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Artist News Business News Deals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases
One Liners: Stonebwoy, Qobuz, Mykki Blanco
By Andy Malt and Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 5 May 2022
DEALS
Not one, not two, but three whole Def Jam labels have joined together to sign Ghanaian afropop, dancehall and reggae musician Stonebwoy to a global deal. That’s Def Jam Recordings in the US, 0207 Def Jam in the UK, and Def Jam Africa, in case you wondered. “Stonebwoy is a true African talent”, says Sipho Dlamini, CEO of Def Jam owner Universal Music in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. “He works to lift the heart and spirit of those around him, whilst producing fresh sounds that keep blowing the world away. We look forward to what 2022 has in store for him”.
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APPOINTMENTS
UK collecting society PRS For Music has hired Rupinder Virdee as Head Of PR, Marketing & Digital, reporting into Director Of Communications & Public Affairs John Mottram. She will be, says the society, “pivotal to [our] future plans and implementation of strategic marketing and communications that advance awareness of one of the world’s leading music collective management organisations”.
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DIGITAL & D2F SERVICES
High quality audio digital music platform Qobuz has expanded into six new countries: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Portugal. It means the service is now available in 25 countries in total.
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MEDIA
The first trailer for Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols TV drama ‘Pistol’ is out now, if you’re into watching people try very hard to do voices.
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RELEASES
Mykki Blanco has released new single ‘Your Love Was A Gift’, featuring Diana Gordon and Sam Buck. “If not the most honest, it’s the most beautiful song I’ve ever written”, says Blanco. “The idea for the song comes from my own wins and losses in the game of love and it’s a story of coming of age as much as coming to terms in adulthood with feeling unloved, yearning to be loved and yearning to be understood”.
Balming Tiger’s Omega Sapien has released new track ‘Jenny’. He’ll release new single, ‘Wuga’, on 25 May.
Crows have released new single ‘Closer Still’. The band’s James Cox says the song “was written about the fit-for-work scandals that kept happening where the [UK] Department For Work & Pensions were deeming people fit for work when they obviously weren’t able to, taking away what little support they received from the state in an attempt to save on expenditure. It really highlighted our government’s contempt for the vulnerable. People whose daily lives were incredibly difficult”.
Elf Power have released the title track of their upcoming new album, ‘Artificial Countrysides’, which is out on 15 Jul. “The title track lyrically addresses the songwriting process, and the creation of miniature worlds within songs, propelled by a frantically fingerpicked acoustic guitar line that imagines what acoustic guitar virtuoso John Fahey might sound like if he played with a rock band”, says the band’s Andrew Rieger.
Avawaves have released their soundtrack to new documentary ‘Savage Waters’, about efforts to find and surf a particularly big wave in the Atlantic Ocean. “This is a truly cinematic documentary centred around the sea, so there was a natural affinity between our music and the film”, say the duo. “We felt immediately connected to the narrative and intention behind this film – the story of obsession with the sea, these epic journeys, and experiences”.
Marina Herlop has released new single ‘Abans Abans’, from her upcoming album ‘Pripyat’.
On Man has released new single ‘Memento Mori’, featuring Tailor. He’s also announced that he will release his eponymous debut album on 15 Jul. The new track started life “as a kind of bittersweet, romantic song about coming to terms with a break-up”, he says. “But, when my mum unexpectedly died, I revisited the lyrics and, although the words were the same, it now had this parallel narrative for me: How might [have I] felt had I known she was going to die? Would I have made more of an effort to make amends in the remaining time we had?”
Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.
