Acquisitions
Merck Mercuriadis fund pays $23m to buy 75% stake in The-Dream (MBW)
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the company recently launched by former Elton John and Guns N’ Roses manager Merck Mercuriadis, successfully floated on the London Stock Exchange Wednesday — and celebrated by buying up 75% of The-Dream’s catalog for $23 million.
Concord Music Acquires Fania Records and Publishing, Home to Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ Hook (Variety)
Latin music company Fania Records and Publishing has been bought by Concord Music from Miami-based Codigo Entertainment. Fania assets include some 19,000 master recordings and 8,000 compositions, among them works by such iconic Latin and R&B artists as Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades.
Round Hill Acquires Share Of Judas Priest Catalog (Billboard)
Round Hill Music has acquired a sizeable stake in Judas Priest’s catalog, following the collapse of founder member KK Downing’s luxury golf course venture, Billboard understands.
Peermusic acquires UK-based Accorder Music Publishing for undisclosed fee (MBW)
Global independent peermusic has acquired Accorder Music Publishing, one of the UK’s biggest independent film and television publishers.
Downtown acquires Booker T. Jones catalog, signs deal for future works (MBW)
The multi-faceted agreement includes the acquisition of the renowned multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and arranger’s catalog, and will see Downtown represent his future musical works.
Sony Corp snaps up remaining 10% stake in EMI Music Publishing from Jackson estate (MBW)
Sony Corporation is – subject to regulatory approval – now the owner of 100% in EMI Music Publishing. It’s become so after paying $287.5m to the Michael Jackson Estate to take control of the remaining 25.1% interest in Nile Acquisition LLC which Sony didn’t already own.
People
MPA Group CEO Jane Dyball To Step Down (M Magazine)
The Music Publishers Association (MPA) Group of companies has announced today that Jane Dyball will be stepping down as their CEO in the new year.
Universal Music Publishing Group Ups David Kokakis to Chief Counsel (Variety)
David Kokakis, a nine-year veteran of Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) who most recently served as Executive Vice President and Head of UMPG’s Business & Legal Affairs, Business Development and Digital, has been upped to Chief Counsel.
Sony/ATV promotes Danielle Middleton and Sam Reas to manager, A&R (Music Week)
Middleton, who joined Sony/ATV in 2014, most recently served as senior coordinator in the company’s A&R department, while Reas started at the company in 2015 as creative assistant to SVP, head of East Coast A&R Rich Christina. Both will be based in the firm’s New York office.
Kobalt Music Appoints Rian Liebenberg as CTO, Richard Thompson Steps Down (Billboard)
Kobalt Music announced Friday (July 6) that Rian Liebenberg has been appointed chief technology officer, as Richard Thompson will step down from the position. However, Thompson will continue to advise the company as emeritus CTO.
Victoria Campoamor promoted to global head of publishing strategy and operations at YouTube (MBW)
The respected exec is very well known in music publishing circles, having worked as Head of Music Publishing Partner Operations, YouTube and Google Play in London since 2016.
Downtown Promotes Lisa Hauptman to Global Head of People (Billboard)
Hauptman, who joined the Downtown in 2015 as executive director of operations, will continue to oversee recruitment, while also spearheading initiatives focused on talent development.
BMI Names Alex Flores Senior VP of Creative (Variety)
BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) has named Alex Flores senior VP of creative. The Los Angeles-based Flores arrives from BMG where she was most recently SVP of Marketing for North America.
Signings
Cat Stevens Extends Deal With BMG, Including Entire Music Publishing Catalog, Reissues, AV Releases & More (Billboard)
Under this new agreement, Stevens is entrusting the media company with over 50 years of his original songs and recordings, as well as other visual, audio and literary content. The news comes just ahead of the iconic musician’s 70th birthday on Saturday.
Reba McEntire Signs Worldwide Deal With Given Music Publishing (Billboard)
Reba McEntire has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Given Music Publishing. McEntire has made an international name for herself in music, television, film and theater, as well as in retail and book publishing. A recording artist and entrepreneur, she has sold more than 56 albums worldwide.
Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory inks new publishing deal (M Magazine)
Decca Publishing has announced the signing of British electronic composer, producer and performer Will Gregory. Although best known as one half of the multi-platinum-selling electronic pop duo Goldfrapp, Gregory’s classical output also forms a considerable part of his career.
‘She’s an amazing talent’: Warner/Chappell signs rising star Kloe (Music Week)
Saul Fitton, international creative manager, Warner/Chappell Music UK, said: “Kloe is someone I’ve been following for years. She’s an amazing talent and a high-level songwriter so it’s great that we’ve been able to bring her in to Warner/Chappell. She is someone that the whole company is excited about.”
Universal Music Publishing Nashville signs Chris Young to global publishing deal (Music Week)
Both a Grammy and ACM-nominated vocalist, Young (RCA Records Nashville) has racked up seventeen gold, platinum and multi-platinum-certified projects, including 10 chart-toping singles. Young has also written songs recorded by Kane Brown, Jackie Lee and The Shires.
Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla signs with Defend Music Inc (Music Week)
Independent publisher Defend Music Inc. has signed Death Cab For Cutie member and record producer Chris Walla to a global publishing deal.The deal includes Walla’s catalogue written with the US alternative band, which features songs such as Transatlanticism, I Will Possess Your Heart, Crooked Teeth, Title and Registration.
The Vamps sign deal with Warner/Chappell (M Magazine)
The boy band signed the deal with the publishing arm of Warner Music Group in London ahead of a coast-to-coast US tour in promotion of their new album.
Big Deal Music Group Signs Publishing Deal With Sounds of Memphis/XL Records (Billboard)
Big Deal Music Group, one of the world’s leading independent music publishers, announced Tuesday (July 10) that it has signed a long-term global administrative agreement with Sounds of Memphis/XL Records to represent their publishing catalog and masters.
Rich Music Signs Deal With Universal Music Publishing Group: Exclusive (Billboard)
Rich Music catalog, comprised mostly of Latin urban music, includes Justin Quiles, Dímelo Flow, DJ Africa and Chris March. The Quiles catalog alone includes a stake in Anitta and J Balvin’s hit “Downtown” as well as tracks featuring the likes of Bad Bunny, Don Omar and Farruko.
‘She is an enormous talent’: Reservoir signs Liza Owen (Music Week)
Reservoir has signed singer-songwriter Liza Owen to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes rights to her catalogue, including the recent collaboration with K-pop phenomenon BTS on Airplane Pt. 2.
Reuben James signs worldwide deal with Warner/Chappell (M Magazine)
Best known for his ongoing collaborations with Sam Smith, James co-wrote the title track from Smith’s most recent album The Thrill of it All, as well as the song Him. James has also collaborated with a huge number of artists throughout his career including Disclosure, Bruno Major, Little Mix, Callum Scott and Tom Misch.
Odunsi (The Engine) signs Warner/Chappell publishing deal (Music Week)
Songwriter, singer and producer Odunsi (The Engine) has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music.Odunsi is at the forefront of the Afro-fusion explosion and released his first EP, Time Of Our Lives in August 2016.
Reservoir signs writer-performer Alex Hepburn to a worldwide publishing deal (Reservoir)
Reservoir announces the signing of British writer-performer Alex Hepburn to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes global rights to her entire catalog, including her recently released EP, If You Stay.
Rights Societies
SOCAN completes acquisition of reproduction rights society SODRAC (MBW)
Canadian performing rights society SOCAN has finalized its buyout of reproduction rights collection group SODRAC – with ambitious plans for what the merger might mean for songwriters.
ASCAP inks deal to represent producer/composer Junkie XL, who makes switch from BMI (MBW)
ASCAP, the US-based American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, has signed an agreement to rep the public performance rights of Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum producer and composer Tom Holkenborg, professionally known as Junkie XL.
French collection society SACEM lands another big catalogue (Music Week)
SACEM has agreed a new partnership with independent music publisher Pen Music Group covering one of its major catalogues.
Concord Music and Euro Music Rights Licensing Hub (Billboard)
As of Tuesday (July 17), Concord Music became the third music publisher this year to join forces with ICE Services – an online music rights licensing and processing hub based in the UK, Germany and Sweden.
Launches
one77 Music Launches With Jennifer Blakeman at Helm of a Hits-Filled Catalog (Billboard)
one77 Music, a new publishing firm, has launched with a 6,000-song catalog and $27 million in assets, backed by private equity firm Virgo Investment Group and helmed by music industry veteran Jennifer Blakeman.
David Massey unveils publishing and management JV companies with Sony Music (MBW)
Work of Art Music Publishing is based in New York and Los Angeles, and led by Clio Massey (pictured right), David’s daughter and former Sony/ATV exec, who will serve as VP.
News and Analysis
Merck Mercuriadis wants to raise a billion dollars. And then he wants to change the face of the music business (MBW)
As Mercuriadis explains in the exclusive interview, he wants to build Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd’s global market weight to a truly significant level – and then leverage this influence to improve the payouts which songwriters and publishers receive from music streaming services…
Global Music Publishers Threaten to Leave Spanish Royalty Collecting Society (Billboard)
Multinational publishers Warner/Chappell, Peermusic, Sony/ATV, Universal Publishing and BMG could leave SGAE as early as January 1, 2019. The companies have informed the authors rights’ society of their intention in separate letters last Friday (June 29), according to Spanish media reports.
Meet The Highest-Ranking Woman In Music Publishing (Forbes)
As one of the world’s largest music companies, Universal Music Publishing Group goes to bat for songwriting legends like Bruce Springsteen, Carly Simon and U2, as well as millennial heroes like Adele, Justin Timberlake and Ariana Grande. So it’s no small feat that Jody Gerson was elevated as UMPG’s first female chairman and CEO.
How the global music copyright business grew by $1.5bn in 2016 (& why that’s amazing news today) (MBW)
Spotify’s Director of Economics Will Page explains how the global music rights industry grew by a hugely significant margin in 2016 – the last year on record where all figures for publishing and recorded music are available.
Royalty Exchange Takes New Tactic to Royalties Investments With Cage the Elephant’s Catalog (Billboard)
The company has tapped the private placement market to acquire a co-publishing share in Cage the Elephant’s catalog, which spans the band’s songs of their first four studio albums.
Universal Music Publishing could become a $1BN company this year (MBW)
That’s the conclusion of MBW’s analysis of Universal parent Vivendi’s latest quarterly results, released yesterday (July 30). In terms of Euros (the currency of Paris-based Vivendi), UMPG generated €409m in the six months to end of June this year.
