Deals: Wise Music Group, Taylor Swift, Erika Ender, Schubert Music, So Recordings, Kobalt

London-based independent music company Music Sales Group has been re-branded as Wise Music Group, named after the Wise family which founded and still own the company. The group, chaired by Robert Wise, claims to represent half a million copyrights. It includes more than 60 publishing houses, 30 imprints, two record labels, two digital music education companies, a book publisher and a live concert and theatrical production company. "Our new name reflects both the continuity of our business approach and the fact that ours is a family business with two generations of the Wise family well established within it, guiding our future progress," said Wise. In the wake of the re-branding, Wise Music Group signed new publishing deals with Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, via Wise Music USA, and Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds, through Bosworth Music.

Taylor Swift has signed a multi-year, multi-album global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, extending her partnership with Universal Music Group, which already includes her record deal with Republic Records. “I’m proud to extend my partnership with Lucian Grainge and the Universal Music family by signing with UMPG, and for the opportunity to work with Jody Gerson, the first woman to run a major music publishing company,” said Swift.

Latin singer-songwriter, performer and producer Erika Ender has signed a wide-ranging global multimedia partnership deal with BMG. The agreement includes a publishing administration agreement for her future works, a new recording agreement for her upcoming studio album, a book deal to publish her autobiography, a first-look documentary film agreement and development deal with her multi-platform company, Endertainment. Ender is the co-writer of the global hit ‘Despacito’.

Austria-based independent music company Schubert Music has launched ten independent record labels distributed by Sony Music's distribution arm The Orchard, under the leadership of Thomas Thyssen, who joined Schubert from Universal Music in 2018, who has been promoted to Managing Director of Schubert Music Agency, based in Germany, and Head of Recorded Music. Thyssen will oversee management of the new label structure and reports directly to Schubert Music CEO Andreas Schubert. The label heads include Daryl Bamonte (Schubert Music UK, London), Bill Murphy (Schubert Music US, Los Angeles), Michael Pagnotta (Schubert Music US, New York), Eric Burton (General Manager Hardbeat Promotion and Celsius Management, Hamburg), Sebastián Ruiz-Tagle (Schubert Music, A&R Manager Spain + Latin America) and Markus Schmidt (Pump It Suzi, Frankfurt).  Also included are established labels Unique Records from Duesseldorf run by Ina Schulz (Schubert Music Germany), and Paris’s Bruit Blanc, managed by Matthieu Chabaud (Schubert Music France). Schubert said he wanted the new structure to "be an attractive label alternative for artists from various genres."

Spotify Technology has continued its expansion in non-music content with the acquisition of The Ringer, a creator of sports, entertainment and pop culture offerings. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded by Bill Simmons in 2016, the company has been a podcast pioneer in sports and in the pop culture arena. The streaming service said the acquisition is part of its strategy to become the world’s leading audio platform. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2020 and subject to customary closing conditions.

So Recordings, part of London-based independent music company Silva Screen Music Group, has signed Placebo for the alternative rock band's next studio album. Initially established in 1986 by Reynold D’Silva, Silva Screen developed a catalogue in film music before diversifying in other music genres. So Recordings is part of the newly formed Silva Screen Label Group, which has released recordings from Enter Shikari, Deaf Havana, Band of Skulls, The Lafontaines, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Demob Happy and Turbowolf. Adam Greenup, who has been with the company for 10 years, has been promoted to the role of Managing Director for the Silva Screen Label Group, reporting to D’Silva.

Sony Music Entertainment has formed a new global content partnership with London-based audio and video content producer Somethin’ Else to develop a range of new international podcasting opportunities. The first projects under the new agreement will include 'How Did We Get Here?', a podcast on parenting issues. Other projects will be announced in the coming weeks.

Kobalt has signed Lewis Capaldi to a global neighbouring rights deal. The Scottish singer-songwriter was previously represented by British neighbouring rights society PPL for worldwide collections.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed a multi-year global agreement with the platinum-selling Latin-American group CNCO, covering the group's catalogue of current and future songs. The deal was sealed between Jorge Mejia, President & CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing for Latin America and US Latin and Walter Kolm, President & CEO of WK Entertainment, which represents CNCO, which are signed to Sony Music Latin.