We catch up on the latest music publishing news, including acquisitions, signings, new hires and more.
Deals & Acquisitions
Litmus Music acquires Opus, owner of Juice Wrld and Maluma rights, after extending credit facility to $400m (MBW)
Opus Music Group, which owns rights to music catalogs from Juice WRLD, Ozuna, Maluma and Rauw Alejandro, has been quietly acquired by Litmus Music.
Primary Wave strikes ‘multi-million-dollar’ publishing deal with estate of The Cars frontman (MBW)
The deal will see Primary Wave share in the rights of Ocasek’s publishing catalog, including all of The Cars’ songs, as well as Ocasek’s solo career, according to a press release.
Reservoir acquires Billy Strange’s catalog including Elvis Presley hits (MBW)
Reservoir said the acquisition includes some of Strange’s most well-known compositions, such as Elvis Presley’s hits A Little Less Conversation, Memories, and Clean Up Your Own Back Yard.
HarbourView acquires James Fauntleroy’s publishing assets (Billboard)
The four-time Grammy winner, Fauntleroy has worked with some of the biggest names in music and now sells selected publishing assets to the alternative asset management firm HarbourView Equity Partners.
Iconoclast teams with Ujama Designs to acquire intellectual property rights of reggae stars (Music Week)
Iconoclast has formed a strategic partnership with Ujama Designs to acquire the intellectual property rights of reggae artists, starting with Jamaican legend Half Pint.
Cooking Vinyl Publishing and Sentric team up for joint venture (Music Week)
The new deal will see Cooking Vinyl Publishing clients will be able to utilize Sentric’s royalties infrastructure and expertise and quarterly accounting, as well as its sync expertise.
Launches & New Ventures
Hitmaker Savan Kotecha backs Indian talent with Outwrite incubator for songwriters (Music Week)
The company said it will “bridge the gap between Indian and international music standards, offering local songwriters an unprecedented opportunity to cross over to the global stage”.
Rimas Publishing launches marketing division led by Chris Hernández (MBW)
Hernández previously served as the licensing manager at Rimas Publishing since joining the company in 2022. He will now take on the new role of developing and implementing marketing strategies to promote the company’s artists and music.
Signings
James Ford signs to Universal Music Publishing Group (Music Week)
Ford had a recent hit in the shape of Fontaines DC’s recently released Romance, which achieved their highest week one sale and debuted at No.2, behind Sabrina Carpenter’s all-conquering album.
Warner Chappell signs Sabrina Carpenter’s co-writer John Ryan (Music Week)
Ryan most recently partnered with Sabrina Carpenter and co-wrote and produced eight songs on her album Short n’ Sweet, which debuted at No. 1 in the UK and US.
‘Gata Only’ producer Yamil inks global publishing deal with Kobalt (Billboard)
Kobalt announced it has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Yamil, the Puerto Rican hitmaker behind FloyyMenor and Cris MJ’s “Gata Only”.
The Other Songs partners with Universal Music Publishing Group (MBW)
News of the partnership arrives alongside The Other Songs’ signing of British singer/songwriter Bruno Major – named as the “first marquee signing” via the new arrangement with UMPG.
Avex USA signs producer Zone to publishing division (Music Week)
Avex USA has signed LA-based Nigerian record producer Zone to its publishing division. Zone’s production has been featured on tracks from artists including Jason Derulo, Sexxy Red, Ludmilla, Lay Bankz and more.
Sammy SoSo signs new deal with Concord Music Publishing (Music Week)
Sammy SoSo has signed a new global deal with Concord Music Publishing, covering his catalog and all future works.
Peso Pluma’s Double P Records strikes global deal with Downtown Music Publishing (MBW)
The partnership will see Downtown Music Publishing provide full global administration and sync placement across Double P Records’ current and future releases.
Liz Phair signs to Warner Chappell Music (Music Week)
Warner Chappell Music (WCM) has announced details of a global administration deal with Liz Phair.
Funding, Facts & Figures
Publishers Quarterly: Universal Gets Taylor-Made Boost in Close Competition With Sony (Music Week)
UMPG finishes at No. 1 on the Hot 100 ranking after 19 Swift songs chart in the quarter. True to form, Sony clocks its 13th straight frame atop Radio Airplay rankings.
Apra Amcos report predicts potential revenue hit from AI music (Music Ally)
Australasian music-rights body Apra Amcos has published a report focusing on generative AI technologies, based partly on a survey of more than 4,200 of its members in Australia and New Zealand.
Royalties & PROs
TIDAL launches tool for US songwriters to claim and manage their work (MBW)
Within TIDAL Artist Home, songwriters will be able to organize their IPI, PRO and publisher information in one place.
The MLC Partners with Beatdapp to fight streaming fraud (Billboard)
The MLC has pulled in the independent experts at Beatdapp to supplement the internal process it already has in place to curb fraud.
IMPEL goes global with Amra deal covering Asia Pacific region (Music Week)
The agreement will see IMPEL able to connect its members to markets that have seen double-digit streaming growth over the last year.
Legal
Spotify just won a long-running lawsuit over streaming of Eminem’s catalog – despite the court finding it didn’t have a license for the music. What does this mean for publishers? (MBW)
Simply put, this is a story of just how complicated and confusing music administration has become in an era when music rights have become a hot commodity.
Universal, Concord and ABKCO slam Anthropic’s motion to dismiss, say AI company is trying to ‘stall’ copyright case (MBW)
Anthropic last month filed a motion with the US District Court for the Northern District of California to have a large part of the copyright infringement case against it dismissed
Shaboozey sues music publisher as he tries exiting publishing deal (Rolling Stone)
Shaboozey has sued Warner Chappell, claiming the major music publisher is stalling his efforts to buy himself out of his contract amid the success of his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Spotify asks court to dismiss MLC lawsuit (MBW)
Spotify called The MLC’s arguments “nonsensical and factually unsupportable,” and the lawsuit “meritless and wasteful litigation”.
PRS for Music lawsuit claimants respond in open letter (Music Ally)
It’s a long, firm letter, but key to their response is a number of accusations of a lack of transparency in PRS for Music: in its communications, its internal processes and especially around administration fees and deductions.
People
Warner Chappell Music makes key A&R promotions in Europe (MBW)
Marion Skosgeth and Leslie Tay are taking new roles at WCM Nordics, while Jost Kaiser has rejoined WCM in Germany
Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia reveals key promotions (Music Week)
Christoffer Lindh has been promoted to head of A&R and Atena Banisaid has been named general manager. Both will continue to report into Johnny Tennander, managing director and SVP A&R international, Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia.
Downtown Music ups David Driessen to Chief Commercial Officer (Music Week)
Expanding Downtown’s licensing and partnership opportunities will be a core focus in the role, while Driessen will work closely with VP of product and services strategy, Harmen Hemminga.
Warner Chappell promotes David Goldsen to SVP of North America A&R (Music Week)
Warner Chappell Music has promoted David Goldsen to senior vice president, North America A&R. Goldsen, who is based in Los Angeles, will continue to report to and work closely with Ryan Press, president, North America.
Alix Kram appointed Head of Marketing at Universal Music Publishing (MBW)
Universal Music Publishing Group has appointed Alix Kram as Head of Marketing in a newly created global role. Based in New York, Kram will report to UMPG Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson, and UMPG COO Marc Cimino.
Rob Stratton promoted to Vice President, Visual and Media Rights at Sony Music Publishing (MBW)
Sony Music Publishing UK has promoted Rob Stratton to Vice President, Visual + Media Rights. According to SMP, in his elevated role, Stratton will be responsible for leading SMP’s Visual + Media efforts in the market.
Interesting Reads
Report: music publishers face more strong growth (Music Ally)
There’s a rosy future predicted: streaming made up over 50% of total publishing revenues in 2022, and Midia predicts that figure will “close to double between 2023 and 2031,” with revenues projected to reach $16.8 billion by 2031.
What’s old is new: how audio separation technology is revitalizing music catalog (Synchblog)
We explore the diverse applications for audio separation technology, from revitalizing catalog to unlocking lucrative syncs.
Meta the devil you know: educating creators about getting their metadata right (Synchblog)
Incorrect metadata has long been a problem in the music industry, but being aware it is a problem and actually fixing that problem are still far from synonymous. Incorrect or partial metadata means incorrect or partial payments.
MIDiA report shines the spotlight on songwriter struggles (Synchblog)
Songwriters view sync placements (31%) as the most promising path to meaningful revenue, more so than landing a hit song (20%).
