Music deals -- Week 24 2021

French DJ and producer David Guetta has sold his recording catalogue to Warner Music Group, for a sum estimated by the Financial Times to be over $100 million. Guetta's catalogue was previously licensed to EMI in France and the contract was then transferred to WMG when the company acquired assets from EMI in 2013. The new deal includes Guetta's past catalogue and future recordings. Guetta’s business partner and manager Jean-Charles Carre said "a lot of people approached us to express interest in David’s catalogue" but they decided to continue their partnership with Warner "because they have a knowledge of and passion for David’s music, with a global team that’s constantly working to place it in new contexts." Guetta counts over 54 million monthly listeners on Spotify and his tracks have so far accumulated over 14 billion streams. Since the beginning of the year, Guetta has released eight tracks since the start of the year. Said Guetta: “This is the right time to renew my creative partnership with my trusted team at Warner Music. This deal is about having the best people around me to ensure I can keep innovating with exciting new projects, while also working my extensive catalogue and continuing to build my career.”

British music distribution and record label services company Ditto Music has launched of new publishing division, Ditto Music Publishing, described as an "accessible service with the reach of a major publisher." Tom Weller has been appointed Managing Director of Ditto Music Publishing. Prior to Ditto, Weller spent over 15 years working at UK collection societies MCPS and PRS for Music, most recently as Senior Publisher Relationship Manager. Ditto Music Publishing claims to have in place deals covering over 150 territories and "will be able to collect digital, broadcast and live royalties directly in every country where there are clients." The service will be first open to Ditto Music’s distribution subscriber clients globally for a fixed annual rate of £39 or $49, in addition to a 10% commission on royalties collected and a 20% commission on sync placements. Initial clients to Ditto Plus Music Publishing include East/South East Asian creative collective Eastern Margins, Dimzy and other members of Brixton Drill group 67, folk band Rokurokobi, drum'n'Bass act PFM, rock artist lostboy and Kenyan artist Chris Kaiga.

Kevin Liles and Rob Stevenson, the co-founders of US entertainment company 300, are launching Sparta Distribution, a distribution platform focused on unsigned artists "who are fighting to get a seat at the table." The unit was beta launched in late 2020 as an invite-only network. Liles and Stevenson said it has already attracted a wide array of artists, helping 300 in identifying and developing partnerships with artists like Jeris Johnson and HD4President. "Sparta empowers independent artists to plug into two of 300’s core tenets: speed and flexibility," wrote Liles and Stevenson in a joint message. "Over the course of our journey as 300, our agility and disregard for red tape have defined us. Sparta is meant to empower like-minded entrepreneurs to share and operate under the ethos that makes 300 successful. Sparta is meant for driven artists and emerging executives who want to tap into the culture."

Los Angeles-based Blue Élan Records co-founder Kirk Pasich has teamed with producers Zackary Darling and Zachary Ross to launch KZZMusic, described as "a multi-dimensional, artist-friendly music production company." KZZ Music will assist musicians in "a wide range of areas of their careers, covering everything from development to record and video production to finding management and signing label deals." KZZ has secured a distribution partnership with Sony Music's distribution and services division for independent labels and artists The Orchard. Pasich said KZZ will have "a multifaceted approach that we will customize based on each artist’s career goals," and serve "as distributor, provide strategic career guidance, and connect the artist to the right partners for them.” 

French independent music distributor Differ-Ant has been acquired by label services company Kuroneko Media. Differ-Ant had been placed in receivership in July 2020, and the new ownership will guarantee that most jobs at the company will be preserved, according to News Tank. Differ-Ant co-founder Boris Cabeza has been appointed head of physical distribution at Kuroneko. Labels distributed by Differ-Ant, which was created in 2005, included Thrill Jockey, Chinese Man Records,! K7, Warp and Daptone Records. Kuroneko Media was launched in 2015 by Nicolas Pinault to provide 360° support to independent labels in their commercial development, offering physical and digital distribution, CD and vinyl pressing capabilities, and marketing services. 

Sheet music specialist Hal Leonard has launched a fully-updated and expanded version of its sheet music self-publishing platform, ArrangeMe, enabling songwriters, composers, and arrangers to publish and sell their sheet music arrangements of popular songs, public domain works, and original compositions through the Hal Leonard's network of sheet music digital retailers. ArrangeMe is integrated with Sheet Music Plus, Sheet Music Direct, and Noteflight Marketplace. ArrangeMe is a free-to-use platform, through which composers and publishers can monetise their works. ArrangeMe handles logistics including distribution, copyrighted song licensing, and commission payments. Two previous self-publishing programmes, Noteflight Marketplace and SMP Press, have delivered over $4 million in revenues to self-publishers, according to Chris Koszuta, Hal Leonard's VP of Digital and eCommerce. "With the launch of this all-new ArrangeMe, we look forward to further strengthening these existing relationships with the sheet music creator community and ensure all involved in the creation of music are rewarded for their work and creativity," said Koszuta.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has signed a new global recording deal with indie label Transgressive Records, which will release Albarn's second solo album later this year. Transgressive records are distributed via [PIAS].

German duo Milky Chance have gone fully independent with their label Muggelig Records, and have signed with French global digital distribution company Believe. The first release under the new set up was the band's track 'Colorado, out June 17. “When we looked at the different opportunities available to us, independence made the most sense. Not only because of the usual things people talk about like maintaining ownership, but because we knew it would allow us to do things the way our fans wanted. We could super-serve them," explained Milky Chance’s Clemens Rehbein. “We know we can bring immense value to Milky Chance because we can continue to add localised fans to their worldwide success story," said Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie. 

British songwriter, performer and producer Joseph Mount – frontman for the band Metronomy– has partnered with boutique music publishing company One Two Many Songs and PRAH/Moshi Moshi Music's Stephen Bass to launch his new venture, Hot Wave Music Publishing. The new company will represent Metronomy's catalogue, Mount's future writes and co-writes, as well as new talent such as London-based band Folly Group. "We are incredibly excited to work with emerging bands, producers and composers on Hot Wave and partner with One Two Many to help us find our feet," said Mount and Bass.

The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) is planning to launch a new chapter in Atlanta, Georgia, that will add to the existing chapters in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York. The new chapter will be discussed at a gathering in Atlanta on July 15, to which all Atlanta-based independent songwriters, producers, publishers, and other rights-holders have been invited. A Steering Committee of Atlanta-based entertainment industry stakeholders would then be formed to begin the process of formally organising the Chapter. Its charter would be ratified and a Board of Directors elected during the next bi-annual AIMP Board elections, which will be held in 2022. The effort to establish an Atlanta Chapter of the AIMP is being led by Tony D. Alexander, Co-Founder, President, and Managing Director of Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME).