State Champ Radio signings
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UTA has signed country singer-songwriter Dalton Dover to its roster for global representation in all areas, the agency tells Billboard.
Last month, it was announced that Dover signed with UMG Nashville’s Mercury Nashville imprint. He’s aligned with Sony Music Publishing Nashville as well as Droptine Music Publishing, which was launched by Nashville music industry veteran Jim Catino. Dover continues to be represented by Charly Salvatore at Underscore Works.
(L-R): Jeffrey Hasson (Co-Head of UTA Nashville), Matthew Morgan (Partner & Co-Head of UTA Nashville), Scott Clayton (Partner & Co-Head of Global Music, UTA), Charly Salvatore (Founder & Manager, Underscore Works), Dalton Dover, Josh Garrett (Music Agent, UTA), Brett Saliba (Music Agent, UTA).
Courtesy Photo
Dover’s most recent song, “Damn Good Life,” which dropped in September, followed previous releases including “You Got a Small Town” and “Baby I Am.” He was Billboard‘s Country Rookie of the Month in February.
“I’ve had the Hot Country playlist from Spotify on my phone for a while. My friends have it, everybody has it,” Dover told Billboard at the time. “The coolest thing is you can hear Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs — and then you can hear my songs. Coming from where I’m from, this kind of thing just doesn’t happen.”
Dover first came to attention when he appeared on Season 16 of The Voice in 2019, earning a chair turnaround from coach Blake Shelton. From there, he developed his fanbase via his #CatchMeOffGuard series on TikTok, which drew praise from artists including Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs and more. This summer, he graduated to opening for Combs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and performed a seven-date run of concerts at various Shelton’s Ole Red locations around the country.
Dover is currently opening shows on Priscilla Block‘s Welcome to the Block Party tour and will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on Dec. 3.
Irving and Jeffrey Azoff‘s recently-launched Giant Music record label signed Detroit rapper Tay B in partnership tie AFLN Music Group. Tay B released his most recent album, 4Eva In My Bag, earlier this year. Run by Shawn Holiday, Giant Music previously signed Atlanta-based trap artist SwaVay in partnership with Def Jam. Giant Music is a resuscitation of the Giant name for the Azoffs, with Irving having launched Giant Records in 1990 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records.
Podcast company Audio Up, which focuses on trying to create hit tracks by leveraging podcasts as the launch pad, announced a new strategic partnership with WME to support the development of artists from Audio Up’s podcast slate. Under the deal, WME will advise Audio Up on its touring and content opportunities across film, TV and digital and provide the company with access to its network across music, entertainment and brands. One of the first initiatives under the partnership is the development of Latin artist Balam, who will star in and contribute original music to the forthcoming Audio Up scripted podcast Day of the Dead. In tandem with promotional efforts around the podcast, WME served as an advisor on booking Balam’s Dec. 10 debut performance at reggaeton festival Viva Urbano. WME will also work with Audio Up on the podcaster’s Apple Music show The Ballad of Uncle Drank by turning the show’s title character into a real-life touring country experience.
Sony Music Masterworks made a majority investment in Dubai-based concert promotion, talent management, events and production company MAC Global. Day-to-day operations of MAC Global will continue to be led by co-founders Rob McIntosh and Daniel Goldberg, who will work with Sony Music Masterworks president Mark Cavell, senior vp of business development Josh Lerman and managing director of Senbla Ollie Rosenblatt. Under the arrangement, MAC Global will expand its remit to include comedy, sports, virtual events, orchestral events and immersive music experiences.
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) teamed with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Music Makers Grant, which will award $5,000 annually to an emerging BIPOC songwriter or producer. BMAC will screen applicants, with Jam and Lewis personally picking the finalist. Online applications for this year’s grant close Nov. 15, with the winner to be announced in December.
Townsend Music signed Kaiser Chiefs in partnership with Absolute Label Services/Utopia, V2 and The Orchard for the band’s next studio album, which is slated for release next year. Townsend and Absolute will provide physical and digital distribution for the album in the U.K. under Townsend’s D2C+ model, while V2 will distribute it in France and Benelux and The Orchard will distribute it in other territories.
SoundExchange struck deals with Zelle and Cash App allowing registered creators to elect to receive their royalty payments via either of those mobile payment apps. Creators can contact the SoundExchange customer services team to learn more about app-specific eligibility requirements and sign up to receive royalty payments via the platforms.
Country newcomer Dalton Dover, who appeared on Season 16 of The Voice and has since garnered a following on TikTok, signed with Universal Music Group Nashville. He will release his upcoming music via Mercury Nashville.
Pop and melodic rap artist Zzz. signed with Warner Records in partnership with Lil Bibby‘s Grade A Productions. His major-label debut single is “All I Never Wanted.”
Live Nation has signed on as the exclusive booking partner for the nonprofit Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage festival. Ahead of the 2023 summer season, Live Nation will book all benefit concerts between June and October at the flagship Rumsey Playfield site in New York’s Central Park.
Composer Max Richter appointed Huxley as his global publicity and brands agency, which will also represent Richter and Yulia Mahr‘s Oxfordshire recording studio and multi-arts production facility Studio Richter Mahr.
U.K.-based Logan Media Entertainment teamed up with BMG to create a new record label, Tag8 Music, that will “specialize in the growing market for resurgent established artists,” according to a LinkedIn post by Logan Media. The label will launch with a roster including Blue, Pixie Lott, Roachford and a cast album of The Drifters Girl musical featuring Beverley Knight.
Naxos Music Group signed an extensive partnership with Downtown-owned FUGA. Under the deal, Naxos will have access to FUGA’s full suite of services including digital distribution, marketing services, royalty accounting and use of FUGA’s trends and analytics platform for Naxos and associated labels.
Los Angeles-based queer singer-songwriter Olive Klug (they/them) signed with Nettwerk, which will release their single “Out of Line” on Nov. 18.
European music royalty investing marketplace ANote Music partnered with Revelator, which provides digital IP infrastructure to music rights holders and music companies, for an arrangement that will allow Revelator clients to list their shares of tracks in their catalogs on ANote. The two companies will also collaborate on integrating Revelator’s technology, data management, predictive models and payment systems into ANote.
Symphonic partnered with music company Ropeadope for exclusive global distribution and marketing. Under the deal, Symphonic will provide digital and physical distribution and playlist pitching for Ropeadope’s full back catalog and key new releases. The partnership will encompass forthcoming releases by The Headhunters, Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Mthunzi Mvubu.
North Dakota pop-punk band Brooklane signed to Los Angeles-based Adventure Cat Records, an indie label from the artist management team at KMGMT. The band has new music in the works with producers Andrew Wade and Steve Knight. They are managed by David Pinder and Desanka Ilic at Cold Coffee Entertainment.
Vancouver-based artist management company Macklam Feldman Management signed on to represent acoustic folk-pop trio Tiny Habits, comprised of Maya Rae, Cinya Khan and Judah Mayowa.
WME has signed Snoop Dogg in all areas, the agency announced Tuesday (Nov. 8).
The multi-hyphenate rapper, who previously worked with agent Bobby Dee, recently acquired his original label home Death Row Records from Blackstone-controlled MNRK Music Group in February, with plans to turn it into an “NFT label.” According to a press release, Snoop is handling all label and catalog-related business in music, film, apparel and merchandise for Death Row as well as signing new artists and re-releasing music that was put out under the original Death Row regime. He is additionally developing a Death Row TV series.
“WME is the only place that can handle the career I’ve built and grow it even further,” Snoop said in a statement. “I look forward to gettin’ it with the WME team to continue innovating across music, film, TV, business, and digital and break barriers across entertainment.”
Snoop Dogg’s output extends far beyond music. Since breaking through with his multi-platinum 1993 debut album Doggystyle, his career has branched off into acting, producing for film and TV, esports, fashion, food and beverage, cannabis and Web3, among other ventures. Most recently, he starred in the Netflix original movie Day Shift opposite Jamie Foxx, launched the YouTube children’s show Doggyland and landed a spot on the board of directors at gaming and esports collective FaZe Clan. Earlier this year, he opened a storefront in Inglewood, Calif. called Snoop Dogg’s Clothing, with plans to open a Snoop-curated Funko store in the same plaza in early 2023. He also recently launched Broadus Foods, a family-owned food product company.
But the rapper has made some of his biggest splashes as of late in Web3. Over the past year, he’s launched multiple NFT collections, including Dr. Bombay (the name of his NFT character from Bored Ape Yacht Club) as well as his NFT album BODR (Bacc on Death Row) — a partnership with Death Row’s exclusive metaverse partner Gala Games — which reportedly grossed over $50 million. A recent trademark application suggests Snoop is planning a digital store that sells NFTs centered around cannabis, virtual clothing and more (with possible plans for a physical retail location as well). In April, he also partnered with metaverse platform Sandbox to create a virtual world called “Snoopverse.”
In the philanthropic space, Snoop has launched initiatives including the Snoop Youth Football League, which aims to provide opportunities for inner-city kids in football and cheer.
WME says it will leverage the Endeavor network to further Snoop’s work across a number of ventures.
UTA has signed rapper, singer, songwriter and actress KaMillion in all areas, the company tells Billboard.
In music, KaMillion’s single “Twerk 4 Me” recently racked up over 1 billion streams in its first six months on TikTok and other social platforms, according to the agency. Her follow-up single, “Fine Azz,” served as the opening theme song for the second season of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show. In May she released her second EP, Self Made, which was preceded by the lead single “Rich Bitch Walk” and released by her label Pink Money Musiq. As a songwriter, she has written for artists including H.E.R., penning tracks for the singer and guitarist’s Grammy-winning self-titled 2017 album. She has also toured both nationally and internationally and performed at shows including the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards.
“It’s underdawg season, & I’m Lawry’s!“ said KaMillion in a statement on the signing.
On the small screen, KaMillion is best known for her starring role in Issa Rae‘s HBO Max series Rap Sh!t, on which she plays Mia, an aspiring Miami-based rapper trying to make her way in the music industry alongside high school friend Shawna (Aida Osman). That series was renewed for a second season in September 2022. In July, the fictional freestyle performed by her and Osman’s characters on the show was released as the lead single from the series’ season 1 soundtrack via Rae’s Raedio record label. KaMillion was also a cast member on the third season of VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Miami in 2020.
KaMillion will continue to be represented by Eric Feig Entertainment & Media Law and managed by Dream Lab Music.
WME has signed Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Yusuf/Cat Stevens in all areas.
Yusuf is embarking on a global tour in 2023 and is working on myriad other creative endeavors, including a new album that will mark his first set of new music since 2017’s Grammy-nominated The Laughing Apple.
Over the last few years, Yusuf has focused on revisiting his catalog as projects reach their 50th anniversary. In 2020, he released a re-recorded version of 1970’s Tea for the Tillerman as Tea for The Tillerman 2 and put out a boxset heralding the album, which includes his breakthrough U.S. hit, “Wild World.” Following the release of 50th-anniversary boxsets for Mona Bone Jakon and Teaser and the Firecat, a newly remastered 50th-anniversary edition of his 1972 album, Catch Bull at Four, will come out in December.
Last year, Yusuf, who is managed by his son, Yoriyos Adamos, landed on the New York Times’ Best Seller list with his children’s book Yusef’s Peace Train; he is also finishing work on his autobiography. As he told Billboard in a 2020 interview, with his book, “I’m trying to fill in the gap for so many people who almost have a mythological view of me so I’m trying to clarify who I am and how it happened. I’ve been illustrating [the book] as well.”
As Yusuf told Billboard in the same interview, the same quest has guided his musical exploration — and life — from early on. “When I started looking up at the sky from very early on, one of my biggest questions was where does the sky end? It was a metaphysical question I had from a young age,” he says. “And that’s been my task and my mission: to go explore the universe to find out where it’s leading to.”
Over one year ago, alt-pop sister duo Aly & AJ released their first album in 14 years — and the pair has been on a steady release streak ever since.
Now, Billboard can announce that the act’s upcoming single, “With Love From,” will arrive Nov. 2, ushering in a new deal for the duo. The single doubles as the title of a new album, coming in the spring, which will be the first through a new distribution deal with SoundCloud that will also see the company provide Aly & AJ with marketing support.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have the support of SoundCloud entering this new album cycle,” Aly & AJ said in a joint statement. “They’ve allowed us to have the creative freedom we need to make our best possible music to date.”
The signing comes at a crucial time for SoundCloud, which cut 20% of its workforce in September. Not long before that, the company had added new features such as “the roster” — which signs artists to more traditional record deals (initial members included Lil Pump and Tekno) — and Repost, a distribution service offered at $30 annually that allows artists to keep up to 80% of the royalties they make from other streaming services. Aly & AJ’s deal fits into neither category, proving artists can still choose their own path when partnering with SoundCloud.
With Love From follows Aly & AJ’s independently-released 2021 album A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun. Also last year, Aly & AJ scored a top 10 hit on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart with the re-released hit “Potential Breakup Song (2020),” which went viral on TikTok years after its initial release.
Following the arrival of A Touch of the Beat, Aly & AJ hit the road performing at festivals including Lollapalooza, Governors Ball and Austin City Limits. They just wrapped an opening gig on Ben Platt’s national tour, including stops at New York’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. Next up, a performance at Corona Capital in Mexico City followed by a string of overseas dates in Europe and the U.K.
For now, as fans patiently wait for Nov. 2 to arrive, a snippet of Aly & AJ’s new single can be heard in the teaser for an upcoming collaboration between Rowing Blazers and Seiko watches, with the collection set to drop Friday (Oct. 28) at 11 a.m. ET.
MOBO Award-winning artist Stefflon Don has entered into a global recording partnership with BMG, Billboard has learned exclusively.
The Jamaica-via-London MC will release her debut studio album, Island 54, in 2023.
Among the forthcoming album’s tracks will be “Clockwork” featuring dancehall superstar Spice. The single was produced by Grammy-winning Beam (Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Pop Smoke), while its accompanying video counts five million views on YouTube.
In a statement announcing her new partnership, Stefflon Don said, “I’m excited about partnering with BMG because they trust my creativity. They have an amazing support team across the globe, and I am super excited to expand my fan base alongside my new family BMG.”
Tim Reid, BMG’s senior vp of repertoire & marketing, stated, “Stefflon Don is a unique artist who has already accomplished so much on a global scale, collaborating with some of the biggest names in music while gaining equal acclaim on her solo projects. We are incredibly excited to partner with her on the next chapter of her musical career.”
Added Thomas Scherer, BMG’s president of repertoire & marketing, Los Angeles and New York, said, “Stefflon Don is an artist who knows exactly what she wants to achieve, and we are happy to be part of her journey towards this. Our partnership expands on a string of recent BMG signings with artists who desire more control of their music with our global team fully supporting them in exceeding their goals.”
Prior to upcoming album Island 54, Stefflon Don released the mixtapes Real Ting and Secure. Breaking through in 2017 with the singles “16 Shots” and “Hurtin’ Me” featuring French Montana, she has since collaborated with a diverse array of artists, among them Future, Lil Baby, J Balvin, Mariah Carey, Halsey and DJ Khaled.
Stefflon Don’s more recent collaborations include DJ Frass’ “Sweet Bounce,” “Dip” with Ms Banks, “Amazing” with Vybz Kartel and Dunw3ll as well as Calvin Harris’ “Woman of the Year” with Chloe Bailey and Coi Leray.
The first British female rapper to be featured on Spotify’s Rap Caviar playlist, Stefflon Don also performed for the first-ever UEFA Women’s Euro Final show this year. Her other career milestones thus far also include being recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019.
Carlton James Group invested $50 million in Bristol, U.K.-based distribution and artist label services company 3tone Music Group to fund the additional expansion of the company’s distribution platform. 3tone, which is run by CEO Dean Roberts and managing director Chris Borud, was first backed by Carlton James Group in 2019. The company offers indie artists unlimited digital distribution to multiple streaming platforms for an annual fee, a model that echoes more established companies like DistroKid and TuneCore.
Warner Music acquired a stake in Serbian label Mascom Records. The acquisition expands the companies’ relationship, as Mascom has acted as Warner Music’s local distributor for more than 20 years. Under the new arrangement, they will work together to build a roster of local artists, with the opportunity for artists to be upstreamed into Warner’s global network. Mascom’s catalog will continue to be distributed by Warner’s ADA. The companies have recently been jointly working with Serbian artist Sergej Panic on his new releases “Kabul” and “Mia Bella.” In a statement, Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska, general manager of Warner Music South East Europe, called the deal “a landmark development” for Warner in the region.
U.K.-based livestreaming company Driift acquired the livestreaming technology and sales platform Dreamstage, with the combined businesses set to operate under the Driift name, led by CEO Ric Salmon and COO Claire Mas. Driift also secured an additional $4 million investment from Deezer, bringing the company’s total investment from the European streaming service to $7 million in 2022. Deezer is now the largest shareholder in Driift; it had become a majority shareholder in Dreamstage prior to the acquisition.
Atlantic Records partnered with Record Store Day for a new series that will showcase developing artists at independent music retail stores across the U.S. The first artist to be highlighted by the program is Neon Gold/Atlantic singer-songwriter Joe P, who will kick off the series with the release of a deluxe vinyl edition of his debut EP, Emily Can’t Sing. The series will feature 10 to 12 emerging artists over the next year while incorporating exclusive in-store signings and performances. Joe P has already signed on for eight upcoming in-store signings while he’s on tour. The partnership was negotiated by Record Store Day’s Michael Kurtz and Atlantic Records’ Jack McMorrow. In November and December, the series will feature the artist Surf Curse.
Warner Music Poland and Groupa STEP, owner of the independent Polish hip-hop label Step Records, launched a new business partnership to support local hip-hop artists. No further information was provided about the deal.
Cyanite, which offers AI-powered music tagging and search, will provide BMG with automatic tagging to make its entire 3 million song repertoire more searchable and accessible for synch placements. Under the agreement, Cyanite’s technology will be integrated into BMG’s internal content management system BMG Songs.
Social-first media company The News Movement will use UnitedMasters‘ independent music repertoire to soundtrack its news stories on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snap under a new partnership.
Session, the company behind the collaboration app Session Studio for music creators, partnered with SoundCloud in a deal that will see the streaming platform become the first to digitally receive both song audio and essential song metadata directly from the Session Studio app. Session Studio is designed to make it easier for songwriters, artists, producers and more to track who contributed what at the point of creation across mobile, desktop and online.
Web3 platform OneOf signed an exclusive three-year partnership with the Latin Recording Academy. Under the deal, OneOf will host the first-ever NFT collection tied to the Latin Grammy Awards. The first collection will debut throughout October 2022.
Pop-rock singer Charlotte Sands (“Dressed,” “Loved You a Little”) signed a distribution deal with Vydia, as did house DJ Robbie Rivera, for whom Vydia will also handle marketing, synch, project management and DSP pitching for forthcoming releases on Rivera’s Juicy Music Group along with Rivera’s existing catalog. The Rivera deal includes a catalog transfer of over 350 songs via Juicy Music.
Ryan Oakes signed a recording and publishing deal with Position Music that will cover both new and existing repertoire.
New York artist VÉRITÉ partnered with Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo‘s Venice Music, which offers tools, services and artist support while allowing artists to retain creative autonomy and ownership over their work.
Berlin-based house and techno record label Get Physical Music signed a global sales and distribution deal with independent digital label services provider LabelWorx. The deal covers Get Physical’s full catalog, along with its imprints Cocada Music, Kindisch, Metaphysical and Poesie Musik.
Digital collaboration-based music platform BeatConnect closed an initial investment round of $2.2 million. Participants include lead investors FICC (Fonds d’investissement de la culture et des communications) and its partners, which contributed a total of $1 million. Also joining the round was angel investor network Anges Québec with around $615,000 and entertainment tech investment fund Triptyq Capital with around $540,000. BeatConnect will use the funds to build a new tool aimed at linking multiple DAWs together for cross-platform collaboration and remote sharing sessions for music creators.
R. Wayne Martin‘s boutique management firm mthree signed music producer John Hiler (Rihanna, Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins) to its new division focused on managing music producers. His day-to-day manager at the firm is Jeff Betten.
Nettwerk Records announced a slew of signings, including lo-fi trio PanCake, Flemish lo-fi producer Phlocalyst, Germany-based singer-songwriter M. Byrd, Berlin-based songwriter and producer Chris James, Los Angeles rock band The Strike and pop singer Michal Leah, whose new single “the way i love you” drops on Friday (Oct. 14).
Triple 8 Management signed singer-songwriter Erin Kinsey, who is signed to RECORDS/Columbia Nashville.
Texas-based singer E Bleu signed a 10-song partnership with AWAL that will provide him with marketing and streaming support while allowing him to keep his masters. His most recent release is the Shawn Barron-executive produced single “No Biggie.”
Create Music Group signed Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #9797 (a.k.a. Jimbo).
