Virgin Music Group has partnered with Trisha Yearwood and her label Gwendolyn Information for model new music and her newer catalog.
The deal moreover brings Yearwood once more to Frequent Music Group with Music Firm of America (MCA), the Nashville-based label she known as home from 1990 by the use of 2006, and who will proceed to work her catalog.
“I’m honored to hitch forces with Virgin Music Group as I embark on this thrilling new chapter,” talked about Yearwood. “Bringing my Gwendolyn label into the MCA/Frequent family really looks as if coming home. I can’t wait to share my new album, The Mirror. Creating this music has been among the rewarding experiences of my life.”
“Trisha Yearwood is among the many most gifted and enduring artists on this planet,” talked about Jacqueline Saturn, president, Virgin Music Group North America, and govt VP of world artist relations. “We’re so proud to have her and her Gwendolyn Information catalog on our roster and are wanting forward to her legions of followers listening to this unbelievable new music.”
To help the discharge of current music, Yearwood is at current on her first headlining tour in six years.
Pictured above (L-R): John Mayer, Senior Director Nationwide Promotion and Streaming, Virgin Music Group; Mandy McCormack, TeamTY; Jordon Isbell, Promoting and advertising and marketing Director, Virgin Music Group; Jen Bontusa, SVP Label Administration, Virgin Music Group.
+ Artist administration agency Shelter Music Group has signed 5 new artists to its roster: Low value Trick, Boys Like Girls, Chiodos, American Hi there-Fi and Lifeless Poet Society.
Shelter has established a worldwide presence with locations of labor in New York Metropolis, Los Angeles, Nashville and London. The workforce deal with such acts as Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Excessive, the Buddy Holly Property and a bunch of others.
+ Whitaker Elledge has been appointed primary supervisor and senior VP of Dualtone, a division of MNRK Music Group. Elledge steps into the place following the passing of President Paul Roper after his prolonged battle with most cancers. Elledge will keep based totally in Nashville, Tennessee, and may now report on to MNRK’s COO, Chris Moncada.
Elledge talked about, “Paul Roper was one in every of many good human beings and fiercest artist advocates of our time. Attributable to him, we confidently stride forward, determining that authenticity and kindness can win the day on this enterprise. Paul talked about, ‘Pursue paintings sooner than the pursuit of commerce. Take care of people fairly. Be clear. Work laborious. Don’t take your self too critically.’ We’re full of reverence and a roaring fire to proceed innovating and being peerless companions for our artists and music group.”
Primarily based in 2001 and headquartered in Nashville, Dualtone’s current roster comprises the Lumineers, Langhorne Slim, Gregory Alan Isakov, Houndmouth, Shakey Graves, Kathleen Edwards, Wilder Woods, The Dip, Jack Van Cleaf, Gatlin, Flipturn and Abraham Alexander, amongst others.
Tuesday, April 29
Icelandic-Chinese language language artist, composer and producer and multi-instrumentalist Laufey is launching The Laufey Foundation, with the primary mission of supporting youthful musicians with the sources they need, notably by the use of youth orchestras.
Laufey talked about, “The help and scholarships I acquired as a toddler have immediately led to the career I’ve now. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to produce the next period with the an identical help and alternate options. I can’t wait to connect with the youthful musician group!”
The Laufey Foundation will award inaugural grants to the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, LA Phil’s YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) program, The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and two of Carnegie Hall’s nationwide youth ensembles (NYO2 and NYO Jazz packages, notably) — all globally acknowledged and TLF-mission aligned affiliate orchestras — with a objective of accelerating the amount and areas of orchestras globally inside the the months and years to return.
Alongside together with her non-public contribution to launch the Foundation, Laufey launched AWAL, AEG Presents, and Steinway & Sons as founding companions, along with Warner Chappell, Catbird, and Gibson Supplies as Benefactor Companions by the use of their donations. Moreover, Laufey will even donate a portion of the proceeds of every Mei Mei The Bunny provided.
+ Kosign, the music publishing platform launched by Kobalt, has named music commerce veteran Jason Feinberg as its new senior vp/head of Kosign. Kosign was launched earlier this yr to empower artists, songwriters, and producers to assemble their publishing royalties flexibly and seamlessly. In its first weeks, Kosign has acquired features from writers in 88 worldwide places, with catalogs representing billions of streams.
Feinberg most not too way back served as a managing affiliate at 138 Strategic, a corporation that advises artists and executives on method, experience, promoting and advertising and marketing, ecommerce and direct-to-fan engagement. Beforehand, he served as senior VP of promoting at Frequent Music Group, rebuilding and rising the promoting and advertising and marketing division for UMe, the catalog division of the world’s largest music agency. Notably, he was moreover head of artist promoting and advertising and marketing at Pandora’s AMP.
“Jason has constructed a worthwhile career on the nexus of artist enchancment, artist relations and experience,” talked about Laurent Hubert, CEO of Kobalt. “His expertise, observe report and deep relationships inside the enterprise make him utterly suited to run KOSIGN as we proceed to develop our purchaser base across the globe.”
Monday, April 28
Veteran Nashville music govt Leslie Fram has formally launched her new enterprise enterprise, FEMco (Fram Leisure & Music), a consulting collective offering artist enchancment, experience reserving and manufacturing, and B2B connections to Nashville’s leisure group.
FEMco will capitalize on Fram’s 13-year tenure in Nashville as SVP of music and experience at CMT/Paramount, along with her just a few years working in radio. Whereas at CMT, Fram executive-produced the annual CMT Music Awards, booked CMT Crossroads, Storytellers and further. Most not too way back, she served as Experience Producer on CBS’ “Ringo & Buddies on the Ryman.”
Fram says, “I’ve always wished to start my very personal agency, one which was intentionally designed as a purpose-driven enterprise that aligns with my non-public {{and professional}} aspirations. By my time in radio and television I’ve gained a wealth of information, experience and insights from quite a few roles, industries and initiatives that aren’t solely a assortment of earlier events nevertheless a foundation for this very type of endeavor.”
FEMco will even create a variety of alternate options for female artists to increase their visibility and attain by the use of events, sponsorships and further by the use of its music-focused manufacturing arm, FEMco Presents. Its first franchise, FEMcountry is a continuation of Fram’s work in creating critically-acclaimed packages like CMT’s Subsequent Girls of Nation and her passion for elevating female voices in nation music.
+ Veteran leisure execs Joshua Simons, Dave Lory and Dick Wingate have launched the formation of Worldwide Leisure Group, a New York-based agency providing musical artists with a “holistic administration experience.” The company supplies a full spectrum of firms along with experience administration, promoting and advertising and marketing, promotion, licensing, event administration and career enchancment. The first initiatives embrace Brian Fresco, whose first single “Unhealthy 4 You” choices Chance the Rapper and Lil Xel and drops on June 6, and singer/songwriter Hannah Wicklund, who shall be recording her new album this month.
Totally different staffers embrace president Jeff Riccio as president of WEG Licensed Merchandise Group, Sandy Rizzo as govt VP of WEG Experience Administration, Licensed Merchandise and Dwell Effectivity Groups, Brad Mooberry as chief promoting and advertising and marketing officer, and Jenn Federici as GM of artist enchancment. Patrick Clifford can be the agency’s marketing consultant in Nashville and A&R.
WEG has a distribution deal in place with Jeff Brody, proprietor of Brody Distribution Group by the use of the Orchard and a merchandise handle JSR/Forward Merch for the neutral artists and initiatives signed to WEG. WEG moreover has a partnership in place with Tom Linden, whose agency CMMN PPL shall be serving to with artist bookings as needed and sourcing touring help alternate options.
+ Billboard has promoted Mike Van to the place of the publication’s first-ever CEO.. On this place, Van will oversee Billboard’s worldwide mannequin footprint in 15 worldwide places, along with all aspects of method, revenue, enterprise operations, dwell experiences, worldwide licensing, and mannequin partnerships; he’ll even oversee every the enterprise and editorial teams, with Billboard’s editor-in-chief Hannah Karp now reporting to him immediately, based mostly on the announcement.
Van, who was Billboard’s president since 2022, will report again to Jay Penske, Chairman and CEO, Penske Media Firm. He beforehand held administration roles at Pandora, Digital Arts, and Sophisticated.
“Mike is a one-of-a-kind chief, visionary and affiliate,” talked about Penske. “His passion for the Billboard mannequin and clear imaginative and prescient for its future has always set him apart. Mike has fostered a collaborative environment with a workforce devoted to developing a formidable worldwide enterprise – innovating and trailblazing at every stage. It has been inspiring to look at Billboard’s seismic growth over the past a variety of years and I wait for seeing the mannequin proceed to thrive beneath Mike’s administration.”
+ Splice has launched the acquisition of Spitfire Audio, a major U.Okay.-based developer of high-end digital instrument libraries. The acquisition marks Splice’s entry into the fast-growing plugin space, together with to the company’s Splice Sounds subscriptions and rent-to-own firms. The companies are set to start work on new merchandise that blend Spitfire Audio’s cinematic and orchestral expertise with Splice’s sample catalog and AI-powered discovery engine.
“The teams at Spitfire Audio and Splice have deep respect for composers, musicians and producers and are devoted to celebrating and supporting their work”, talked about Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice. “We’re every sound-first, creator-led companies who contemplate good software program program and experience can supercharge the creative experience. Our shared imaginative and prescient is to develop devices that develop—not change—human creativity.” Srivastava added. “With Spitfire’s expressive units and Splice’s AI-powered platform, we’re merely beginning to uncover what’s potential.”
+ Warner Chappell Music Nashville and Ignition Nashville have signed a worldwide publishing handle rising singer-songwriter Ethan Escue, who has collaborated with Chase Matthew, Austin Williams, Hayden Coffman, and Brandt Carmichael, amongst others. He not too way back penned 5 songs on Coffman’s “Love and a Heartbreak” album.
BJ Hill, SVP, A&R, WCM Nashville, talked about: “Ethan paints tales in a way that’s every acquainted and memorable. He’s an unbelievable songwriter – and rather more so, an excellent human being. We’re excited to help his growth alongside our fantastic companions at Ignition Nashville.”
+ Virgin Music Group has promoted Hannah Thompson-Waitt to senior vp of financial method on the agency. In her new place, Thompson-Waitt will lead the U.S. Enterprise workforce, overseeing the formulation and execution of streaming method, launch analysis, and fan acquisition method for a numerous roster of buyers.
“Hannah has an unbelievable potential to talk and be a part of with our quite a few group of label and artist companions,” talked about Zack Gershen, Govt Vice President, Worldwide Enterprise & Digital Method on the agency. “She has been key in delivering revolutionary enterprise strategies and we wait for her making even bigger contributions on this new place.”
Earlier to turning into a member of Virgin, Thompson-Waitt held the place of VP of digital promoting and advertising and marketing at Mtheory, the company based mostly by Virgin Music Group co-CEOs J.T. Myers and Nat Pastor, which she joined in 2017 and was acquired by Frequent Music Group in 2022. She began her career in 2014 when she launched her private Okay-pop media agency whereas nonetheless in graduate school.
+ Kobalt has signed Bizzy Legal, a songwriter on frequent collaborator Leon Thomas’ breakout hit “Mutt.”
“Mutt,” launched on August 8, 2024, serves as a result of the lead single from Thomas’s sophomore album of the an identical title. The music has been streamed over 51 million events on Spotify and has garnered widespread acclaim.
“We’re previous excited to welcome Bizzy Legal to the Kobalt family,” talked about Genevieve Huguely, Kobalt’s supervisor, creative. “His experience as a songwriter and storyteller is easy, and his work on ‘Mutt’ is a testament to the type of creativity and imaginative and prescient we like to help. Bizzy brings a current perspective and a novel voice to each little factor he touches, and we’re proud to be part of this subsequent chapter in his journey.”
“Lastly, after 15 years of grinding, being knowledgeable no, and on no account giving up; then lastly catching my first #1 report, possession was important to me,” talked about Bizzy “I felt like Kobalt most interesting understood my journey, my imaginative and prescient, and my price.”
+ Audio software program program agency Serato and entertainment-focused nonprofit TEC Leimert and streetwear label Undefeated have launched the return of their Audio Affect Assortment, an immersive workshop program designed to empower the next period of Black and Brown experience in South Central Los Angeles.
First launched in 2023, the 2025 iteration will occur from July 25-27 at music school 1500 Sound Academy’s state-of-the-art facility Amount Studios located in Inglewood, Calif. Members will get hold of mentorship from DJ Khalil (producer for Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Kanye West) and artists DāM-FunK, Iman Omari, Amber Navran, Lyric Jones, Sarah2ill and Oh Gosh Leotus. Further mentors and customer audio system shall be launched at a later date.
Capabilities for the Audio Affect Assortment are open now by the use of June 6. 80 spots shall be accessible for LA-based experience.
