DEALS
🐻
Warner Music has taken a minority stake in Croatian indie label Dancing Bear. “This investment by Warner Music is a vote of confidence in the future of music from the West Balkans”, says co-founder Silvije Varga. “We look forward to working together to take music from our existing roster to the wider world and to uncover the next generation of local talent”.
💪
Miley Cyrus has signed a new deal with CAA, re-joining the talent agency after four years with WME.
🎤
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz rap battle platform has signed a new distribution deal with X. The producers regained ownership of Verzuz earlier this year, following a deal with TikTok rival Triller in 2022 that quickly turned sour. “We are beyond THRILLED to have found the best partner for Verzuz”, says Swizz Beatz. “Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world”.
APPOINTMENTS
👕
Universal Music’s merch and brand management company Bravado has announced a new leadership structure. Among a raft of new hires and promotions, Colin McIntosh has come on board as Chief Financial Officer, Ashley Fogerty now heads up Business Affairs, Bill Ashton becomes SVP Commerce, Brian Schechter leads Brand Management, Keith Taperell oversees licensing, and Stacie Swanson becomes VP Artist Strategy.
💡
Digital creative agency F That has promoted Stella Foster to Head Of Creative Operations and Shannon Conway to Senior Animator & Designer. Meanwhile, Charlie Croft has joined as a Senior Project Manager. “I’m very happy to have recently promoted Stella and Shannon who are vital to the agency’s success”, says founder Matt Pilcher. “It’s also great to welcome Charlie to the team. Celebrating our fifth anniversary feels like the start of an exciting new chapter. We’ve elevated our capabilities in nearly every aspect over the past few months and I'm eager to see how far we can go in the next five years”.
LEGAL
🤖
The three major music companies are considering legal action against recently buzzy music AI start-ups Suno and Udio over allegations they trained their respective models using unlicensed music, according to Billboard. There are now numerous lawsuits accusing AI companies of copyright infringement, the outcome of which will clarify the legal obligations of businesses using existing content to train generative AI. Most of the lawsuits to date have related to images and the written word, with the one big music case already filed centring on lyrics. As a result, any lawsuits against Suno and Udio focused on the alleged infringement of sound recording copyrights will be very interesting to follow.
LIVE BUSINESS
🚀
Live music company DEAG has spun off its hip-hop booking division, launching new company District Live. “With District Live, we are deliberately creating a brand that gives urban/hip-hop acts a strong representation and optimal staging”, says MD Alex Handwerker.
MEDIA
🍳
Greg James’s Radio 1 Breakfast Show has been extended by half an hour as part of the station’s summer schedule. “Being on the radio is pretty much my entire personality so why not do an extra half hour a day for all those who can’t be bothered waking up early for the Breakfast Show in the summer holidays”, he says.
🌈
Heart has become the official radio partner of Manchester Pride and Leeds Pride. It already has similar agreements with Pride in London and Brighton & Hove.
RELEASES
🫶
Coldplay have released new single ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’.
📺
Ariana Grande has released a remix of her cover of ‘The Boy Is Mine’ featuring Brandy and Monica.
💚
Charli XCX has released a new version of ‘Girl, So Confusing’ featuring Lorde. The original version features on her latest album ‘Brat’.
🍾
Headie One has released new single ‘Tipsy’ featuring Aitch. His new album ‘The Last One’ is out next week.
🤪
Yungblud has released new single ‘Breakdown’.
🖤
Blackpink will screen concert film ‘Born Pink’ in cinemas on 31 Jul. Tickets go on sale on 28 Jun. Find your nearest screening here.
🌞
Rudimental have released new single ‘Bring Me Joy’ featuring Karen Harding.
💋
Mura Masa has released new single ‘We Are Making Out’ featuring Yeule.
🌀
Griff has released new single ‘Anything’. Her debut album ‘Vertigo’ is out on 19 Jul.
🌬️
Jayda G has released new single ‘If We Only Knew’. The track is taken from her new documentary ‘Blue Carbon’.
🫀
Efterklang will release their latest album ‘Things We Have In Common’ on 17 Sep. Out now is new single ‘Animated Heart’ featuring the South Denmark Girls’ Choir. They’ve also announced a live show at the Barbican in London on 5 Oct.
🥀
Zeal & Ardor have released new single ‘Fend You Off’. New album ‘Grief’ is out on 23 Aug and the band will play London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 22 Sep.
Listen to all the new music we covered this week on our Brand New On CMU playlist on Spotify.