DEALS
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Enter Shikari has renewed their shirt sponsorship with St Albans City FC for the upcoming football season. The band and club have unveiled the teamâs new Away strip, manufactured by Hummel using ECO8 technology which utilises recycled plastic bottles. The shirts are available for pre-order now and set for release in early August. Alongside the shirt, Enter Shikari has announced a collaborative merchandise range with St Albans City FC, designed by Spearhead which includes t-shirts and hoodies. Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari says, âWeâre proud to continue our support for St Albans City FC and to offer fans this unique collaborationâ.
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Apple has announced an upcoming immersive concert experience featuring The Weeknd, set to debut exclusively on Apple Vision Pro later this year. The performance is captured using Appleâs new Immersive Video format which utilises 3D video recorded in 8K with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio. The Weekndâs concert is one of several music, sports and entertainment offerings planned for the platform, which launched in select markets earlier this year.
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Warner Chappell Music and 300 Publishing, both part of the Warner Music Group, have launched a joint venture to sign and develop songwriters. Led by 300 Publishing VP Jenn Essiembre, the partnership has already signed Sean Momberger, co-producer of recent number one hits for Kendrick Lamar and Jack Harlow. WCM CEO Guy Moot and COO Carianne Marshall, say, âWe've been impressed with 300 and the work [they] are doing to support artists and champion their music in bold new ways. We share a similar mindset at Warner Chappell and believe in doing things differently and carving our own pathâ. 300 Elektra Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles adds, âKeeping it in the WMG family and partnering with the world-class WCM led by Guy and Carianne was an obvious choice for us. Theyâre the best in the business and together weâll expand our ability to deliver for our writers and producersâ.
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TikTok and DistroKid have launched a platform integration allowing DistroKid members to create official TikTok Artist Accounts directly from their dashboard. Phil Bauer, President of DistroKid, says that the process has been reduced âfrom weeks to just hoursâ. This collaboration expands on previous partnerships, including making DistroKid membersâ music available via TikTokâs Commercial Music Library for advertising, on the standalone TikTok Music streaming service and available within ByteDanceâs popular CapCut video editing tool.
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Armada Music has announced a partnership with production duo Deep Dish, acquiring management rights to a portion of their catalogue, specifically the critically acclaimed 2005 album âGeorge Is Onâ. The agreement will see Armada reintroduce the album to digital streaming platforms and download portals worldwide on 19 Jul after its absence for several years. Maykel Piron, CEO of Armada Music Group, states, âWe are ecstatic to partner with Deep Dish and bring âGeorge Is Onâ back to digital platformsâ. The reissue will include the original fourteen tracks, nine extended bonus tracks and newly packaged EPs of the albumâs four singles with remixes.
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Reservoir Media has signed a new publishing deal with singer-songwriter Wrabel, covering his future works. Known for collaborations with artists like Kesha, P!nk and Kygo, his own artist project has also seen success, including the 2014 hit âTen Feet Tallâ with Afrojack and âThe Villageâ, a 2017 song released in support of trans rights. Reservoir's Executive Vice President, Global Creative Director Donna Caseine says âWe are beyond excited for our future with Wrabel. He is an inspiring and versatile songwriter and artist with a rare ability to write meaningful songs and infectious earworms for both himself and a wide range of his contemporariesâ. Wrabel adds, âI am THRILLED to join forces with Reservoir. I have had so much respect and admiration for Donna for many years and it really is a dream come true to get to work together with her and the amazing Reservoir teamâ.
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NetEase Cloud Music has announced a partnership with Timbaland-founded Beatclub to bring âhundreds of signature, premium beatsâ to NetEase-owned Beatsoul, China's largest beats marketplace. The deal expands resources for Chinese artists and producers on the platform, which allows creators to upload and sell beats with full control over licensing and pricing. Timbaland says, âI'm excited for artists and producers in China to have access to my beats and Beatclubâs producers beatsâ. Beatsoul has facilitated a number of viral hits including Zyâs âFeng Shi Guo De Sheng Yin Shiâ, which garnered over 500 million streams on NetEase Cloud Music.
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Richard Marx has signed with Word Collections for global publishing administration. Marx, whose career spans four decades with fourteen top 20 hits, joins a roster that includes TLC, Metallica and Jason Mraz, as well as the estates of comedians Robin Williams and George Carlin. Founded in 2020 by Jeff Price, best known for founding TuneCore, Word Collections says it aims to provide faster, more efficient payments to creators across music and spoken word.
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Cloud-based music workspace Bridge.audio has secured a âŹ3 million funding round to further develop its AI-powered sync discovery platform. Founder and CEO ClĂ©ment Souchier announced the investment from Bpifrance, LeanSquare and angel investors, which will support the companyâs âSync Hubâ marketplace launched in January. Souchier says, âThe precision of our descriptive AI allows for improved music âdiscoverabilityâ. Rightsholders can facilitate the discovery of their works and buyers and influencers can more easily discover tracks and talentsâ. Bridge.audio, which claims over 30,000 users, aims to optimise music licensing for audiovisual projects through natural language searches and AI-powered tagging technology.
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Shamrock Capital Advisors has acquired a substantial portfolio of film, TV and music rights from Vine Alternative Investments Group, including the catalogue of Calvin Harris. The deal, one of Shamrockâs largest content acquisitions to date, encompasses rights to over 550 feature films, 2000+ hours of TV shows and 450 songs. Notably, the Harris catalogue, which Vine purchased in October 2020 for a reported $105 million, includes more than 150 songs featuring collaborations with stars like Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Ariana Grande. Shamrock Partner Patrick Russo says, âIt's the largest single transaction that weâve done in the content strategyâ. The deal also involves a servicing arrangement with newly formed HighPoint Media Advisors, started by former Vine Partners Bill Lambert and Stephen Kovach, who will provide consulting services for the acquired portfolio.
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Songwriters Guy Chambers and Amy Wadge have been tapped to create original music and songs for the upcoming animated musical âThe Night Before Christmas In Wonderlandâ, which is being produced by Lupus Films and Universal Pictures. Chambers, known for his collaborations with Robbie Williams, and Wadge, a Grammy winner for co-writing Ed Sheeranâs âThinking Out Loudâ, will bring their talents to this adaptation of Carys Bexingtonâs bestselling book. Directed by Peter Baynton and featuring voices from Emilia Clarke, Gerard Butler and Simone Ashley, the film blends Lewis Carroll's âAlice in Wonderlandâ with the classic Christmas poem.
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The Prodigy is reportedly planning to launch their own line of alcoholic beverages, according to The Sun. The band has filed a âword markâ trademark application for âThe Prodigyâ with the UK Intellectual Property Office across multiple classes, including 9, 25, 32, 33, and 41. Notably, classes 32 and 33 exclusively relate to drinks, with class 32 covering non-alcoholic beverages and class 33 encompassing alcoholic beverages âexcluding beers and whiskyâ. The application suggests plans for a broad range of products, potentially including brandy, ciders, cocktails, wine, vodka, spirits, liqueurs and soft drinks.
DIGITAL
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LANDR, the AI-driven music production platform, has launched its âFair Trade AIâ programme, offering musicians a new way to monetise their data while participating in AI development. The initiative allows artists to earn 20% of proceeds generated by AI tools trained on their music. Pascal Pilon, LANDRâs Founder, states, âWe now see an opportunity to use our reach to bring that market to a place that is sound and exciting for DIY musicians worldwide, while developing assistive tools to enhance - not replace - their creativity and workflowâ. The opt-in programme is available to LANDR users distributing music through the platform, with monthly payouts and full transparency promised. Only tracks where artists retain full publishing rights are eligible and LANDR says that it reserves the right to curate the dataset.
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The Manc Group has launched Audio North, a new platform showcasing the music scene across Northern England. The initiative will deliver video-led content including artist interviews, concert highlights and live-streamed events on social media, as well as providing music news and reviews on The Manc Groupâs websites. Abbie Bartlett, Head Of Brand at The Manc Group, says, âWe're so proud of our northern roots and our home cities, and especially the world-famous music scenes that exist here. It's about time we change the London-centric narrative around the UK's music scene and bring all eyes up northâ.
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Key Production has launched âSMART formatsâ, a new technology blending physical music products with bonus digital content accessed via NFC-enabled smartphones. The groundbreaking format, developed in partnership with Serenade, allows artists to embed unique digital access codes into physical items like wristbands, vinyl records and merchandise. Karen Emanuel, Founder and CEO of Key Production Group, says âSMART formats truly have the potential to revolutionise the music industry. Itâs an opportunity for artists to share special content directly to fans who will value it the most, in accessible and creative waysâ. The Official Charts Company will recognise SMART format sales, potentially doubling chart entries for qualifying releases.
APPOINTMENTS
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Splice has appointed Kenny Ochoa as Senior Vice President Of Content, overseeing the platformâs global content team and royalty-free sample catalogue. Ochoa, formerly Head of Music Curation & Licensing at Snap, will also manage Spliceâs content pipeline, artist partnerships and industry outreach. CEO Kakul Srivastava says, âKenny is what we were looking for, someone with deep experience of both the tech and music industries, who is also empathetic to the creator communityâ. Ochoa, who will be based in Los Angeles, brings experience from Warner Bros Records, Sony Music and Sanctuary Records Group to his new role at the music creation platform.
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Activist Artists Management has hired Karly Brecher as an Artist Manager in its Los Angeles office, where she will work with The Pretty Reckless and other artists. Brecher brings a decade of experience from Scooter Braun Projects/HYBE and Laffitte Management Group, having worked with artists such as Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Usher. Founding Partner Bernie Cahill says, âKarly brings a decade of experience and a proven track record handling day-to-day responsibilities and branding for an eclectic group of global artistsâ.
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Warner Musicâs Nashville division has upped Victoria âTorieâ Mason to Senior Vice President Of Marketing And Analytics, expanding her role to oversee the newly integrated artist development team. Mason will lead a rebranded department encompassing artist marketing, digital marketing, analytics, brand partnerships, video strategy, and advertising strategy. Warnerâs Nashville Co-Chair and Co-President Ben Kline says, âThis new structure will allow us to super-serve our artists and their music with more focus and urgencyâ. Mason, who joined Warner in 2011 after a stint at Nielsen, says, âI'm THRILLED to help chart a course for continued success and innovation alongside this brilliant team!â