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Primary Wave has signed an administration agreement with the estate of singer and “Soul Man” songwriter Isaac Hayes. As part of the deal, they will administer various publishing interests for Hayes. They will also be granted the opportunity to market the musician’s name, image and likeness.
Universal Music Publishing U.K. has signed electronic artist and producer Fred again.. to a worldwide publishing deal. He started his career as a producer but gained wide recognition for his artist project during the height of the pandemic after releasing his debut album Actual Life (April 14-December 17 2020). Over the course of his career, he has worked with Ed Sheeran, Brian Eno, Travis Scott, Skrillex, Young Thug, J Balvin and Burna Boy.
Artist and songwriter RAYE has renewed her publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music, following a breakthrough year. Her debut album My 21st Century Blues was released in February and peaked at No. 2 on the U.K. Official Albums chart and its lead single “Escapism.” (featuring 070 Shake) went all the way to No. 1 in the U.K. She first signed to the publisher in 2016, and her extension covers both her catalog and future works.
All Clear Music and Fuji Music Group have acquired a 100% stake in the writer’s share of publishing for songwriter Will Jennings. The deal covers his entire catalog, which spans legendary artists Steve Winwood, Whitney Houston, Roy Orbison, B.B. King, Celine Dion, and Tim McGraw. His biggest hits include “My Heart Will Go On,” “Tears in Heaven,” “Higher Love” and “Up Where We Belong.”
Raleigh Music Publishing has acquired the song catalog of musical theater composer and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. For his evergreen songs, Lerner has been a past recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award, the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s biggest honor. The deal includes 100% of Lerner’s share of US royalties for the following musicals, excluding writer performance royalties and grand rights: My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi, Brigadoon, The Day Before Spring, Love Life, On a Clear Day, Paint Your Wagon, What’s Up.
Concord Music Publishing has extended its publishing agreement with Richard ‘Biff’ Stannard. Over the course of his three decade career, he has written with the Spice Girls, U2, Sia, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Ellie Goulding. One of his longest running relationships is with Kylie Minogue — whom he has been writing with for twenty years and counting. His relationship with Concord began in 2020.
Seeker Music has acquired the publishing catalog of Plested, a top U.K. artist and songwriter who has written songs like “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi and “Leave Before You Love Me” by Marshmello, Jonas Brothers. In addition, he also has cuts with Kygo, OneRepublic, Niall Horan, The Chainsmokers, Anne-Marie, James Arthur and more.
Warner Chappell Music and Tape Room Music have renewed their global publishing agreement with country songwriter Hunter Phelps. Additionally, WCM is also acquiring the hitmaker’s catalog, which includes “wait in the truck” by HARDY ft. Lainey Wilson, “Thinking ‘Bout You” by Dustin Lynch and Mackenzie Porter, and “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” by Chase Rice and Florida Georgia Line.
Position Music has signed Chloe Copoloff to a worldwide publishing deal. The 25-year-old songwriter has worked with Salem Ilese, Alan Walker, Andi, Skydxddy, Sundial, Francis Karel, Holden Miller, and Cloudy June and has forthcoming cuts with VIVIZ, Ashley Sienna, Dia Frampton, Culture Code, Meg DeAngelis, Francis Karel.
Concord Music Publishing has wrapped its 11th annual sync camp in Nashville, where 90 songwriters worked together on songs for synchronization in films, tv shows, commercials and more. Since its inception, the Concord sync camp has garnered over 1500 placements in various forms of visual media, including placements in “All Rise,” “Big Shot,” “The Witcher,” “The Spanish Princess,” and “East New York.”
Outer Voice Music Publishing (OVMP) has signed a global administration deal with Downtown Music Publishing. Founded as a branch of the Outer Voice Company, a label launched by JAM and Philly in association with Converse, OVMP was created to sign and represent the work of South Asia songwriters across the diaspora.
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has signed Academy Award and Grammy-winning composer Stephen Schwartz to an exclusive global administration agreement. Schwartz has also received six Tony nominations for composing the music for such shows as Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, which is being turned into a two-part Universal Pictures film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Schwartz has won […]
Songwriters now have a new prize to aim for, one that carries the name of arguably the greatest of them all — Bob Dylan.
The Bob Dylan Center Songwriter Fellowship will be awarded each year to two songwriters, an initiative that identifies, mentors and develops rising talent, doing so with the resources of the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, OK.
An initiative of Universal Music Publishing Group and BDC, each Fellowship includes a $40,000 project stipend, public engagement and presentation opportunities, dedicated time in the Bob Dylan Archive to study the legendary artist’s creative process, roundtrip airfare to Tulsa and accommodations, mentorship from the music publishing giant’s songwriters and executives, recording time, and more.
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Joining the initial judges panel are Juliette Armanet, Patty Griffin, John Mellencamp, Carla Morrison and Nas.
The Fellowship is “core to our mission of educating, motivating and inspiring visitors to engage their own capacity as creators,” comment BDC director Steven Jenkins, “and we cannot wait to hear the entries from undiscovered talent around the world.”
Eligible creators from around the globe can submit their work from now through Oct. 18, 2023. To meet the Fellowship criteria, entrants must be 18 years or older and unsigned to a publishing agreement of any kind at the time of the Fellowship start date, May, 1, 2024.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity to connect developing talent with the works of one of the greatest songwriters of all time,” comments UMPG COO Marc Cimino, adding, “we look forward to developing a new group of songwriters in this unique environment.”
The Fellowship, which runs from May 2024 through April 2025, is presented 15 months after the grand opening of the BDC, the museum and archive celebrating the Nobel laureate’s work.
Its 100,000-item collection was acquired in 2016 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation for an estimated $20 million. Visitors get a full-picture of Dylan’s career, including handwritten manuscripts, notebooks and correspondence; films, videos, photographs and artwork; unreleased studio and concert recordings; musical instruments and more.
For further details visit bobdylancenter.com/songwriterfellowship.
Mexican music band Grupo Firme has signed an exclusive global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), the company announced Monday (Aug. 21). The band’s independent label, Music VIP Entertainment, is also part of the deal. “UMPG has earned a place in regional Mexican as the leading publisher, and this gives us all the […]
During the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) annual meeting on Wednesday, the trade organization announced its latest board of directors.
The latest executive board includes: Jody Gerson (Chair and CEO, Universal Music Publishing Group), Keith Hauprich (general counsel and executive vp, business and legal affairs, North America, BMG), Laurent Hubert (CEO, Kobalt), Carianne Marshall (co-chair and COO, Warner Chappell Music), Jon Platt (chair and CEO, Sony Music Publishing), Jim Selby (chief publishing executive, Concord).
Other board members include: Marti Cuevas (founder and president, Mayimba Music), Justin Kalifowitz (executive chairman, Downtown Music Publishing), Golnar Khosrowshahi (founder and CEO, Reservoir), Jody Klein (owner and CEO, ABKCO), Kenny MacPherson (CEO, Hipgnosis Songs Group), Chip McLean (svp, head of business affairs and business development, Disney Music Group), Larry Mestel (founder and CEO, Primary Wave), Michael Molinar (general manager, Big Machine Music), Jeff Pachman (general manager, Domino Publishing), Ralph Peer II (executive chair, peermusic), Irwin Robinson (vp, Richmond Organization), Jon Singer (chairman, Spirit Music Group).
The 20-member board comprises an executive board featuring leaders from the six largest companies according to revenue from the previous year, a general board of 12 additional publishing leaders, and two songwriters representing creatives’ point of view. To represent songwriters, the board elected Laura Veltz to replace Liz Rose, who recently reached her term limit of four years. Ross Golan is returning as the other songwriter representative.
Domino’s Pachman is this year’s only new publisher to join the board, replacing Leeds Levy.
All board members receive equal voting power and will meet four times annually to oversee the activity and budget of the NMPA. The board plays a major role in determining the legal actions of the trade organization, which is known to fight aggressively for fair pay and licensing for compositions.
This year, the NMPA is focused on new legal action it is taking against Twitter, which was also announced at Wednesday’s event. According to the complaint, the NMPA — along with over a dozen of music publishers — is suing Twitter over allegations of widespread copyright infringement, seeking as much as $255 million in damages.
Federal prosecutors are formally moving to seize R. Kelly’s money held by Sony Music and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), saying it will be used to pay victims and fulfill outstanding fines.
Two years after they won a jury verdict convicting the disgraced singer of sex trafficking and racketeering, prosecutors in Brooklyn have asked a federal judge for so-called writs of garnishment against the label and publisher — court orders that would compel the two companies to hand over funds tied to Kelly.
Sony Music and UMPG are believed to be “in possession of property” belonging to Kelly that could be used to pay down the $504,289 that he currently owes in victim restitutions and criminal fines, the feds argued.
It’s unclear how much of Kelly’s funds each company currently holds. A court ruling in March disclosed that Kelly’s royalty account with Sony held $1,544,333 as of 2020.
Neither Sony Music nor UMPG immediately returned requests for comment on the filings.
After he was sentenced last summer to 30 years in prison on the sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Kelly was ordered to pay more than $480,000 in fines and restitution. After he was sentenced again in February on separate child pornography convictions in Illinois, another $42,000 was tacked on.
Thursday’s filings are the latest efforts by the government to collect on those judgments. Last fall, prosecutors confiscated nearly $30,000 in Kelly’s prison commissary account. But the feds have competition for that money.
R. Kelly victim Heather Williams, who won a $4 million civil judgment against the singer, is also seeking to tap into the Sony Music account — as is Midwest Commercial Funding, a property management company that won a separate $3.5 million ruling against Kelly over unpaid rent at a Chicago studio.
In March, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Williams had priority to the funds over Midwest Commercial Funding because she was the first to properly demand the money from Sony. But that ruling left unclear whether she’ll enjoy similar priority over a slew of additional monetary penalties that Kelly owes to victims as a result of his federal criminal convictions.
Federal prosecutors in both Illinois and New York declined to comment on that decision at the time.
In a statement Thursday (June 1), Kelly’s lead attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told Billboard that she and her client believe that the restitution order against him is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal. But she said they have “no opinion” on prosecutors seeking to garnish funds held by Sony Music and UMPG.
After sharing No. 1 with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for three consecutive quarters, Sony Music Publishing swept Billboard’s Publishers Quarterly report for the first 90 days of 2023 — including the country music category. The Weeknd’s “Die for You” and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” were the No. 1 songs on the Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 publishers rankings, respectively, while SZA took top songwriter honors.
Sony’s 30.26% market share of the 100 Top Radio Airplay songs rose from 28.89% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and marked its eighth consecutive quarter in the No. 1 spot. The number of shares it held in songs on the ranking was also up quarter to quarter, from 64 to 66.
The publisher also finished at No. 1 on the Hot 100 publishers ranking, putting an end to UMPG’s remarkable three-consecutive-quarter streak at No. 1 with over 30% of the market — the first since that ranking was instituted in 2019. Sony returned to first place with a 30.56% share amassed from stakes in 67 songs, a huge gain over its No. 2 showing in the previous quarter, when it posted a 22.71% market share tied to shares in 58 tunes.
Sony also notched its third consecutive quarter as the No. 1 publisher on the Country Airplay list.
UMPG finished No. 2 on the Hot 100 ranking after its market share dropped from 31.63% to 23.45% quarter to quarter and its song count declined from 63 to 52. Compared with the previous year, however, UMPG’s first-quarter performance was up more than three percentage points.
Although the publisher remained firmly in second place on the Top Radio Airplay ranking, its market share fell from 25.66% in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 21.26% in the first quarter. Its share of songs also declined, from 52 to 48.
Warner Chappell Music finished third on both rankings and showed improved performance on each. The publisher scored a 20.71% market share on Top Radio Airplay — up almost five percentage points from the previous quarter’s 15.73% — and 21.73% on the Hot 100 ranking, up from 18.59% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Those gains came from shares in 52 and 47 songs, respectively.
The top songwriter across the board was Solána “SZA” Imani Rowe, who is published by UMPG. She co-wrote eight songs on the Hot 100 ranking and four on Top Radio Airplay. Her top song on both lists was “Kill Bill,” which is No. 2 on the Hot 100 ranking and No. 6 on Top Radio Airplay.
Kobalt held onto its No. 4 spot from the last quarter in both the Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 rankings.
Despite holding steady, its market share fell from 10.38% in the fourth quarter to 8.72% in the first quarter’s Top Radio Airplay chart, although its share of songs almost doubled, including its top song, “Die For You.” On the Hot 100, Kobalt’s market share improved slightly by 9 basis points to 6.89% from the prior measurement period’s 6.8% and its song count grew to 26, including “Die For You,” from the fourth quarter’s 22 songs.
BMG’s No. 5 placement was due to a slight increase in its Radio Airplay market share, from 3.17% to 3.28% with shares in 11 songs — the same total from the previous quarter. On the flip side, BMG remained in sixth place for the second consecutive quarter on the Hot 100 ranking, even though its market share dropped from 2.38% to 2.13%. It also claimed shares of 8 songs in both quarters, while its top song on both charts for the first quarter was David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),”which was No. 4 on the Top Radio Airplay chart and No. 8 on the Hot 100 chart.
Pulse Music Group returned to the Radio Airplay rankings at No. 6 — after sitting out the fourth quarter. It posted a 1.69% market share from stakes in five songs, including its top track, “Flowers.” Prior to the fourth quarter, Pulse had placed in the Top Radio Airplay rankings for 12 consecutive quarters, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2019. On the Hot 100 publisher rankings, Pulse jumped five spots to No. 10 to No. 5 with a 2.28% share, more than doubling its No. 10 fourth quarter showing, 1.11%. Pulse’s song count doubled, too, from 3 songs in the prior quarter to 6 tunes in the first quarter.
S.I.A.E. Direzione’s Generale repeated its fourth quarter performance, finishing No. 7 on both charts with a 1.65% share, up from the prior quarter’s 1.38% on the Top Radio Airplay chart, and 1.35%, up from the previous quarter’s 1.24% share of the Hot 100 chart, when it was ranked No. 9. Its top song for both charts was also “I’m Good (Blue).”
Rounding out the Top 10 for the Top Radio Airplay rankings, Anthem, absent from the ranking since the second quarter of 2022, returned at No. 8 with a 1.47% share. Concord fell to No. 9 with a 1.41% share, down from the prior quarter’s No. 6 ranking and 2.19% share. And Hipgnosis Songs Group fell to No. 10 from its No.8 fourth-quarter finish, even though its market share improved to 1.40% from the prior period’s 1.29%.
On the Hot 100 ranking, Concord, Reservoir and Anthem all returned to the Top 10 ranking after not making the cut in the fourth quarter. Concord was only absent one quarter; the last time Reservoir made the ranking was the third quarter of 2021, and Anthem’s last time in the top 10 was the first quarter of 2022.
METHODOLOGY
*For the Top 10 Publishers Top Radio Airplay chart, percentage calculations were based upon the overall top 100 detecting songs from 2,941 U.S. radio stations electronically monitored by Mediabase (and provided through Luminate) 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the period of Dec. 30, 2022, to March 30, 2023. For the Top 10 Publishers Hot 100 Songs, percentage calculations were based upon the top 100 songs as ranked by Billboard Hot 100 points calculated from Luminate-compiled digital sales and streaming data and Mediabase-tracked radio airplay detections during the same period as above, reflecting the issue dates of Jan. 14, 2023, through April. 8, 2023. Publisher information for musical works on both charts has been identified by the Harry Fox Agency. A “publisher” is defined as an administrator, copyright owner and/or controlling party.
Jonas Wikström was promoted to managing director of the Nordics at Universal Music Publishing Scandinavia, succeeding Martin Ingeström, who will remain with the company as chairman of UMP Nordics until his retirement in June. Reporting to UMPG COO Marc Cimino, Wikström is responsible for UMPG’s creative and business operations in the Nordics; he was most recently executive vp of A&R/creative.
Veronica Sanjines was named general manager at Arista Records. The New York-based executive will report to Arista president/CEO David Massey as she oversees general operations for the label and collaborates with the entire roster. She was most recently vp of marketing at Warner Records.
Arica Ng was named president of Asia Pacific at Warner Chappell Music. She joins the company from Meta, where she served as head of music business development in the Asia Pacific.
FUGA appointed Dorothée Imhoff as chief commercial officer, Liz Northeast as senior vp of EMEA and Sven Zeevalk as global head of operations. Meanwhile, former chief commercial officer David Driessen will move to the new position as chief business officer of FUGA’s parent company, Downtown Music, while Darren Owen has been promoted to COO at FUGA. Imhoff has been with FUGA since 2014 when he joined as a business development consultant. Northeast, who was previously FUGA’s GM, U.K., will be responsible for the company’s commercial strategy and business within the wider U.K. and EMEA markets. Zeevalk, who was previously regional head of operations at FUGA, will be responsible for the company’s global operations, including overseeing the regional heads of APAC, EMEA and Americas as well as all client integrations and the global support team. He’s been with FUGA since 2017 when he joined as content manager. Erica De Marchi will take on the role of regional head of operations following Zeevalk’s promotion.
John Coletta was promoted to senior vp & managing director of international at BMI; he was previously vp of international legal & business affairs. Based in New York, Coletta will report to BMI executive vp of licensing & creative Mike Steinberg while overseeing the company’s international department, working closely with foreign performing rights societies to improve business practices and identify growth opportunities. He will additionally work to modernize BMI’s reciprocal agreements and oversee global copyright initiatives. He succeeds BMI vp of international society relations Karen Buse in the role; Buse helped manage the international team on a temporary basis.
Songwriter-producer Bloodpop founded and launched game development studio Genpop Interactive alongside former DeNA and BANDAI NAMCO executive Aubrey Tennant; he will serve as CEO and game director. The studio’s focus is on “building original AAA games that will drive forward the next-gen of music, fashion and gaming culture,” with its first project described as “an ambitious third person shooter with novel movement and combat mechanics.” The company recently raised $6.5 million in seed funding. In a statement, Bloodpop said: “At a time when low risk tolerance among established studios has resulted in predictable re-releases capitalizing on millennial nostalgia, Gen-Z is eager for new IP that speaks to them, and has a long legacy that defines their generation. Major studios have become complacent, relying on giving the Weekend at Bernie’s treatment to their old IP with their publicly traded necromancy. We aren’t just on a mission to create the next great game, but nurture the next generation of popular culture.”
300 Entertainment promoted three executives: Ryan MacTaggart to senior vp of artist development & lifestyle marketing, Gary “Bolo” Sargeant to vp of urban & rhythm promotion and Michael McArthur to vp of A&R. MacTaggart will continue to focus on immersive marketing and artist development, Sargeant will lead promotion at the urban and rhythm formats and McArthur will sign and develop new talent. All three are based in New York.
Shawna Spears was named vp of brand marketing at Venice Music. Joining from TikTok, where she led artist and manager partnerships in hip-hop and R&B, Spears will build and lead the company’s brand marketing team, develop and execute the marketing roadmap across distribution channels and more. She reports to Venice Music executive vp and GM Fadia Kader and can be reached at shawna@venicemusic.co.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) promoted Evan Plake to director of partnerships and Chirag Patel to associate of membership. Additionally, Greyson Zeng was hired as community manager and Nicolle Gutierrez Ospina was hired as executive assistant and accounts administrator. Plake oversees brand partnerships and creative collaborations across the organization’s membership, Patel will continue connecting and supporting indie labels and Zeng will help grow and curate A2IM’s digital and in-person community. Gutierrez Ospina joins from Gold Business Management. Plake can be reached at evan@a2im.org, Patel can be reached at chirag@a2im.org, Zeng can be reached at greyson@a2im.org and Gutierrez Ospina can be reached at nicolle@a2im.org.
Michelle Teh was named senior vp of global classics & jazz at Universal Music Group. She assumes the role after serving on UMG’s global priorities team.
Jesus Trivino is taking on an expanded role at TIDAL; he will continue to lead the company’s Latin team but will now also serve as head of TIDAL’s industry relations (for general market) team.
Vanessa Kanapin was named director of A&R for Germany, Switzerland and Austria at Ultra International Music Publishing. The Berlin-based executive will report to company founder/CEO Patrick Moxey. She joins Ultra from German independent publisher Budde Music, where she was A&R and song plugging manager. Kanapin can be reached at vanessa.kanapin@ultrapublishing.com.
Former Virgin EMI Records senior director Tony Barnes was announced as the co-founder of Karta, a metaverse studio established in 2021 that provides experiential marketing for musicians, brands and sports teams. He co-founded the company with CEO Erik Londré. “Since its launch, Karta has delivered successful projects across Roblox, Fortnite and Decentraland for the likes of Amazon Music, Fnatic, Unilever and Ronald McDonald House,” reads a press release, which notes the company also recently built a fan hub on Roblox for K-pop group TWICE. Barnes can be reached at tony@karta.game.
Jason Leiss was promoted to business manager at FBMM, where he will continue to lead a team of five and oversee all financial aspects for his clients in both business and personal finance.
For the third consecutive quarter, Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group took their usual No. 1 spots on Billboard’s Publishers Quarterly ranking for the last quarter of 2022.
Sony topped the Top Radio Airplay ranking, while UMPG had the biggest share of Hot 100 songs.
Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon (birth name: Thomas Edward Percy Hull) were the top Radio Airplay songwriters, thanks to their collaboration on “As It Was” and two other hits from Styles’ 2022 album, Harry’s House — which Kid Harpoon also produced — that ranked in the quarter. Both songwriters are published by UMG.
Despite that duo’s strong showing, the No. 1 Radio Airplay song for the quarter was Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.” Five writers are credited, including Lacy as Steve Thomas Lacy Moya, Brittany Foushee, Diana “Wynter” Gordon, Matthew Castellanos, and John Carroll Kirby. The top 10 publishers that have a share in that song are: Sony, UMPG, Warner Chappell and Kobalt.
On the Hot 100 ranking, Taylor Swift, also published by UMG, was the top songwriter and scored the No. 1 song for the quarter, “Anti-Hero.” Thirteen songs from her album midnights, placed in the ranking; Swift co-wrote 12 of them and is the sole author of “Vigilante Shit.” Both Sony and UMPG have stakes in “Anti-Hero.”
Sony’s No. 1 showing on the Top Radio Airplay publishers ranking actually represents its seventh consecutive quarter and 40th time overall at the top of that chart. Its market share slipped to 28.89% from 31.60% in the third quarter of 2022, but its song count was up one, with the publisher placing 64 tunes on the ranking.
On the Hot 100 publishers ranking, Sony’s market share fell more than 7 percentage points, from 29.79% in the third quarter to 22.71% in the fourth, and its song count followed suit, dropping from 64 to 58. That said, the publisher is on a bit of a hot streak when it comes to the Country Radio Airplay publisher ranking: it took the No. 1 spot for the second consecutive quarter, improving its 27.60% third-quarter market share to 28.93%.
UMPG has emerged as a powerhouse in the Hot 100 publisher rankings. For the three consecutive quarters that it finished No.1, its market share has remained above 30% — a feat last achieved by Sony on the Top Radio Airplay chart in 2014.
UMPG’s quarter-to-quarter market share grew from 30.75% to 31.63%, and its song count rose from 60 to 63. The publisher also grew its market share in the Radio Airplay ranking from 23.98% in the third quarter to 25.66% — almost 10 percentage points over No. 3 publisher, Warner Chappell Music, despite a song count that fell from 56 to 52 in the fourth quarter.
On the Radio Airplay ranking, Warner Chappell, Kobalt, and BMG once again held the No. 3 through No. 5 spots, respectively, although Warner Chappell’s quarter-to-quarter market share grew 13.60% to 15.73%. Its song count fell, however, from 48 to 46 tunes.
Kobalt held on to its No. 4 berth despite a significant drop in song placements from the third quarter, from 43 to 34, and a market-share decline from 13.21% to 10.38%. Fifth-ranked BMG eked out a .05 percentage point gain from 3.12% to 3.17%, as a result of boosting its song count from nine to 11.
The success of David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),” the No. 6 song on the quarter’s top radio chart, resulted in a newcomer making the top 10: the Italian collection society S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, which is credited as one of the song’s publishers by the Harry Fox Agency. As a result, S.I.A.E. ranked No. 7 on Radio Airplay, with a 1.38% market share, and No. 9 on the Hot 100 publisher ranking with a 1.24% share.
The remainder of the Top Radio Airplay top 10 consists of Concord at No. 6 with 2.19% share, up from the prior quarter’s 1.48% share when it ranked No. 8; at No. 8 for the fourth quarter was Higpnosis, with a 1.29% share, down from the prior quarter’s 1.77% when it ranked No. 6; Downtown held steady at No. 9 with 1.28%, down from 1.59% in the third quarter, and Big Machine at No. 10 with 1.25%.
Christmas music made its usual strong showing in the fourth quarter Hot 100 publisher ranking, vaulting St. Nicholas Music to No. 5 in the ranking with a 6.17% market share, thanks to “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” all of which were written by Johnny Marks. Brenda Lee’s recording of “Rockin’” was the quarter’s No. 6 Hot 100 song.
The holiday season also boosted Dean Kay’s Demi Music to the No. 7 slot on the Hot 100 publisher ranking, solely on the strength of Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” which gave Desi a 1.91% market share for the quarter. A single song — OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” — also put Downtown in the No. 8 spot.
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) appointed Shirin Foroutan as senior vp and GM of Universal Music Publishing Europe, succeeding Simon Baker — who will continue in a senior management capacity at the company — in the role. Based in London, Foroutan will work closely with the company’s European managing directors as well as C-suite leadership in Santa Monica while reporting to UMPG COO Marc Cimino. She was previously vp of creative at BMI.
Downtown Music Holdings promoted Manan Vohra to chief technology officer, Harmen Hemminga to vp of product and services strategy and Gareth Mellor to vp of global marketing and communications. The Amsterdam-based Vohra was previously chief technology officer at Downtown subsidiary FUGA but will now lead product and technology strategy for the parent company. Also based in Amsterdam, Hemminga’s new role is an elevation from his previous role of head of partnerships and strategic projects at FUGA. In his new position, he will be responsible for identifying and creating strategic product, services and business tracks within the Downtown Music vertical. Mellor’s previous role was also based at FUGA, where he worked as global head of B2B. He will now oversee the marketing efforts for Downtown’s portfolio of businesses.
Decentralized music community and discovery platform Audius named Shamal Ranasinghe chief business officer, a newly created role. Ranasinghe will oversee the company’s relationships with the music industry, taking the lead in developing new innovations as well as reporting, analytics and other tools to empower artists, labels and rightsholders. He arrives at Audius from SiriusXM/Pandora, where he served as vp of product management, catalog and creators. He has been an advisor to Audius since 2018.
Wasserman Music promoted seven members of its global team to agents. They include responsible agents Eli Gelernter, Logan Handelsman, Lindsay McDowell and Yitzi Peetluk; fairs & festivals agent Jess Bumsted; and tour marketers Mary Kate Carragher and Kaela Ismael. Elsewhere, Sara Pullman was elevated to vp of operations and Chappel McCollister was upped to senior vp of business development. Gelernter can be reached at egelernter@teamwass.com, Handelsman can be reached at lhandelsman@teamwass.com, McDowell can be reached at lmcdowell@teamwass.com, Peetluk can be reached at ypeetluk@teamwass.com, Bumsted can be reached at jess.bumsted@teamwass.com, Carragher can be reached at mcarragher@teamwass.com, Ismael can be reached at kismael@teamwass.com, Pullman can be reached at spullman@teamwass.com and McCollister can be reached at cmccollister@teamwass.com.
Prescription Songs/Amigo Records GM Ashlee Gibbs was promoted, adding director of operations to her title. In her expanded role, Gibbs will oversee administration of the company’s offices in Los Angeles and Nashville. She can be reached at ashlee@prescriptionsongs.com.
The Syndicate promoted Amy Tremmel to senior vp of marketing & events, Brendan Bourke to vp of publicity and Joe McGinnis to vp of radio promotion. Tremmel can be reached at amy@thesyn.com, Bourke can be reached at brendan@thesyn.com and McGinnis can be reached at joe@thesyn.com. All three work out of the company’s Weehawken, New Jersey office.
Mayowa Arogundade was named creative director at multidisciplinary media company EVGLE, which houses a record label, production company, clothing brand, publishing division and investment arm. In the role, Arogundade will lead EVGLE’s big-picture initiatives, creating a strategy and brand imprint for the company. He has worked with Roc Nation, Red Bull Records, OVO Sound, Kelly Rowland, Saweetie and more. Arogundade can be reached at mayowa.a@evglemusic.com.
Warner Music Nashville promoted Brianna “Bri” Small to director of digital content strategy & partnerships, a newly created role spanning the interactive, publicity and business development departments. Claire Russo was promoted from coordinator of interactive marketing to fill Small’s previous role of manager of interactive marketing.
Music and technology company Too Lost opened a Hollywood office to better serve its expanding client base on the West Coast and hired Aldo Davalos to serve as the company’s new head of business development. Davalos, formerly the head of A&R at Dim Mak Records and Publishing, was most recently on Migos‘ management team. Elsewhere, former Create Music Group executive Dan Mody was named head of A&R and Courtney Young (Create Music Group, Dim Mak Records) has been named head of label services; both will work out of the Hollywood office. Additionally, Too Lost hired Conner Davis to serve on its leadership team out of the company’s New York City headquarters. Davis was previously at beatBread and Universal Music Group.
Nick Barrie was hired as talent buyer at The Bellwether, a 1,600-capacity venue from Another Planet Entertainment and Michael Swier of Teragram Presents that’s slated to open in Downtown Los Angeles this spring. Barrie will lead a team charged with bringing a variety of music and entertainment to the venue, described as a music room, private event space and restaurant/bar. He’s worked for Another Planet since 2005 when he was hired as a security guard at the company’s San Francisco venue The Independent. Barrie can be reached at Nick@thebellwetherla.com.
Independent publisher Minds on Fire hired Tom Currie as A&R manager. Based in London, Currie will sign new talent and bring creative and promotional opportunities to the company’s existing songwriter roster. He was most recently head of DJ promotions at music promotions company Your Army. Currie can be reached at Tom@mindsonfire.co.uk.