knox became a first-time ACM national weekly on-air personality of the year, alongside co-host Shalacy Griffin.
Round Hill Music has signed a worldwide publishing administration agreement with Coheed and Cambria, the progressive rock band that has recorded 10 studio albums and generated 3.4 million album consumption units in the U.S., according to Luminate. The band, fronted by Claudio Sanchez, is signed to Round Hill Music via its Fund 3 Plus vehicle.
“We are pleased to welcome Claudio and the band to the Round Hill family,” the company’s head of creative services John Baldi said in a statement. “Our team is excited to explore creative outlets and opportunities for their music and provide support wherever we can on their current release, “Vaxis Act II.”
The latter album has generated 55,000 album consumption units worth of activity since its release in February this year.
“Our music is dramatic and cinematic,” Sanchez said in a statement. “We’ve been looking for a home that will facilitate getting Coheed and Cambria front and center in the sync world. The folks and Round Hill have a firm grasp of our vision and an added creativity that will help achieve or goals, and we couldn’t be more excited about taking this journey together.”
HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the music publishing catalog of Incubus, the genre-bending rock band that has generated 12.4 million U.S. album consumption units since forming in 1991, according to Luminate. When non-U.S. sales are added in, the group has sold more than 23 million records, according to the announcement.
Terms of the deal, which also encompasses the individual works of group member Mike Einzigerl, were not disclosed but it includes such songs from the band as “Drive,” “Love Hurts,” and “Megalomaniac,” as well as Einzinger’s share of the Avicii hit, “Wake Me Up,” which he co-wrote. Besides Avicii, Einiger has collaborated with Pharrell Williams, Skrillex, and Tyler the Creator, among others, either as a songwriter and or producer.
Other deals HarbourView have done since launching a year ago include Sum 41, Brad Paisley, Lady A, Hollywood Undead, Florida Georgia Line, Luis Fonsi and R&B songwriting and production duo Dre & Vidal.
During the course of their career, Incubus has released eight studio albums and recorded over 100 songs.
Fox Rothschild served as legal counsel to HarbourView in the transaction. Incubus and Mike Einziger were represented by Todd Cooper and Monica Zhang of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Incubus management is Johnny Wright and Joe Lilak for Wright Entertainment Group. Incubus business management is Bill Vuylsteke, CPA and David Boyson of Provident Financial Management. Mike Einziger is managed by Martin Kierszenbaum for Cherrytree Management.