Music Deals -- Week 9 of 2021

Independent music publisher Big Machine Music has signed with peermusic a long-term sub-publishing agreement to represent the 12,000-song catalogue controlled by BMM. The deal covers all territories excluding the USA, where Nashville-based BMM will continue to administer itself. The agreement was signed by Nigel Elderton, President for Europe at peermusic and Managing Director of peermusic UK, and Mike Molinar, General Manager of BMM. The catalogue includes the recent Country No.1 song 'Better Together', written and recorded by Luke Combs, as well as works from songwritersLaura Veltz and Jessie Jo Dillon. “We see in peermusic a reflection of our own independent spirit and dedication to delivering personalised service to our songwriters,” said Molinar. “The international team under the guidance of Nigel shares our business and creative values and we look forward to working with their team.” Elderton added: “What the Big Machine Music team have built in the past eight years is phenomenal. They are exceptional music publishers that have developed a rich catalog, overflowing with hits. We are thrilled to partner with them for global sub-publishing.” peermusic has a network of 38 offices in 31 countries. 

Independent entertainment company Entertainment One (eOne) has signed a licensing deal with San Francisco-based Feed Media Group (FMG), a technology company that helps businesses incorporate music to create more engaging experiences. Tracks from eOne's repertoire  are now available in Adaptr’s catalogue, which also includes tracks from Warner Music Group, BMG Records, EqualVision Records, VioMobile, and A-Train Distribution. Adaptr claims to provide a library of fully licensed songs that "accelerates the time to market for start-ups, helping them launch and develop traction without the need for lengthy direct licensing negotiations." “Our mission with Adaptr is to give developers the tools to quickly and easily deliver the right song to the right person at the right time,” said Bryn Boughton, Head of Platform and Licensing at FMG. “eOne understands that having its music readily available for start-ups means it stays on the leading edge of entertainment, and their catalog is a great addition for our developer community to have for immediate use in their apps.”

UK-based marketing and distribution platform Beatchain has made an agreement with music royalty collection service Songtrust, providing Beatchain users a 20% discount of the Songtrust registration fee. Songtrust offers artists quarterly payments, direct licensing, expansive affiliations, and 100% of the front-end on sync fees. “For artists, the Beatchain-Songtrust platform pairing is really a no-brainer,” said Luke Mendoza, CTO of Beatchain. “Our platform offers the best value marketing tool out there for artists, and Songtrust is the world’s smartest digital tool for collecting royalties off original songs across the globe. You could look at it as a one-two punch in moving from unknown artist to full-time professional musician.”

Sony Music Publishing has signed Swedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson to a worldwide publishing deal. Larsson is represented by Ten Music Group, the company set up by industry veteran Ola Håkansson. Her recordings are distributed worldwide by Epic. “We’re incredibly proud to be working with Zara and to welcome her to Sony Music Publishing," said Johnny Tennander, Sony Music Publishing MD, Scandinavia and SVP A&R, Europe. "Zara is a real artist and she also stands for something – she has something to say. Ola Håkansson and the Ten team together with the Epic team have done an amazing job building her career into becoming a global superstar, and we very much look forward to being a part of the team and taking Zara to new heights!”

Talent agency CAA has signed a global representation deal with Canadian performer, songwriter and producer The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) covering all areas of business. The Weeknd was previously represented by WME. The Weeknd is managed by Wassim “Sal” Slaiby and Amir “Cash” Esmailian, and his attorney is Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. “Abel, Sal and their team are as ambitious in their thinking as we are, clearly seeing the special opportunities they have, both in building their business to new heights and having a meaningful cultural impact,” said CAA’s Christian Carino.

Sony Music Publishing Nashville has signed country singer and songwriter Kane Brown to a worldwide publishing deal. Brown has also launched as a joint venture with Sony Music Publishing music industry veteran Kent Earls his own publishing imprint, Verse2 Music. Earls will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of Verse 2 Music, with the aim "to discover emerging country music hitmakers and develop their songwriting careers."