DEALS
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Confetti London, an offshoot of the creative industry institute at Nottingham Trent University, has partnered with Tileyard to give students access to its workspaces, resident industry professionals and recording studios. “This partnership offers students the unrivalled opportunity to supercharge and fast-track their careers”, says Jamie Searls, MD of Tileyard Education.
APPOINTMENTS
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Sony Music’s Arista Records in the US has appointed Sharon Timure as Head Of Marketing and Kelsey Hession as Publicity Lead. “We’re THRILLED to kick off the new year with the addition of Sharon and Kelsey to the team”, says CEO David Massey. “Sharon brings an incredible prowess to developing artists with a progressive marketing strategy and Kelsey’s forward-thinking approach to media will be a driving force to build buzz around our roster”.
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Interval Records has appointed Josh Daniel as Label Manager. The company was launched last year as a partnership between Generator and EMI North. “Being able to use my knowledge and expertise to cultivate talent in the area, with the backing of a major label, is incredible”, he says. “In addition, partnering with Generator, a stalwart in supporting regional artists, gives me total confidence that, collectively, we can achieve great success. This venture aligns perfectly with my vision for the future of the music industry, and these are exactly the kind of opportunities I've always aspired to facilitate for my hometown and region”.
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Believe-owned distributor TuneCore has appointed Akhila Shankar as head of its South Asian division. “The South Asian music industry consists of one of the most diverse and robust pools of talented independent artists in the world”, says VP International Tash Shah. “With Akhila at the helm of TuneCore’s operations in South Asia, I’m confident that we’ll continue to grow as a company and witness the success of our many brilliant artists from India and beyond”.
LEGAL
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Drake has urged a US court to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year that accuses him of sampling without licence a track by Ghanaian artist Obrafour on his 2022 album ‘Honestly, Nevermind’. In a new legal filing, Drake's team argue that the copyright in the allegedly sampled track is registered to a different artist with the Copyright Office in Ghana and therefore Obrafour's "claim of ownership is defeated".
LIVE BUSINESS
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Live giant AEG has held a second public consultation for its proposed 8500 capacity arena in Edinburgh. If approved, it will host over 150 events per year, the company said. “We did a gap analysis of the UK to see where the big gaps were in terms of arenas, and Edinburgh was the best place”, said Alistair Wood, AEG Europe’s VP Of Real Estate And Development, according to Edinburgh Evening News. “We are not planning to go head to head with the Hydro in Glasgow but perhaps see artists who play there also play here”.
EVENTS
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Talent agency Wasserman Music and music therapy charity Nordoff & Robbins have announced the return of Music Mudder - the music industry obstacle course challenge, which last year raised over £61,000. It will take place on 13 Sep. Teams can enter here now.
AWARDS
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Art Vinyl has announced the cover of PJ Harvey's latest album 'I Inside The Old Year Dying' - created by Michelle Henning - as the winner of its annual Best Art Vinyl Award. The runners up were Gabriels’ ‘Angels & Queens’ and ‘Evolve’ by Sub Focus. “Simplicity and thoughtful concept provide the many layers for this year's Best Art Vinyl Award winners”, says award founder Andrew Heeps. “Each of these worthy winners brings levels of artistic complexity and techniques together to bring the music inside their beautiful packages to life”.
RELEASES
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Dizzee Rascal has released new single ‘What You Know About That’ featuring JME and D Double E.
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Faye Webster has released new signal ‘Lego Ring’ featuring Lil Yachty.