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IN CANADA & NEIGHBORING RIGHTS DIVISION 
peermusic has announced a raft of key promotions in its peermusic Canada office and peermusic Neighboring Rights division.
Neville Quinlan expands his role to Managing Director, Publishing & Neighboring Rights, Canada. In this new role, Neville will now join the leadership team of peermusic Neighboring Rights, working to inform performers and labels on the best strategies to maximize collections and bring in significant neighboring rights revenues, whilst continuing to lead peermusic’s Canadian publishing operations and managing both its Toronto and Montreal offices.
Pictured (L-R) at peermusic offices in Toronto are Rachael Clark, Head of Administration, peermusic Canada; Neville Quinlan, Managing Director, Publishing & Neighboring Rights, peermusic Canada; and Cheryl Link, General Manager, peermusic.
Cheryl Link has been promoted to General Manager of peermusic’s Toronto publishing operations, assuming a greater role in client relationships, operations, and continuing to oversee creative and synchronization activity in the region. Having joined peermusic in 2005, Cheryl previously served as Senior Creative Director at peermusic Canada, responsible for all domestic songwriters, artists and working to promote the peermusic worldwide catalog for synch opportunities to Film, TV and advertising agencies. Cheryl serves on the Board of SOCAN, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and SOCAN Foundation. She is one of the founding committee members of the MPC (Music Publishers Canada) Women in the Studio program, now in its fifth year. Rachael Clark has been promoted to Head of Administration, peermusic Canada. Rachael specializes in copyright management & royalties and has been instrumental in the Canadian implementation of peermusic sub-publisher client catalogs such as Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, Nanada Music BV, and Big Machine Music. She serves as the relationship manager for SOCAN, CMRRA, and major & independent labels. Rachael also serves on the Music Publishers Canada NXTGen committee. Prior to joining peermusic in 2016 as Copyright & Office Administrator, Rachael worked at CMRRA in the Membership Services & Copyright departments. Mary Megan Peer, Chief Executive Officer, peermusic, who established peermusic’s neighboring rights division commented, “peermusic Neighboring Rights is experiencing remarkable growth and expanding into new territories—we are now collecting from 75 rights organizations in 50 different countries. Neville is an important addition to our peermusic Neighboring Rights leadership team as we work to maximize worldwide collections for recording rights owners and performers.” Earlier this year, peermusic acquired the music publishing catalog of Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, Corey Hart. The new acquisition deal encompassed the publishing copyrights for Hart’s entire music catalog consisting of over 200 songs. Through the deal, peermusic now also represents Corey Hart for neighboring rights via its peermusic neighboring rights division. Peermusic also recently announced an exclusive global publishing agreement encompassing the entire catalog of 2023 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Loreena McKennitt in a joint signing with peermusic’s Canadian and American offices, marking the first time McKennitt has agreed to a publishing partner on a global basis. Peermusic Canada also publishes The Tragically Hip, The Dead South, and Lido Pimienta, amongst many others. POP SENSATION JAMIE MILLER 
International pop music sensation Jamie Miller has signed a new global recording and publishing administration agreement with BMG.
Previously working in a call center in his hometown, the Cardiff, Wales born singer/songwriter, now based in Los Angeles, rose to prominence in 2017, and has since achieved huge success with over one billion global streams.
Jamie Miller
Miller has earned global praise from artists such as Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, Sam Smith, Jennifer Hudson and gained attention in Asia with social support from K-Pop artists such as BLACKPINK, NCT, Tablo of Epik High, and The Boyz to name a few. Jamie Miller stated, “I’m so excited to start my new chapter with BMG! I love their philosophy and how they want their artists to win and own their art. Super excited to be a part of it!” Dan Gill, Executive VP, Recorded Music, West Coast, BMG added, “We are thrilled to welcome Jamie to BMG! He is an exceptional talent with an incredible voice and style that has already captivated a global audience. We are excited to work with him and support his creative vision as he embarks on this new chapter!” Jamie Miller is represented by EN Management, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, and Wasserman. APPOINT NEW MANAGING DIRECTORS 
The UK office of independent record company Because Music and London Records have both made senior appointments, including new Managing Directors, to continue driving growth across their respective rosters.
Rhian Emanuel has been promoted from Marketing Director to Managing Director, Because Music UK. Her new position will see her head up all activities carried out by the London office, a team that has doubled in size over the last two years.
Reporting to Because Music’s Founder & CEO Emmanuel de Buretel, Rhian’s appointment follows sustained UK growth and her own career development. In her new position, she will strengthen UK operations, harnessing the creativity and expertise of the UK team to expand the roster and optimize the label’s back catalog. Since joining in 2016, she has spearheaded campaigns for Christine and the Queens, Metronomy and Shygirl among others.
Joining in 2018, when Because acquired the London Records catalog, Kelly was instrumental in setting up the label’s frontline imprint Because London Records – home to singer-songwriter and producer Alewya, and recently signed DJ/producer The Busy Twist, with more new artists to be announced soon. London Records also released Orbital’s 2023 new studio album Optical Delusion, which charted at No.6 in the UK. Other appointments include Ed Pearson who has been promoted from Marketing Director to Sr. VP Marketing, Dance & Electronic at Because Music UK. In his new role, Pearson will be charged with powering up the marketing team and function at the UK label, focusing on the development and growth of the current and future dance and electronic signings. Since joining in 2017, Pearson has been predominantly involved in Because Music’s electronic and dance roster, working with Major Lazer, Diplo, Logic1000, Aluna, Justice, as well as Ed Banger Records. He has previously held roles at Believe, Ministry Of Sound and PIAS. Junior Foster also joins London Records as Digital Marketing & Strategy Manager to oversee the label’s digital strategy. Having spent five years at Deezer leading its Global Artist Relations teams, Foster brings over 20 years of experience in music and film industries. He has previously held marketing roles at Sony Music, as well as Paramount Pictures and Disney. Foster also co-founded music creative marketing agency, Army Of Few. London Records will continue to release high-end reissues, with recent catalog projects including UK Top 20 albums from Sugababes, Orbital, and Shakespears Sister. Additional 2023 reissues are planned for Bananarama (marking the group’s 40th Anniversary), Goldie and Brand New Heavies, with the label set to make further catalog acquisitions in the coming months. 
AWAL has announced the appointment of its UK executive leadership team. Effective immediately, Matt Riley has been named Managing Director. Based in London, he will report directly to Paul Hitchman, President of AWAL. Victoria Needs and Sam Pots have been elevated to their respective roles as Senior Vice President for AWAL. Both executives will report to Riley.
In his role, Riley will expand his current oversight as the Company’s Head of A&R, working closely with Hitchman and AWAL CEO Lonny Olinick to sign new artists and develop AWAL’s rising global roster. Since joining AWAL in 2014, Riley has been responsible for signing artists that have reached more than a billion streams including Bruno Major, Rex Orange County and Tom Misch. Additionally, he’s supported the development of global artists Eloise, Lovejoy, MorMor, Shay Lia and The Wombats.
 are Matt Riley, Victoria Needs, and Sam Potts.jpg)
Pictured (L-R) are Matt Riley, Victoria Needs, and Sam Potts
Potts joined AWAL in 2019, as Vice President of Promotion, overseeing the Company’s UK and international digital accounts team, driving promotional strategy with streaming platforms, as well as overseeing UK radio and TV promotion strategy for AWAL artists. In his new role as Sr. Vice President, Potts will continue to work closely with the executive leadership team to maximize audience development and growth strategies for AWAL artists across digital and traditional media. The announcement of the new leadership team comes as AWAL has seen singles chart success this year with a debut Top 40 chart entry with Lovejoy’s “Call Me What You Like” and two tracks in the Official UK Top 40 biggest songs of 2023 so far; JVKE’s “Golden Hour” and Lizzy McAlpine’s “Ceilings,” which not only spent 7 weeks in the UK Top 10 singles chart, it also charted in 15 territories worldwide.
GLOBAL NEWS UPDATES…
WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC SPAIN SIGNS ANA MENA: Warner Chappell Music has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Ana Mena – the multi-Platinum selling artist and songwriter, who is the most streamed female performer in Spain and Italy. Over the last three years, Mena has had five singles reach the No.1 spot on the Spanish radio charts and has built an audience of six million monthly listeners on Spotify, while receiving more than 1.2 billion streams across the DSPs. Her Spanish language adaption of “Música ligera” won “Song of the Year” at the Los40 Music Awards 2022, which is Spain’s most important music show. In March, Mena released her second album, Bellodrama, and landed her first No.1 record after it topped the Spanish Top 100 Albums chart. While, her last two collaboration singles, “Las 12” with Belinda and “Quiero decirte” with Abraham Mateo, have racked up more than 78 million streams and more than 45 million streams respectively. Mena has also enjoyed success in Italy, having recorded several hits there, including “A un passo dalla luna” with Rocco Hunt, which spent nine weeks at No.1 and went 6x Platinum.
SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING SIGNS GLOBAL DEAL WITH 1DA BANTON: Sony Music Publishing has announced the signing of Nigerian songwriter 1da Banton to a global publishing deal. Hailing from Rivers State, Nigeria, 1da Banton is an award-winning songwriter, artist and guitarist who has worked with prominent talent such as Snelle, Maan, Emma Heesters and many others. His recent hit “Miss You” with Tungevaag was on A-rotation at Dutch Q-Music and Radio 538 for 25 weeks. 1da is set to release his highly anticipated EP 1da Shall Never End next month. The project features several producers including 255, Rugged and Pimp.
STREAMING SERVICES ADD OVER 330 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS IN FIVE YEARS: As a key driving force of the music industry, streaming platforms have seen impressive subscription growth in the past years. With millions of Gen Zs and Millennials who prefer the subscription economy, their revenues and user count have more than doubled. According to data presented by OnlyAccounts.io, the music streaming platforms have added more than 330 million subscribers in the last five years, with their total number rising to almost 590 million in 2022. Thanks to hundreds of millions of users worldwide, the music streaming platforms have more than doubled their revenues in five years. According to Statista, the entire market grossed $23.2 billion in 2022, up from $11.7 billion in 2018. This figure is set to grow by another 10% and hit $25.7 billion in 2023. Almost 40% of total revenue, or $10.2 billion, comes from the US, the largest music streaming market. Far below, China, the United Kingdom, and Germany follow, with $3.1 billion, $1.9 billion, and $1.4 billion in revenue, respectively. Statista expects the music streaming revenues to grow by another 18% in the next four years, with the entire market reaching over $30 billion value.
SHED SEVEN SIGNS GLOBAL DEAL WITH COOKING VINYL: Cooking Vinyl has announced the signing of iconic UK indie rock band Shed Seven to a worldwide artist services deal, with new music planned for release in 2023. Shed Seven comprises of Rick Witter, Paul Banks and Tom Gladwin. Formed in 1990, they rose to popularity during the Britpop boom with their most popular songs, including “Chasing Rainbows,” “Going For Gold,” “Getting Better” and “Disco Down,” all reaching the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. In 1996, they had five Top 40 entries, more than any other act that year. The band have released five studio albums to date which includes three Top 10 albums and four Top 40 albums.
FRASER T. SMITH & PPL LAUNCH PRODUCER ACADEMY: UK music industry collective management organization, PPL, producer and songwriter Fraser T. Smith (Adele, Gavin James, Bastille, James Morrison) and the Music Producers Guild have partnered to launch the ‘Fraser T. Smith Future Producer Academy.’ The project will provide financial backing as well as educational opportunities for those underrepresented in the industry. USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism reported earlier this year that 2.8% of all producers were women across a sample of 800 songs and of the 50 women credited, only 13 of them were women of color. Smith is determined to change the issue of underrepresentation in the industry.
Q PRIME JOINS FORCES TO FORM NEW Q PRIME AF DIVISION: Q Prime and manager Aaron Frank are partnering to form a new division called Q Prime AF. Based in Nashville, Aaron Frank and his team are known for managing artists including Greta Van Fleet, Marcus King, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Houndmouth, and All Them Witches. Frank’s agency, AMFM, will merge into Q Prime with offices in New York, London, and Nashville. Q Prime was formed in 1982 by Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein with Def Leppard being its first client. Some of Q Prime’s roster includes Metallica, Muse, Cage The Elephant, Foals, Disturbed and many others.
UK A&R LEGEND PASSES AWAY: Malcolm Dunbar, a successful and respected A&R executive from the UK, has passed away in London on Saturday, May 6, aged 67. His A&R career spanned over 30 years beginning at Polydor in 1984 where he signed Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, Orange Juice and more. Through Dunbar’s career, he held positions as Head of A&R at Island Records, A&R Director at the Warners/East West imprint, and MD of Mother Records. Since 2008, Dunbar worked to pioneer a series of music funds such as Power Amp, Pledge Music, and most recently worked for US company MusicCapital. Many top names have paid tribute to Malcolm Dunbar including Crispin Hunt of Longpigs, Live Nation EMEA President, John Reid, Kill Your Friends author, John Niven, and filmmaker and thriller writer, Alan Parks amongst many others.
ELEKTRA CO-PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN: Mike Easterlin has stepped down from his position as co-President, Elektra Records. Gregg Nadel will continue as the sole president of Elektra, under the 300 Elektra Entertainment umbrella. Easterlin, however, will continue to work with WMG as a consultant for the artist services division, WMX. Easterlin first joined Warner at Lava/Atlantic in 2005 where he served as Sr. Vice President of Promotion. He then went on to serve as President of Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner in 2016. He has worked with artists including twenty one pilots, Tones and I, Panic! At The Disco, and others.
FABER ALT SIGNS FYFE DANGERFIELD: Faber Alt has signed UK musician and songwriter Fyfe Dangerfield. Fyfe Dangerfield was previously known as the founder and lead singer of the band Guillemots and released his first solo album Fly Yellow Moon in 2010. Guillemots scored a Mercury Prize nomination in 2006 with the debut Through The Windowpane and their follow up album Red peaked at No.9. Dangerfield also recently launched a multimedia creative platform called Channels May Change and has been sharing new music including “Shook” and “The Zebra Wind” which premiered on BBC 6 Music.
GAMMA EXPANDS INTO AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST: Gamma has announced its expansion into the emerging markets of Africa and the Middle East. Headed by Larry Jackson, Gamma’s expansion will be led by Sipho Dlamini who has been appointed President, Africa & Middle East. Sipho Dlamini most recently served as CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. He will be joined by international supermodel and UN Commonwealth Ambassador Naomi Campbell who will fill the role of Special Advisor, Africa & Middle East. Operations will be based in Lagos, Nigeria, Dubai, and UAE.
DISTROKID LAUNCHES MOBILE APP: DistroKid has unveiled the first-ever DistroKid mobile app. The new app, initially available for iPhone, puts DistroKid’s powerful suite of tools directly in the hands of artists, enabling them to upload new releases, receive instant payment alerts, access stats from Apple and Spotify, edit metadata, and more–right from their phones. DistroKid has recently introduced other innovations to its platform. Just last month, the company unveiled Mixea, an AI-powered intelligent mastering tool that helps artists instantly make their music “radio ready” by optimizing bass, compression, stereo enhancement, eq, limiting and loudness. Late last year, the company launched DistroVid, a service which enables users to upload music videos to Apple Music, Tidal and Vevo. DistroKid is the first music distributor to offer this kind of deal to artists – unlimited full length music video uploads for one low price. The DistroKid iPhone app is available for download HERE.
SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING SIGN CAM MONTGOMERY: Sony Music Publishing Nashville and Relative Music Group have announced their partnership to sign Cam Montgomery to a global publishing deal. Montgomery has quickly made a name for himself as an in-demand hitmaker across a wide range of genres, penning hit songs for top talent including Kane Brown, Morgan Wallen, 24kGoldn, HARDY, Winona Oak, Nelly, Walker Hayes, Kira Kosarin, Justin Moore and many others. Some of his most recent cuts include Morgan Wallen’s Billboard Hot 100 hit “I Wrote The Book,” as well as HARDY’s “.30-06” featured on his critically acclaimed album The Mockingbird & The Crow, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.
SOUNDCLOUD & MERLIN STRIKE GLOBAL DEAL: SoundCloud and digital music licensing agency Merlin have struck a global licensing deal. The deal will allow Merlin members and artists to participate in SoundCloud’s Fan-Powered Royalties (FPR) model. The Fan-Powered Royalties model distributes a share of each listener’s subscription and advertising revenues solely to the artists and tracks that the individually listen to. Merlin represents a significant share of the global recorded music market. Among its members are independent record labels, distributors, label services companies and other rightsholders including companies such as Amuse, Cinq Music, Foundation Media, IDOL, Secretly, and more. All of these companies will participate in the FPR program.
BROOKE PRIMONT PROMOTED AT CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING: Concord Music Publishing has appointed Brooke Primont as Executive Vice President, Global Sync. Primont joined Concord five years ago as head of the North American publishing sync department. She has spent over 25 years in music publishing and has worked for BMI, Cherry Lane Music Publishing, and Razor & Tie. In her new role, she will report to Jim Selby, Chief Publishing Officer and will be based in New York City. Primont will be responsible for overseeing all publishing sync operations and will manage US UK, Germany, and Australia teams.
LIVE NATION ANNOUNCES ANNUAL CONCERT WEEK: Live Nation has announced the return of Concert Week, offering fans an unbeatable deal: $25 (USD) all-in tickets to more than 3,800 shows across North America this year. The annual week-long program kicks off ahead of a robust 2023 summer concert season, getting fans ready to fill their summer months and the rest of their calendar for the year with epic shows and live music from their favorite artists. The limited-time ticket offer includes over 300 of today’s biggest acts across a wide variety of genres, including: Hip-Hop, Country, Latin, R&B, Metal, Pop, Rock, K-POP, Electronic, Comedy and more. Artists included in Concert Week range from 5 Seconds of Summer, Beck & Phoenix, Bebe Rexha, Big Time Rush, Don Toliver, Fall Out Boy, Janet Jackson, Kountry Wayne, Larry June, Maroon 5, Marca MP, Shania Twain, Snoop Dogg, VALLEY and many more. Concert Week features live events across all venue sizes - from clubs, theaters, to amphitheaters and arenas.
FOUR BMG CLIENTS JOIN UK BILLION-AIRES CLUB: Four BMG clients feature among the first recipients of the new BRIT Billion Award launched by UK record company association the BPI. The award recognizes artists who have achieved one billion career streams in the UK. BMG clients Lewis Capaldi, George Ezra, AJ Tracey, and Rita Ora account for nearly a third of the first 13 names to be announced. They comprise music publishing clients Lewis Capaldi, George Ezra, AJ Tracey, and Rita Ora, who are signed to BMG for records. 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: James Dewar, Adrian Hillekamp, Hiten Bharadia, Sarah Schneider, Rob Inadomi, Mark Gale, John Doelp, Thomas Haimovici, Adam Granite, Sumit Bothra, Rich Christina, Daniel Glass, David Laub and Phyllis Belezos.
JACKASS OF THE WEEK
Have you ever sent a text message you regretted, clicked on the wrong link, posted an inappropriate message or image on social media, accidentally replied “send all” on an E-mail, or made a total ass of yourself? Yes, we’ve all had a jackass moment at one time or another in our lives. People can be funny, unpredictable, reckless, and sometimes just complete jackasses. Click HERE to view actions from people around the world that will most likely leave you speechless and scratching your heads!
Belot, a rising London-based musician, is a passionate devotee of pop music, with a deep and enduring passion for the genre that engrains every aspect of her being. Her acclaimed EP, Harmless Fun, released last year, garnered widespread critical praise, while her live performances, which included sold-out headline shows and support slots with artists such as Cate Canning, Ellie Dixon, Pip Millett and Caity Baser, as well as appearances at prestigious festivals like Made Me Like It and Latitude, drew enthusiastic audiences and accolades. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of musical luminaries, including The Strokes, Phoenix, and Andy Shauf, as well as Flume, Alt J, Metronomy, and Kill The Noise, Belot has an ear for the infectious songs that linger in the memory long after the final note has faded. Her latest single, “Cool Whip,” showcases her impressive talents as a vocalist, and features a vibrant and dynamic soundscape that is sure to captivate audiences and leave them hungry for more. Discover the awkward pop pioneer’s single “Cool Whip” HERE via Submarine Cat Records, and contact becks@republicofmusic.net and also keith@republicofmusic.net, for all inquiries and available opportunities with Belot.
PASSPORT APPROVED™ PLAYLIST – 5/7/2023 
“PASSPORT APPROVED” PLAYLIST FOR Sunday, May 7th, 2023: The weekly
import show. Heard on more than 50 radio stations on six continents weekly including: Flux FM
Berlin, Germany; NINETYSIX Radio (Indonesia); JioSaavn
(India); Radio Doble Nueve, Lima, Peru; WZRH–FM New Orleans, LA;
KWSS “93.9FM”; Phoenix, AZ; KRML “102.1FM”; Carmel,
CA; KFRR “New Rock 104.1FM”; Fresno, CA; Radio 1,
Mumbai, India; WCNR Charlottesville, VA; KIWR “The
River”; Council Bluffs, IA; 2XM Ireland (national radio);
96.2 ZFM The Netherlands; WAPS–FM “The Summit.FM”;
Akron–Canton, OH; WKTL–FM Youngstown, OH; 105.5FM XFM
Nairobi, Kenya; PUK–FM Johannesburg, South Africa; Rock
96.5FM Zambia; 897 FM Bratislava, Slovakia; WITH
“90.1FM”; Ithaca, NY; UCFM 87.8FM Australian Capital Territory,
Australia; WRUR 88.5FM Rochester, NY; WCRU–FM Hamilton,
NY; KZND Anchorage, AK; KQCJ Quad Cities, IL;
Allgauhit–FM Bavaria Germany; Indie Xfm Los Angeles and on
The Independent FM (iHeartRadio) in the United States, as well as many
others internationally.
Listen to this two hour show by clicking HERE: NOTHING BUT THIEVES – “Welcome To DCC” (AWAL, UK) |
