Warner Chappell Music
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Tom Petty‘s estate and Warner Chappell Music announced a new worldwide administration deal on Monday (July 1), covering what’s described as the “vast majority of songs” dotting his long and winding catalog, including his decades fronting the Heartbreakers and as a solo tunesmith.
The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, covers dozens of Heartbreakers-backed songs including “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “Even the Losers” off the band’s commercial breakthrough, Damn the Torpedoes, along with all-timers like “The Waiting,” “Learning to Fly” and Mary Jane’s Last Dance” off later efforts. (The pact does not include “American Girl” or the band’s first album, Billboard can confirm.)
Petty packed a lot of punch in his solo albums as well, and the estate’s deal with WCM covers hits including “Free Fallin’”, “I Won’t Back Down” and “Run-in’ Down a Dream” off the five-time platinum Full Moon Fever, and “Wildflowers,” “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and others off his three-time platinum Wildflowers release.
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The pact also encompasses Petty’s contributions to his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch and with roots rock supergroup Traveling Wilburys, Billboard has learned. The latter band had a relaxed and collaborative songwriting process, however Petty was main writer on the Wilburys classic “Last Night.”
Petty was only 66 and coming off a 40th anniversary tour when he died in Oct. 2, 2017 of cardiac arrest. Over the course of his 40-year career he released 13 studio albums with his famed band and another three as a solo act, going on to sell over 85 million albums and earning inductions in both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Along the way he scored hits with fellow icons like Stevie Nicks (“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”), earned MusiCares Person of the Year and performed during the Super Bowl. He also dabbled in acting, including a memorable cameo as a future version of himself in Kevin Costner’s The Postman.
The Petty estate praised the new partnership as it looks to “expand the reach” of the singer-songwriter’s expansive catalog and bring in new fans to his work. “This partnership will open the door to new licensing opportunities and serve to introduce his music to a new generation across the globe,” the estate shared. “We’re excited for this new chapter of growth, and the preservation of Tom’s legacy both at home and abroad.”
WCM co-chair and COO, Carianne Marshall, and co-chair and CEO, Guy Moot, added: “Tom Petty’s music is woven into the fabric of our lives, not just across America, but around the world. He captured the full range and resilience of the human spirit in songs about freedom and dreams, outcasts and rebels, relationships and heartbreak, the personal and the universal. Tom’s unmistakable sound and lyrics remain as timeless and vital today as ever, and all of us at Warner Chappell Music are honored to be joining with his estate to help amplify his extraordinary legacy on a global scale.”
The Petty catalog is the latest big get for Warner Chappell following catalog deals in recent years with the estates of Davie Bowie and George Michael, and new stars including Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Dua Lipa and Gerardo Ortiz, among others.
As recently as 2022, Petty’s catalog was administered by Wixen Music Publishing, which went after an Arizona politician for their unauthorized use of his anthem “I Won’t Back Down.”
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. Don’t forget to dig into this year’s Indie Power Players list. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Sphere Entertainment has turned to Hollywood studio veteran Carolyn Blackwood as its new head of Sphere Studios, which develops and produces the “multi-sensory entertainment experiences” for concerts, corporate events and more at the next-generation spherical wonder. At Sphere, Blackwood will lead a team of creative, production and other various wizards responsible for those immersive experiences, plus work closely with MSG Ventures on developing the production technologies needed to create them. Blackwood has more than 25 years of studio experience, and was most recently chief operating officer at Warner Bros. Pictures. Prior to WB, she spent 20-plus years at New Line Cinema, where she rose to president and chief content officer. Between those two studios, she was integrally involved with some of the biggest films of the last quarter-century, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Barbie and The Conjuring franchise.
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“Throughout my career, I have focused on creative and business innovation in the entertainment industry, as well as the pursuit of production excellence, and this is a tremendous opportunity to be part of the cutting-edge work at Sphere,” said Blackwood. Sphere’s newly elevated president and COO Jennifer Koester added that she believe’s Blackwood’s “expertise bringing high-profile entertainment projects to life will be an asset as we continue to build on, and grow, the Studios’ capabilities.”
The creative team at Sphere also includes chief creative officer Ned McNeilage, who joined earlier this year. Since opening last year with a successful run of U2 shows, the Las Vegas megavenue has been in a jam-y mood with a four concert mini-residency by Phish and an in-progress 24-date residency by Dead & Company. An eight-date run by Eagles is scheduled for the fall.
Meanwhile…
Universal Music India and South Asia promoted Viral Jani to chief revenue officer. Jani joined UMGISA in 2023 as head of digital, strategy & transformation, having previously held senior positions at Times Network, GroupM and Twitter, among others. The promotion follows the May elevation of Sanujeet Bhujabal from evp of content to managing director of the Mumbai-based label division. “[The promotions of Bhujabal and Jani] reflects the company’s commitment to growth and development of one of Universal Music Group’s most important emerging markets,” noted Adam Granite, CEO, Universal Music Group AMEA. “Together they will work closely, alongside Chairman & CEO Devraj Sanyal and myself, to deliver our mission of creating the best music-based entertainment company in the region.”
Warner Chappell Music promoted A&R exec Jessi Vaughn Stevenson to vp, A&R and digital. Stevenson will continue reporting to Ben Vaughn, president/CEO WCM Nashville, as she strategizes opportunities for songwriters. During her career, Stevenson has worked with songwriters including Jessi Alexander, Rhett Akins, Parker McCollum, Hailey Whitters, Morgan Wallen and Randy Montana. “Jessi has always shown commitment to songwriters, helping them with their craft and careers,” said Vaughn. “She is always thinking of new ways to support songwriters and is a wonderful team player. We’re happy to announce her promotion.” –Jessica Nicholson
APM Music elevated creative executive Adam Weitz from senior director to vp of TV and film sync. Weitz has spent the bulk of his 16-year sync licensing career — roughly 11-and-a-half years — at APM, a production music joint venture between Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Publishing. During that time he and his TV/Film team has banked large-scale licensing deals with Hollywood studios, streaming platforms and others, and locked in placements with hundreds of films and shows, including recent wins in Oppenheimer, Succession, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ted Lasso and more. He also spearheads APM’s sample clearance business, which has collaborated with Drake, Beck, The Black Keys and others. Weitz reports to chief revenue officer Chad Elbert and president Adam Taylor, who remarked, “His deep industry connections and unique blend of creative and licensing expertise have established him as one of the very best in the industry.” Prior to joining APM in 2013, the Los Angeles-based exec spent nearly five years in leadership at sync licensing house Visions from the Roof. Under the pseudonym Phofo, Weitz composed music for several animated shows including Sushi Pack, Care Bears and Club Penguin, and he co-produced the first studio LP by MC Paul Barman. Reach him at aweitz@apmmusic.com.
BOARD SHORTS: Furnace Record Pressing founder and former CEO Eric Astor was elected to the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association‘s board of directors. VRMA works to advance the record manufacturing sector — in which Astor has been deeply invested since FRP’s 1996 founding. He recently transitioned to an advisor role at the Metallica-backed Virginia plant, with Ali Miller taking over as CEO in March … OpenAI (ChatGPT) appointed Paul M. Nakasone, the former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors.
BMG appointed Alexandra Behrens as senior vp of global people excellence, a most excellent way of saying she’ll oversee HR services and operations across the company. Behrens is sliding over from Bertelsmann sister company Gruner + Jahr (G+J), where she led the people management & services team during a 15-year run at the print publishing giant. “Alexandra’s leadership will be instrumental in driving our global HR initiatives and fostering a culture of excellence across all of our locations,” said BMG CHRO Nikola Holle-Spiegel, to whom she’ll report. BMG recently announced a fine-tuning of its frontline recordings business under Jon Loba.
Digital Media Association (DiMA) promoted Sally Rose Larson to senior vp of government and external affairs. Prior to joining DiMA in 2019 as the audio streaming trade group’s vp of government relations, the Georgia native served as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff to Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), and was chief copyright advisor to House Judiciary Committee GOPers.
Reed Smith welcomed Jackson Abbeduto as counsel in its global entertainment and media industry group. Based in the lauded law firm‘s Century City, Calif. office, Abbeduto arrives following a year as counsel at Granderson Des Rochers. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade at Universal Music Publishing Group and three years at YouTube as an executive. “Music is very important to our overall practice strategy, and considering our partner Gregor Pryor is the leading digital music lawyer in Europe, Jackson will have all the resources necessary to help us be on the forefront of advising clients in the US on all cutting-edge digital issues,” said Stephen Sessa, the co-chair of Reed Smith’s global entertainment and media industry group.
RADIO, RADIO: Cumulus Media promoted Kriston Aitken to chief human resources officer, taking over for a retiring Todd McCarty, who held the role for nine years. The HR veteran joined Cumulus in 2016 and was elevated to vp of Human Resources two years ago … Jose George and Olivia Morley joined advertising consulting firm Madison and Wall as senior analysts, according to Radio Ink … Samantha Melbourneweaver is joining NPR as managing editor/digital audience growth & engagement. She was previously the assistant managing editor of audience at the Los Angeles Times.
CAA promoted 15 employees, including Shayna Ehrlich to music marketing executive in the agency’s music touring department. She joined the firm in March 2019 as a music and comedy tour marketing assistant and later shed the laughs part of her workload. Prior to joining CAA, the NYC-based Ehrlich was in media strategy at iHeartMedia. THR has more details on the moves.
Hollywood-based publicist and former TV programmer Kiki Ayers launched My Best Kid Life, a new “daily guide on how parents and kids can live their best life” that will focus on wellness, nutrition, co-parenting and more, plus feature exclusive interviews with celebs discussing parenthood. Unique to MBKL is that all images used for the company are in the style of comic book, cartoon or anime. Pryor to this new venture, Ayers ran her PR firm Ayers Publicity and worked as an entertainment reporter. Earlier in her career, Ayers was a music programming manager at REVOLT and was in production at both MTV2 and The Jerry Springer Show.
ICYMI:
Richard Burgess
A2IM president and CEO Richard James Burgess telegraphed his exit from the indie label trade group … UTA hired ex-Ingrooves chief Bob Roback as COO … Downtown named Molly Neuman as president of its CD Baby arm … Jennifer Koester was promoted to president and COO of Sphere Entertainment … UnitedMasters hired Def Jam vet LaTrice Burnette as evp and head of music … and COLTURE‘s Ty Baisden was named executive of the year in Billboard‘s Indie Power Players list.
Last Week’s Turntable: TikTok Lawyers Up
Warner Chappell Music has announced Delia Orjuela as its new head of creative Mexican music/música mexicana. Based out of Los Angeles, the veteran executive will report to Gustavo Menéndez, WCM’s president, U.S. Latin & Latin America.
In 2021, Orjuela joined Warner Music Latina to lead the label’s Mexican music division where she guided the careers of artists like DannyLux, who is among the new generation of música mexicana hitmakers. Last year, her and Ruben Abraham were appointed co-leaders as the label doubled down on their commitment to música mexicana.
According to a press release, in her new position, Orjuela will continue to “collaborate closely” with the recorded music team and look for cross-collaboration opportunities between the label and publisher.
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“I have spent most of my career advocating and championing songwriters, and they’ve remained my true passion,” Orjuela said in a statement. “Music is incredibly powerful, and I love how a great song with meaningful lyrics can impact people’s lives. I’m so glad to once again be a part of the songwriting process from the beginning, helping to set up collaborations and nurture creative connections. This next step in my career brings everything full circle, and I can’t wait to hit the ground running with Gustavo and the incredible team at WCM.”
Prior to joining Warner, Orjuela was the longtime vp of Latin creative for BMI, where she worked for 22 years. She left in 2019 to start “a new chapter” in her life. That same year, she was appointed president of Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“Delia and I have known each other for years, and what started as professional respect has grown into a deep and genuine friendship,” Menéndez added in a statement. “She’s fiercely passionate about empowering music creators and providing them with the right tools to amplify their voices on a global scale. We’ve already started to pull together exciting plans with [Warner Music Latin America president] Alejandro [Duque], and her natural instinct will drive remarkable success in one of today’s fastest-growing genres.”
In a joint statement, WCM co-chairs Guy Moot (CEO) and Carianne Marshall (COO) expressed: “Delia has supported countless songwriters and established a reputation for energizing teams and elevating music. We see huge potential to create timeless songs in the Mexican music market, and her leadership will help us continue to develop songwriters who shape culture.”
Warner Chappell Music has entered an agreement to administer Electronic Arts‘ music library. One of the world’s largest gaming companies, Electronic Arts is home to titles like The Sims, Medal of Honor, Madden NFL, Apex Legends and more. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news EA Worldwide executive and […]
Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with artist-writer Morgan Wallen. As part of his deal, Wallen will have the ability to sign songwriters in partnership with WCM.
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Wallen has earned 10 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits and has sold out arenas and stadiums on his One Night at a Time tour. But he’s also been deeply involved in writing many of his own chart-topping hits including “7 Summers,” “Chasin’ You,” “You Proof” and “Thought You Should Know.” Wallen’s third studio album, One Thing at a Time, has spent 18 weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart, and was named Luminate’s top album of 2023 in the U.S. Wallen was honored with the songwriter of the year accolade at the 2023 BMI Country Awards last year.
As a songwriter, Wallen’s prolific abilities as a songwriter have extended to writing songs that have become hits for Kane Brown, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Corey Kent and other artists.
Wallen said in a statement: “I look forward to working with Warner Chappell as my new music publishing partner and would like to thank them for also offering support in signing songwriters I believe in. In many ways, I feel like I’ve always been a songwriter first, and because of that, the publishing community is especially close to my heart. I’m honored to use this partnership as an opportunity to give other songwriters a helping hand. Thanks to Ben, Phil, Jessi, and their great team.”
Ben Vaughn, president/CEO, Warner Chappell Music Nashville, said in a statement, “When you listen to the craftsmanship of songs that Morgan is writing, such as the modern-day classics ‘7 Summers’ and ‘Thought You Should Know,’ and the impactful songs he’s written for other artists like ‘You Make It Easy’ (Jason Aldean) and ‘Wild As Her’ (Corey Kent), you start to understand that the man from East Tennessee is quickly becoming one of the most important songwriters of this generation. Our entire Warner Chappell team is so proud of the opportunity to represent his songs.”
Jessi Vaughn Stevenson, Sr. Director, A&R and Digital, Warner Chappell Music Nashville, added, “Morgan’s songwriting style has been original and distinct from the beginning and it is so exciting to get to work with someone who has seen massive commercial success built on authenticity.”
Warner Chappell Music has signed Kenya Grace to a global publishing administration agreement. Known best for her breakout single “Strangers,” she was the first to top Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart for a song written, produced and performed by a woman.
A self-taught talent, Grace was born in South Africa and raised in Southampton, England. In 2022, she released her first singles, including “Oranges,” “Afterparty Lover” and “Meteor,” and signed a deal with Warner Record’s dance label, Major Recordings. “Strangers” was her major label debut.
“I’m delighted to be working with Warner Chappell Music,” said Grace in a statement. “Songwriting is the most important part of my creativity, and I’m obsessed with great songs. The process of writing is my joy, art, and at times, therapy. There is so much I want to achieve as a writer, and with the Warner Chappell team behind me, I feel like I can achieve so much.”
Warner Chappell’s Gabz Landman, vp of A&R, and Xavier Champagne, senior director of urban A&R, added, “Kenya has set a remarkable path for herself, writing and producing her own music in its entirety. To be a record-breaking female producer, songwriter, artist, and DJ is a special and rare achievement. Her music is honest and true, and we couldn’t be more excited to join her on this journey.”
“Kenya is an incredible talent — highlighted by her global hit ‘Strangers,’” says Amber Davis, senior vp at Warner Chappell Music UK. “She is a special artist and has enjoyed a brilliant year breaking in the UK and around the world. We’re delighted to be working with her at Warner Chappell Music as we help her continue to develop into a leading songwriter.”
Sony Music Publishing ruled the Top Radio Airplay, Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay publisher rankings for its third consecutive quarter of 2023, and Warner Chappell Music surged to No. 2 on the Hot 100 Songs chart — the first time it has held the position since the Hot 100 ranking began in 2019.
For the period spanning July through September, all of the big three publishers benefited from shares in the Afrobeats radio hit “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. Sony also benefited from stakes in “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, which hit No. 5 on the Top Radio Airplay chart, and Taylor Swift’s surprise hit “Cruel Summer,” which reached No. 3 on the quarter’s Hot 100 Songs ranking, four years after its initial release due to its placement as the opening song of Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Last quarter, Tracy Chapman’s Purple Rabbit Music publishing company broke into the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay charts (ranking No. 7 and No. 10, respectively) for the first time, thanks to Luke Combs’ cover of her 1988 song “Fast Car.” This quarter, her market share as a publisher/songwriter grew even higher. Chapman finished the quarter as the top songwriter on all three charts, propelling Purple Rabbit Music to No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay and No. 6 on both Hot 100 Songs and Country Airplay.
But she wasn’t the only self-published songwriter to make the charts this quarter. As the sole writer of “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Oliver Anthony Music’s publishing company, Christopher Anthony Lunsford Pub Designee, placed at No. 8 on Hot 100 Songs with a 1.49% market share, surpassing such top 10 perennials as Downtown and Reservoir. Like Chapman, Anthony is the sole songwriter of his breakthrough song.
This is the first time that two independent songwriters have broken into the Hot 100 Songs chart at the same time.
Warner Chappell rose to No. 2 on the Hot 100 ranking for the first time in 19 quarters. Previously, it often ranked third or fourth. “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen, “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez, and 49 other Hot 100 Songs hits accounted for its strong showing of 18.18% of the market share. The publisher held steady in third place on the Top Radio Airplay chart with 15.87% of the market share, and ranked second on the Country Airplay chart with a 26.2% share.
Universal Music Publishing Group took second place on Top Radio Airplay — where its song placements increased to 52 from 49 in the second quarter — and third on Hot 100 Songs. Combs’ “Love You Anyway,” No. 3 on Country Airplay; “Cruel Summer”; and “Calm Down” were UMPG’s highest-ranked songs.
Kobalt held fast to No. 4 on both Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs but slid to No. 5 on Country Airplay behind BMG. The latter publisher’s share in Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor” helped it edge past Kobalt’s 4.59% market share with 4.93%.
BMG and Big Machine Music both climbed in the ranks on the Country Airplay charts this quarter. BMG rose from fifth to fourth ranking, thanks to its share of 12 songs on the chart this quarter, including Jelly Roll’s “Need a Favor.” BMM climbed from eighth last quarter (2.57%) to seventh this quarter (2.97%), thanks in part to Luke Bryan’s “But I Got a Beer In My Hand.”
Concord finished 10th on Top Radio Airplay with 1.37%. That percentage might rise in the fourth quarter due to its acquisitions of Round Hill Music and Mojo Music & Media in September. If Concord’s third-quarter market share was combined with those of Round Hill and Pulse, which Concord also owns but lists separately, it would have finished at No. 5 on Top Radio Airplay with 4.96% and at No. 7 on Hot 100 Songs with 3.1%.
Rounding out the top 10, Reservoir fell to No. 8 on Top Radio Airplay with 1.82%, though it improved on its No. 7-ranked second-quarter share of 1.62%. It rounded out the Hot 100 Songs top 10 with 1.17%. Hipgnosis (1.76%) and Downtown (1.44%) finished at No. 9 on Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs, respectively.
Additional reporting by Ed Christman.
Nashville-based booking outfit The Neal Agency, known for a roster that includes artists Morgan Wallen and Bailey Zimmerman, has launched a music publishing division, Billboard can reveal.
The Neal Agency’s head of business development, Ryan Beuschel, will spearhead the new division. Beuschel joined The Neal Agency earlier this year following stints at Warner Chappell Nashville (as vp of A&R/strategy and ASCAP.
The new division’s first signing is singer-songwriter Palmer Anthony via a co-publishing venture with Warner Chappell Music (WCM). Anthony previously signed with The Neal Agency for booking.
“The ultimate goal for the company is to be truly a place to develop artists,” Neal tells Billboard. “Obviously, a big part of that is on the road, but [also] being able to have a hand in the creative process. … As the music industry continues to evolve, we have the opportunity to help create and build artists from the ground up.”
Beuschel says, “I think Palmer is a great example of being the first person that we did this with because he was signing to the agency, and then shopping around and looking into publishing deals. At one point, he mentioned, ‘It would be amazing if we could work together,’ and we knew each other before he signed with The Neal Agency. He had been touring in Texas and was writing some really compelling stuff alone and with co-writers. I felt like it was a great opportunity for The Neal Agency to have creative direction and touring strategy inside the same building, communicating with each other back and forth to push his career as far and as fast as we can.”
“Working with Ryan, with his background at ASCAP and Warner Chappell, this partnership makes a lot of sense,” adds Warner Chappell Music Nashville president/CEO Ben Vaughn. “I met Palmer because of [Beuschel and Neal] and it’s been really cool to watch Palmer starting to network through the town and co-writing. It’s great to build this new thing out with them.”
Anthony grew up primarily in northern California and went on to play baseball at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before pursuing songwriting. After graduation, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and immersed himself in the Texas music scene, opening for artists including Riley Green, Chase Rice and Randall King.
The Neal Agency agent Haley Teske was responsible for bringing Anthony’s talent to the attention of the company in the first place, leading to his initial signing for booking.
“I saw him at [Nashville music event] Whiskey Jam and I could tell he was a hard worker, and [I] just kept in touch until the time was right,” says Teske.
“I’ll say it was a best-case scenario for me, too,” Anthony says, “because Haley was a supporter very early in the whole scene and the fact that all these pieces kind of fell into place, with Ryan at The Neal Agency and Ben at Warner Chappell. It was a perfect scenario for me to keep it kind of in-house for publishing and booking.”
Neal launched The Neal Agency in 2022, following his departure from WME. The company’s initial roster included Wallen, ERNEST, Riley Green, HARDY, Seaforth, John Morgan, Chase Rice. and Ashland Craft. It has since grown to include Zimmerman, CCM/country artist Anne Wilson, Ella Langley and lifestyle brands Stevenson Ranch and Whiskey Jam.
Neal says passion — not an allegiance to a certain genre — will continue to drive new signings.
“Me, personally, I listen to a lot of alt-rock. I grew up on Southern hip-hop, Project Pat,” he says, noting that the agency also works with rapper mike for booking. “So we’ve grown to understand that, having to forge relationships with promoters and festivals that we didn’t before, is that there are no barriers for us as a company. It’s about passion, not genre, for myself and all of our agents and staff.”
Warner Chappell Music entered into new contracts with Guy Moot, co-chair/CEO, and Carianne Marshall, co-chair/COO, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday (Sept. 15).
The new employment agreements go into effect on Oct. 1 and lock in both executives until Mar. 31, 2028. Both Moot and Marshall enjoyed 25% raises; the former’s base salary jumped from $1,750,000 to $2,187,500, while the latter’s rose from $1,250,000 to $1,562,500. Annual discretionary bonus targets for the pair increased as well, climbing from $1,750,000 to $2,187,500.
Marshall ascended to the COO role in April 2018, while Moot was named CEO the following year. They’ve since moved to sign acts like Frank Ocean, the Quincy Jones catalog and the Pop Smoke estate. “I don’t want us to be looking at every deal just because it’s in the market — we want to pick the winners, be selective [but] aggressive in how we close those deals,” Moot told Billboard in 2020.
“We can drive value for a lot of these catalogs by not just continuing to take good care of the big copyrights but also doing a deep dive,” Marshall added. “For the first time, we have a global head of synchronization, which is really important: We want to work with anyone who wants to use our songs to try to figure out how to create solutions for them. It’s important to us to be able to search our catalog to find something in every genre and at every price point with a quick turnaround.”
In the first quarter of 2019, Warner Chappell had a 16.13% share of the top 100 radio songs. In the first quarter of 2023, that share rose to 20.71%, though it fell to 17.21% in the second quarter. Also in the second quarter, Warner Chappell’s Hot 100 Songs market share was 19.94%.
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.”