DEALS
Arlo has signed to Sony's US-based Arista Records label. "Arlo is an incredible talent, and his approach to his artistry is innovative and original", says Arista CEO David Massey. "We are so happy to have Arlo join the Arista family".
APPOINTMENTS
New US mechanical rights collecting society The MLC has hired three new execs. Kristen Johns joins as Chief Legal Officer, Nathan Osher as Assistant General Counsel - Publisher Relations and Andrew Mitchell as Head Of Analytics And Automation. "I am THRILLED to welcome Kristen, Nathan and Andrew to The MLC's growing team", says CEO Kris Ahrend. "Each of them possesses many years of experience in their respective areas of expertise, which will enable them to begin contributing immediately to the important work we are doing".
BRANDS & MERCH
The BRIT Awards has confirmed its headline sponsor for 2021. And it will be... ... ... ... Mastercard! Yes, Mastercard is on board for the 23rd year running. Why mess with a winning formula? Amazon Music is also back as digital music partner for the second year. TikTok is back for a second year too, and will this year sponsor the Breakthrough Artist award. BRITs boss Geoff Taylor says everyone's "THRILLED" about all of this.
RELEASES
Nils Frahm has released a 'lost' album, titled 'Graz', to mark this year's Piano Day (which was yesterday). Originally recorded in 2009, the collection of grand piano recordings was shelved in order to focus on the more intimate recordings that eventually featured on his 2011 album 'Felt'.
Daði Freyr has released the video for his new single 'Ten Years', aka Iceland's 2021 Eurovision entry.
Willy Mason has announced that he will release his first album for ten years, titled 'Already Dead', on 6 Aug. Here's new single 'Youth On A Spit'. He's also announced UK tour dates in November.