DEALS
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Independent label and label services company SRG/ILS Group has extended its partnership with Universal Music’s Virgin Music Group. “SRG/ILS has undergone tremendous growth over the past several years, largely thanks to the strong support provided by Virgin Music Group”, says SRG/ILS CEO Claude Villani.
APPOINTMENTS
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BMG has promoted Sarah Mitchell to head up the label’s rights and royalties operations in the UK and Europe. “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to take on this new role”, she says. “Serving songwriters and artists lies at the heart of BMG’s mission and our integrated rights and royalties operation across both music publishing and recordings gives us a unique position in the market. I am excited to be able to work with our teams in the UK and across Europe as we seek to further maximise the benefits of this moving forward”.
ARTIST NEWS
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Madonna played a free show on Brazil’s Copacabana beach on Saturday. It reportedly drew an audience of over 1.6 million people. Many made it onto the beach, while others watched from nearby boats, hotels and apartments.
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Hotel singer Daniel Rooney found himself performing to 14,000 Take That fans at Glasgow’s Hydro arena on Friday night. He was spotted playing at the city’s Radisson Red hotel and drafted in as a last minute replacement for Olly Murs, who was due to support but failed to make it to Glasgow due to transport issues. "I usually play to around 40 people”, he told the BBC. "It's madness”.
GIGS & FESTIVALS
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Last year’s Eurovision winner Loreen has announced UK and Ireland tour dates in March 2025. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.
RELEASES
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Supermodel Soo Joo has signed to LuckyMe and released a new single, ‘Running Water’, in collaboration with Hudson Mohawke. “The main concept of ‘Running Water’ was inspired from John Keats’ epitaph that said, ‘Here lies one whose name was writ in water’”, she says. “I don’t know why, but I felt the impermanence of life with that one sentence. Writing in the sand for the wind to sweep away, or trying to leave a mark on running water…it’s about the ephemera of proclamations of feelings, the emotions, and beauty. And where does that trace of moment go after? Sometimes it all feels a bit here now, maybe gone forever”.
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Half Waif has released new single ‘Big Dipper’. It’s the first track to be taken from new EP ‘Ephemeral Being’, which is out on 31 May.