DEALS
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BMG and Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group have announced a strategic partnership to manage Cirque du Soleil's music catalogue and explore collaborative initiatives. BMG will serve as the record label and music publishing home for Cirque du Soleil, with the first release being the soundtrack to ‘Songblazers’, a new country music-themed production. Anne Belliveau, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Cirque du Soleil, says: “The power of music has long been a force uniting cultures and peoples in Cirque du Soleil productions around the world”. Marian Wolf, SVP Music Publishing North America at BMG, adds, “We are THRILLED to be the new publishing and recorded music home for Cirque du Soleil and to collaborate on upcoming new releases. This will provide unparalleled opportunities for BMG's diverse roster of artists, songwriters and catalogues”.
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Berlin-based producer Soela has signed to record label Scissor And Thread, to release her second album ‘Dark Portrait’ due out in September. Soela says, “I was dealing with some very complex feelings, so I came up with this album, which helped me not to despair… It helped me to keep sane when my country invaded Ukraine with a full scale war. It absolutely broke my heart and music was one of my main salvations”.
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BMG Nashville has formed a joint venture with Triple Play Music, the publishing company owned by country music artist Jason Aldean and his bandmates. Triple Play has also confirmed that it has signed songwriter Neil Thrasher. Amy Hendon Scott, Creative Director at BMG Nashville says, “We are THRILLED to partner with Triple Play and welcome Neil Thrasher. It is amazing to watch the creative energy between these long-time friends”.
APPOINTMENTS
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Berklee College Of Music has announced that Jim Lucchese will become its fifth President, effective from January 2025. Lucchese brings “twenty years of experience innovating artist-focused services”, including leadership roles at The Echo Nest, Spotify and Sofar Sounds. Lucchese says, “It is an immense honour to become a part of the Berklee community, an institution that means so much to me personally and has been a singularly positive force for creativity around the world”. Katie Vitolins, a Berklee trustee and Head Of Fan Commerce at Amazon Music, adds, “Jim’s appointment marks a transformative moment for Berklee. Having worked closely with him, I’ve witnessed firsthand how his curiosity, entrepreneurial mindset, and dedication to artist empowerment have continuously positioned him at the forefront of our evolving music industry”.
LEGAL
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British band Shakatak has announced plans to hire a musicologist to substantiate claims that the track ‘Bubble Gum’ by K-pop band NewJeans infringes on their 1982 track ‘Easier Said Than Done’. This follows a letter of claim which was sent by the band’s publisher Wise Music Group to NewJeans label ADOR, its parent company HYBE, the Korea Music Copyright Association and Sony Music Publishing Hong Kong on 17 Jun. Wise alleges similarities in the “distinctive melodic hook” as well as instrumentation, rhythm, tempo, harmony and harmonic rhythm, and has requested the song’s removal and damages. ADOR refuted the claim on 21 Jun and demanded “a detailed analysis report from a credible source”. Shakatak has now commented on the matter on X, saying, “Our publishing company Wise Music Group is on the case and has employed a musicologist to take this further. We will keep you posted”.
DIGITAL
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Ariana Grande’s presence on HYBE-owned superfan platform Weverse went live this Sunday, 21 Jul, says Billboard. Grande’s partnership with HYBE was first announced in June and highlights the platform’s growing appeal to Western artists. Joon Choi, President of the Weverse Company, says, “in terms of the growth of our platform, it is very important that we have thriving clusters of certain music genres, countries or cultures to generate a network effect”, adding “I’m very curious how it will be utilised by artists like Ariana Grande”. Grande’s former manager, Scooter Braun, is CEO of HYBE America.
MEDIA
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EHFM, Edinburgh's community radio station, has opened Ground Floor, a new cafe with a public-facing studio in Leith, relocating from arts complex and events venue Summerhall after six years. The cafe, which launches today and will fund the station’s activities, features a custom-built studio set to begin broadcasting on 1 Aug. EHFM co-founder Jamie Pettinger says, “We hope that the move will allow our listeners to engage with us more in the real world, and the cafe can provide a stable source of income in these financially uncertain times”.
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CROP Radio, Manchester's new community radio station, has announced its first 100 residents, including Fliss Mayo, Gracie T and Henzo, to bolster programming focused on underground electronic music. Based at Stage & Radio nightclub, CROP launched a new website for streams and held a free event to welcome residents. “We wanted to create a moment that amplified the fact that there is such a wealth of talent here in the North West”, explains CROP’s Connor Cooper, adding, “The importance of community and feeling a part of something is now more prevalent than ever”.
BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
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Crisps company KP Snacks has announced a partnership between its Popchips brand and Live Nation, which will see it become a sponsor of the Latitude festival and a series of Gunnersbury Park concerts this year, with plans to expand to the Isle of Wight Festival in 2025. The collaboration - which Live Nation presumably hopes will be somewhat less controversial than its tie-up with Barclays - includes on-site sampling, social media campaigns, and product and ticket giveaways. Alex Callender, Brand Manager for Popchips, says, “We are THRILLED to be working with Live Nation so when people come together to enjoy the music they love, they can do it with the snacks they love too”.
INDUSTRY EVENTS
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Linecheck Music Meeting And Festival, the Milan-based festival and music industry networking event, has announced the launch of Linecheck Academy as part of this year’s event, which takes place in November. Linecheck Academy is a series of three courses: Curatorship For Live Music Events, focused on organising and curating live events; Creative Catalogue Exploitation, which looks at “strategies behind uncovering trends” to help “maximise the economic value” of music; and Digital Marketing And Music Data, which covers “essential aspects of modern music marketing such as music metadata management, artist branding, cross-platform data analytics and digital marketing”.
AWARDS
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The Mercury Prize will announce its shortlist of twelve ‘Albums Of The Year’ for 2024 on Thursday 25 Jul on BBC Radio 6 Music. The shortlist, recognising artistic achievement across various genres by British and Irish artists, will be chosen by an independent judging panel chaired by Jeff Smith. Jo Twist, CEO of the UK record industry trade body BPI, says, “The Mercury Prize is a cherished part of our cultural landscape, celebrating the art of the album and recognising the exceptional creative achievements of diverse British and Irish artists across the many different genres that make up our thriving and global-facing music scene”. The overall winner will be announced in September, with “extensive promotional activity” replacing the usual live performance event.
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New York’s Kennedy Center has announced its selection of five honourees who have made “an extraordinary impact on the culture life” of the USA. This year’s recipients include rock band The Grateful Dead, singer songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, and jazz trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval, alongside Francis Ford Coppola and Harlem arts institution The Apollo. Bonnie Raitt says, “I am deeply honored and THRILLED to have been chosen” to receive the award, with The Grateful Dead saying that it is “beyond humbling” to have been selected, adding “we’re beyond grateful for this recognition”. Sandoval says, “This recognition is an extraordinary milestone in my career and a testament to the support and encouragement I have received from my family, friends, colleagues and fans”. Deborah F Rutter, President of the Kennedy Center, says, “Our honourees this year have each played an invaluable, pioneering role in developing American culture - not with one act of art but with their decades-long devotion to pushing creative boundaries”.
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Jim Simpson, the original manager of Black Sabbath and renowned Birmingham jazz and blues promoter, has received an honorary doctorate in music from the University Of Birmingham. The award recognises Simpson’s contributions to Birmingham’s music scene, including his 40-year stewardship of the Birmingham Jazz And Blues Festival. Simpson, who managed Black Sabbath during the release of their self-titled debut and ‘Paranoid’ albums in 1970, and continues to run record label Big Bear Music, says, “I'm overwhelmed and chuffed to have received such a special acknowledgement from the University Of Birmingham”.
ARTIST NEWS
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Bruce Springsteen is now a billionaire, according to recent calculations by Forbes Magazine. The valuation follows Springsteen’s $500 million catalogue sale to Sony Music in 2021 and a highly lucrative 2023 world tour that grossed $380 million from 1.6 million ticket sales.
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‘Trump Trump Baby’, a pro-Donald Trump rap by Forgiato Blow which was played at the Republican National Convention, has been removed from YouTube, apparently following a copyright infringement notification from Sony Music. The track sampled Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’ without permission, which itself samples ‘Under Pressure’ by Queen and David Bowie. Bowie and all four members of Queen were credited as co-writers on ‘Ice Ice Baby in the early nineties, after the track came out, following the private settlement of a rights dispute with Vanilla Ice. Blow has now re-uploaded a reworked version of the track without the distinctive bassline.
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Steely Dan has responded to cover band Sixwire’s performance of ‘Reelin In The Years’ at the 2024 Republican National Convention. In a Facebook post, the band suggested Sixwire would be better playing ‘Tin Foil Hat’, an anti-Donald Trump collaboration between Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and Todd Rundgren from 2017. The song criticises Trump’s 2017 to 2021 presidency and includes the lyrics “The man in the tin foil hat, Is tweeting like a teenage girl”.
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RZA has announced a new orchestral album, ‘A Ballet Through Mud’, set for release on 30 Aug via Platoon, the artist services and distribution company owned by Apple. The Wu-Tang Clan co-founder composed and produced the work which is based on lyrical songbooks he wrote as a teenager in Staten Island. Performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the album explores themes of love and growth. RZA says, “I hope people use it to score their own lives, to transform a drive to the grocery store or sharing a meal with loved ones into something magical”.
RELEASES
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Limoblaze has released his new single ‘Holy Father’. His new album ‘Young & Chosen’ is out 23 Aug.
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Joy Oladokun has released their new single ‘DRUGS’
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Jelly Roll has released his new single ‘Dead End Road’, as part of the new movie Twisters’ album ‘Twisters: The Album’.
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Alessia Cara has released her new single ‘Dead Man’.
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Logic has released his new single ‘Mission Control’, featuring T Man the Wizard. His new album ‘Ultra 85’ is out 9 Aug.
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Denzel Curry has released his new album ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2’, with features from A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Project Pat, 2 Chainz + more.
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G Herbo and @SkillaBaby have collaborated on new single ‘Shoot’
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Martin Garrix has released his new single ‘Smile’, featuring Carolina Liar.
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Highly Suspect have released their new album ‘As Above, So Below’, alongside the video for track ‘Plastic Boxes’.
TOURS
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Rex Orange County has announced a four-date residency at The London Palladium from 16-19 Feb. Tickets go on general sale this Friday.