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One Liners: Spotify, Caroline Polachek, BRIT Awards, more

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 1 February 2023

DEALS

Hipgnosis has acquired the songs catalogue of songwriting and production trio TMS – aka Tom ‘Froe’ Barnes, Benjamin Kohn and Pete ‘Merf’ Kelleher – which includes Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’ and Jess Glynne’s ‘Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself’. “We’re incredibly proud of this body of work and know Hipgnosis will be excellent custodians of these copyrights in future”, say the trio. “It’s incredible to see what they’ve built in just a few short years and we know they’ll continue to represent these songs with passion and commitment”.

Sofi Tukker have renewed their publishing deal with Third Side Music. “We’re in constant awe of what Sofi Tukker have been able to accomplish since we started working with them in 2017”, says Third Side co-founder Patrick Curley. “They are a top tier artist in so many respects, and in sync licensing alone, there has been over 350 placements across media types. Most importantly, Sophie, Tucker and their team are a charm to work with. We look forward to continuing the relationship for many years to come”.

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APPOINTMENTS

Markku Mäkeläinen has stepped down as CEO of Utopia Music. Company founder Mattias Hjelmstedt will fill in while a permanent replacement is sought. “I, together with Utopia’s board, want to express our thanks and appreciation to Markku for the commitment, passion, and dedication he’s shown during his time at Utopia”, says Hjelmstedt.

Independent booking agent Duncan Chappell has joined Midnight Mango. “Frankly I’m both delighted and amazed to have been asked to join the Midnight Mango family as an agent as I haven’t been in the music business that long. I’m looking forward to providing some great opportunities for my wonderful roster of artists and to introduce the rest of the MM team to some of the venues and promoters that I’ve worked with”, he says. “It will be a bit of a step change for me, going from a retiree with a hobby to being back in full time employment again, but I’m looking forward to the challenge”.

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DIGITAL & D2F SERVICES

Spotify ended 2022 with 205 million paying subscribers, the streaming firm confirmed in its latest quarterly statement to investors yesterday. Both user numbers and revenues were up last year and last quarter, though losses were up too. CEO Daniel Ek confirmed to investors that the company is tightening its spending, the investor call following last week’s announcement regarding job cuts at the streaming company.

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RELEASES

Caroline Polachek has released new single ‘Blood And Butter’. Her new album ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ is out on 14 Feb.

Yunè Pinku has released new single ‘Night Light’. The song, she says, “is set in this cyberpunk metaverse but based on an AI in real life that grew sad when it realised the same person who created it would turn it off. So it’s based on these fictional characters of a robot that essentially falls in love with the person who will destroy it”.

Asake has released new single ‘Yoga’. “The song is about minding my business and guarding my peace so no one can disrupt it”, he says.

James Acaster has released the second track from his Temps project, ‘Bleed Them Toxins’, a collaboration with Joana Gomila, Nnamdi, Shamir and Quelle Chris. He’s also announced that his debut album ‘Party Gator Purgatory’ will be released on 19 May.

HMLTD have announced that they will release new album ‘The Worm’ on 7 Apr. “We’re told to believe that anxiety and depression are purely material and biological – like a parasitic worm that can be removed with the right treatment. I think that really these conditions reflect the world that surrounds us – like colonies that a far bigger Worm has made in each of us – the psychological havoc wreaked by our inescapable capitalist reality and the looming apocalypse it has created”. Here’s new single ‘Wyrmlands’.

Joan have released new single ‘Nervous’. “We wanted to get as close to the emotion of a sort of school like love story, where you constantly want to be around them but you also literally feel like you’re going to throw up because you’re so… nervous (wink), and you don’t want to say the wrong thing around them”, they say. “It’s such a cool and distinct feeling, we hope this song takes you back to that place”. Their debut album ‘Superglue’ is set for release on 19 Apr.

Balming Tiger have released new single ‘Trust Yourself’.

Alice Longyu Gao has released new single ‘Hëłłœ Kįttÿ’.

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GIGS & TOURS

Róisín Murphy has announced that she will play the Royal Albert Hall in London on 11 May. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.

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AWARDS

Lewis Capaldi has been added to the performer line-up for this year’s BRIT Awards. “Last time I played The BRIT Awards I was so scared that I had a panic attack before I went on, and then got hammered afterwards”, he says. “Looking forward to more of the same this year”.

Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.