LILLY RAYE EXPANDS DEAL WITH WARNER CHAPPELL: Warner Chappell Music (WCM) and Lilly Raye Music, the management company and publisher founded by Edward Matthew, have announced a significant expansion of their joint venture. Lilly Raye Music is based in Stockholm and has worked with WCM to support collaborations between creatives across the Nordics, the UK and the US. Now the companies have signed a creative strategic partnership with Parx Publishing, owned by Tayla Parx, who is also signed as a songwriter to WCM in the US. Parx Publishing and the JV have already jointly signed four exciting writers – Albin Tengblad, Emelie Walcott, Gustav Landell and Oliver Frid. In a separate move, the JV has struck a deal with Tommy Brown, the founder of Champagne Therapy Music Group, that will see them jointly develop writers’ careers. The first signing to their joint roster is Pontus Kalm, a writer, singer, mastering engineer and producer who releases his own music as part of the duo GAMMAL and has also worked with artists and writers such as A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Afrojack, BTS, ITZY, LE SSERAFIM, NCT 127 and TXT. Writers and producers signed by the JV have already worked on No.1 albums in the US, UK and Sweden, including Ariana Grande’s Positions and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (The Moonlight Edition). The JV is also pleased to announce a new deal with Straynané, one of the most celebrated producers in Swedish hip-hop. Read more HERE.

BMG ACQUIRES CATALOG OF THE POINTER SISTERS:  BMG has acquired catalog rights of The Pointer Sisters including artists royalties for albums that were released on Planet and RCA and U.S. publishing rights for “I’m So Excited.” Included in the deal are The Pointer Sisters’ original masters to nine albums that were released between 1978 and 1988 with hits such as their 1983 multi-platinum record Break Out. Additionally, BMG now has 100% publishing royalties for “I’m So Excited” as well as 100% of the master copyrights for the re-records and certain neighboring rights. The deal was finalized in late 2022, but was not acted upon until recently in regards to the death of Anita Pointer on December 31. BMG has declined to disclose the terms of the deal.

STARGATE ENTER INTO CREATIVE JV WITH PULSE MUSIC: PULSE Music Group has entered a creative joint venture with production and songwriting duo Stargate. The announcement came from PULSE Music Group co-CEO’s Josh Abraham and Scott Cutler and President/Head of Creative of PULSE Music Group, Ashley Calhoun. Stargate is comprised of Mikkel Eriksen and Tor E. Hermanson. The award-winning Norwegian duo has produced or written for artists such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Janet Jackson, and many others.

INDIA’S TIPS MUSIC INKS DEAL WITH SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING: Sony Music Publishing has signed a global publishing agreement with Tips Music. Tips Music is an India-based music company that is part of Tips Industries Ltd., founded by Kumar Taurani and Ramesh Taurani in 1990. The company has a catalog that consists of Bollywood films such as Taal, Race, Pardes, Genius, Dil Hai Tumhara, and more. The new deal will see that Sony Music Publishing administers and promotes Tip Music’s catalog that consists of over 30,000 tracks and 5,500 albums. The partnership occurs as the demand for music and other opportunities from India continues to skyrocket.

VARIOUS ARTISTS MANAGEMENT NAME SENIOR MANAGER: Various Artists Management whose roster of clients includes, Ashnikko, Tom Grennan, Melanie C, La Roux, Sad Night Dynamite, Yonaka, The Libertines, Supergrass, Cassyette and others has announced the appointment of Kirsty McDonagh as Senior Manager. Kirsty, whose appointment is effective immediately, will be based in London and will report directly to CEO David Bianchi and UK Managing Director John Dawkins. Kirsty joins Various Artists from Insanity Group where she has spent the previous eight years working across live, music management and broadcast, overseeing talent such as Maya Jama, Remi Burgz and Ki & Dee alongside songwriters/producers including Kingdoms (Ed Sheeran, Ghetts, Oliver Heldens, Sigala) and Rndmbeats (Aitch, Black Sheriff, Nxdia). In her new role she will be working day to day with Tom Grennan, Melanie C, Caseyette, Kingdoms, Rndmbeats and Liv Dawson.

RYAN WESLEY SMITH JOINS TRIBL RECORDS AS A&R EXECUTIVE: TRIBL Records has announced a new joint venture deal with Big Future Music (BFM). Ryan Wesley Smith, President & CEO, BFM will be joining the TRIBL team as an A&R executive and will be assisting with both their current roster and new talent. Smith moved to Nashville in 2014 to pursue a career in the music business. Since then, he’s been a part of the development and marketing of dozens of artists and their musical releases, which have collectively amassed over 100 million-plus in consumption. Smith has remained busy serving artists and teams throughout the industry–including artists Chris Tomlin, TobyMac, I AM THEY, Matthew West, for KING & COUNTRY, and teams at Awakening Events, Story House Collective, and labels Capitol Records, Curb|Word Entertainment, among others.

PPL MOMENTUM MUSIC FUND GENERATES OVER £22 MILLION: PRS Foundation has revealed the findings of an independent evaluation of the impacts of 10 years of its PPL Momentum Music Fund. Launched in 2013 and announced to the public at The Great Escape, the PPL Momentum Music Fund is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with PPL, Creative Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland and Spotify. The fund provides career-boosting grants of between £5,000-£15,000 to acts at a pivotal time in their creative and business development. In its ten years it has established a strong reputation for funding, supporting, and spotlighting emerging talent at crucial tipping points in their careers. Artists based anywhere in the UK working in any style of contemporary popular music can apply for funding to support activities including recording, touring and marketing. The report outlines the impact of the PPL Momentum Music Fund on the UK economy, the opportunities provided to more diverse artists and how it can help them sustain successful careers in music.

GOTH BABE SIGNS TO MOM+POP: Goth Babe has signed to Mom+Pop. Founded by former Tennessean Griff Washburn, Goth Babe is Griff just enjoying himself. The outdoors and conservation have played an important part in Goth Babe’s life and career as a musician, and one of the causes he holds near and dear is Conservation Lands Foundation, an organization that protects public and native lands in America. Last year he launched a vinyl and merch to donate to the organization. For this year he started a petition asking fans to help protect the public and native lands of Avi Kwa Ame aka Spirit Mountain in southern Nevada (506K acres). Goth Babe is also an ambassador for POW (Protect Our Winters) and he just partnered with Propeller to raise money for POW by offering a flyaway to his sold-out headline Red Rocks show in Colorado and raised over $11,000.00 (USD).

POSITION MUSIC CELEBRATES 24 YEARS: On Thursday, May 4th, Position Music invited A&R Worldwide along with over 650 clients, artists, songwriters, producers, managers, and partners to celebrate the company’s 24th anniversary. The party was held at Position Music’s Burbank, CA offices with guests such as Ryan Oakes, Kid Bloom, Sam Tinnesz, No Love for the Middle Child, Dru “Falconry” DeCaro, John “Feldy” Feldmann, John and Stephen Gomez, Brandyn Burnette, Evalyn, Harmony “H-Money” Samuels, JV, KoKo, Kyle Reynolds, and more. The rapidly growing independent publisher and record label had much to celebrate for its first official party since the pandemic. In the past year, Position Music has entered deals with Big Noise Music via John “Feldy” Feldmann’s publishing and Tommy “TB Hits” Brown by way of a joint venture with writer/producer Yonatan Watts. In April, Position Music announced that it sold a minority stake to Vesper Company–unlocking strategically aligned capital and active support from the investment firm. Founder and President Tyler Bacon also recently announced Mark Chipello (Partner, Head of A&R), Emily Weber (Partner, Head of Synch), and Jake Versluis (Partner, A&R and Gaming), as official partners of Position Music. Last year, the company made key hires on the A&R team including Sam Sklar (previously of Warner Chappell Music Publishing) and Delmar Powell (previously of Downtown Music Publishing). Position Music plans to celebrate their 25th anniversary in similar fashion around the same time of year in 2024.

FRESHSOUND ANNOUNCES €2M SEED FUNDING ROUND: Freshsound, the self-serve licensing platform for commercially released music, has closed a seed funding round of €2 million (Euros). The investment round will support Freshsound through its next phase as it aims for market leadership in commercial music licensing, aiming to lead the way to more impactful commercials, branded content, films, TV and games. The investment round comes less than one year after the previous pre-seed fund round that raised €1.3 million. The €2 million investment round has been led by Zenith Venture Capital and Aligned, supported by a range of investors with expertise in music, innovation, product development and sales. These include Kristina Tunkrans (former lawyer and copyright expert), Erik Segerborg (investor and former Executive at Hemnet and Avito), Gustav Nordlindh (Founder & CEO at Royal Streaming), William Olsson (movie producer and director) and Shiv Prakash (previous Vice President of the Investment Team at Hipgnosis Song Management). The seed funding round will support the company as it seeks to go international, while continuing to grow in the Nordic market. It also aims to increase awareness of the platform’s capabilities for licensing music for any kind of production.

BEN PLATT PARTNERS WITH INTERSCOPE RECORDS: Interscope Records has announced that it has signed Tony, Grammy and Emmy award winning artist Ben Platt. Nominated for a Tony Award this year for his performance as Leo Frank in the hit Broadway revival of Parade, a musical which has been nominated for six Tony’s in all, Platt is currently working on new music which upon its completion will be released via Interscope Records. As part of the deal, Platt will have the ability to sign and develop artists on his own imprint. Platt has released two albums previously – 2019’s Sing To Me and 2021’s Reverie. He completed a hugely successful solo tour last year which saw him headlining sellout crowds at such important venues as The Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden and others.

COMMITTEES ON A.I. ADOPT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT POSITION: The ITRE and LIBE, the leading Committees on A.I. Act have adopted the European Parliament’s position for the trialogue negotiations with the Council and the European Commission. Considering the latest developments in the “Generative A.I.” technologies and foundation models that deeply impact the society and raise serious threats on fundamental rights and European values, MEPs rightly decided in the adopted report to include certain obligations on the development and operation of such technologies in the scope of this much needed European A.I. regulation. In particular, the adopted report is requesting generative AI technologies and foundation models to comply with the Union law and to provide transparency on their training data, which might include copyright protected works, when they generate content such as complex text, images, audio or video. The report is still to be approved in plenary.

Pictured (L-R) are Seeker Music Head of Creative Steven Melrose, Charlotte Caffey, Seeker Music CEO Evan Bogart, and independent music consultant Michael Rosenblatt.

SEEKER MUSIC ACQUIRES CHARLOTTE CAFFEY’S CATALOG: Seeker Music has acquired Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Charlotte Caffey’s masters and publishing catalog. As lead guitarist, keyboardist and a primary songwriter for The Go-Go’s, Caffey is responsible for some of the group’s greatest hits, including the band’s signature song, “We Got the Beat,” for which she was the sole songwriter. To this day, The Go-Go’s double-Platinum debut album, Beauty and the Beat (which took off due to the success of “We Got the Beat”) remains the first and only No.1 album written and recorded by an all-female group. Since its release in 1981, Caffey’s legendary hit has gone on to become The Go-Go’s biggest and most-covered track, one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll,” and closed The Go-Go’s set when they were inducted into the Rock Hall as its first-ever all-female rock band inductees in 2021. Other groundbreaking Caffey-penned hits in The Go-Gos’ discography include “Head Over Heels,” “Vacation,” “How Much More,” and “Turn To You.”

BDI MUSIC SIGNS BEN LYTHE TO GLOBAL PUBLISHING DEAL: BDi Music has signed multi-instrumentalist, music director, composer, producer and songwriter Ben Lythe to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal. Once a signed artist and touring/session musician, Lythe has now established himself as a go-to songwriter and producer, working with various artists from his recording studio in Southwest London. Lythe’s collaborations have amassed millions of streams and significant radio play. Recent releases have featured on a number of Spotify’s editorial playlists, including New Music Friday UK, New Pop UK, Fresh Finds Pop (No.2), and SALT (No.3), as well as earning frequent plays on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio Wales. Lythe had two hits on BBC Radio 1 with CATTY – “Maybe All The Rumours Are True” and “Deep End”. He has become a writer and producer of choice for pop artists including Grace Davies, CATTY, Ellysse Mason, Áine Deane, Darla Jade, Janet Devlin, SACHA, Beth McCarthy, Matthew Hall, Lucy Deakin, VLERA, Fleur Rouge and more. As well as writing and producing for artists, Lythe’s vocals have featured on various dance tracks, most notably Justin Mylo’s single “I Remember”, which was co-written by Lythe, released on STMPD Records and has surpassed a million streams on Apple Music and Spotify. Lythe has also created various tracks for Netflix, BBC, ITV and more.

UMG N.V. ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF ITS 2023 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS MEETING: Universal Music Group N.V. has announced the results of its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (“AGM”) held earlier today. The following resolutions on the AGM agenda were adopted with a majority of the votes cast, including, among others: a positive advisory vote on the 2022 remuneration report; the adoption of the 2022 financial statements; the re-appointment of Sir Lucian Grainge as Executive Director; the approval of a supplement to the Executive Directors Remuneration Policy in respect of Sir Lucian Grainge; the re-appointment of Sherry Lansing and Luc van Os as Non-Executive Directors; the appointment of Haim Saban as Non-Executive Director; and the appointment of Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as external auditor for the financial years from 2023 up to and including 2025. Further details of the AGM, including the voting results, are available here.

ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT STRENGTHENS LEADERSHIP TEAM: Elektra Entertainment has unveiled a series of promotions, strengthening the label group’s first-rate leadership team. Effective immediately, Chris Brown has been upped to Executive VP, Elektra Entertainment and Co-Head of Roadrunner Records while Katie Robinson has been named Head of Marketing, overseeing campaigns for the entire Elektra Entertainment roster. Rounding out the trio of promotions is Johnny Minardi who has been promoted to Head of Fueled by Ramen and Co-Head of Roadrunner Records. Minardi – who has also been elevated to Sr. Vice President of A&R, Elektra Entertainment – will look after Fueled by Ramen’s roster of alternative powerhouses like Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, and twenty one pilots, and, alongside Brown, Roadrunner’s award-winning hard rock acts such as Turnstile, Gojira, and Slipknot. Robinson and Minardi will remain based in Los Angeles and Brown in New York, all reporting to Elektra Entertainment’s President Gregg Nadel.

BMG/BBR MUSIC GROUP TAPS NEW GM: Peter Strickland has been appointed as General Manager at BMG/BBR Music Group. Strickland has held several executive roles at Warner Music Nashville and created two successful comedy imprints. Strickland has been with the label for almost two years and now in his new role, he will oversee the financial and daily operations of the company, streamline distribution channels and physical product sales, and spearhead the label’s comedy initiatives. He will report directly to President of BMG Nashville Jon Loba.

MOON PROJECTS FOUNDER JOINS SONGFLUENCER AS STRATEGIC ADVISOR: Mary Rahmani has been appointed as Strategic Advisor at Songfluencer agency. Rahmani is the founder of Moon Projects and former director of music content and artist partnerships at TikTok. At Songfluencer, Mary Rahmani will provide insights and guidance to the teams as they continue to expand their business. Songfluencer is a social media marketing agency for the music industry under the parent company Genni & Co. Genni & Co is a technology driven ecosystem designed to leverage opportunities with digital creators and social media platforms.

HAIM SABAN APPOINTED NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT UMG: Universal Music Group has appointed Haim Saban as a Non-Executive Director. Saban, who is the Chairman and CEO of Saban Capital LLC, was elected to the role at UMG’s AGM on Thursday May 11. Saban’s entertainment career has spanned over four decades. In 2019, Saban Capital Group invested half a billion dollars into a new music venture called Saban Music Group. Saban Music Group signed a global distribution and marketing agreement with Universal Music Group in January 2020.

AMR SONGS PARTNERS WITH COUNTRY STAR KIMBERLY PERRY: AMR Songs, a full-service, global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company founded by music industry veteran Tamara Conniff, has partnered with country superstar Kimberly Perry and acquired her songwriting interests in the No.1 multi-Platinum hit, “If I Die Young,” which won The Band Perry the CMA “Single of the Year” and Song of the Year in 2011. As she embarks on her solo career, on May 5 Perry released her first new single, “If I Die Young Pt. 2” (RECORDS Nashville/Columbia), which uniquely interpolates the original song that became a perennial hit that continues to impact. Nearly 13 years since its release, “If I Die Young” averages up to 1 million streams per week across all platforms. Perry was the only writer of “If I Die Young,” but teamed up with chart-topping songwriters Nicolle Galyon and Jimmy Robbins to co-write “If I Die Young Pt.2” for her new album. The song lyrics tell another romantic and poignant story from the same girl, only with a different perspective and trajectory.