32 minute read
Exec Profile: Nicholas Judd, Leftbrain and RYLTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Andy Kaufmann
from January 2023
Nicholas Judd
CEO & Founder Leftbrain and RYLTY
Years with Company: 4, Leftbrain; 1, RYLTY Address: Los Angeles, CA Phone: 213-344-2728 Web: useleftbrain.com; rylty.io Email: njudd@useleftbrain.com Clients: Influence Media Partners, Doja Cat, Troye Sivan, J.I.D, Yeti Beats
BACKGROUND
Nicholas Judd created the artist management company known as Leftbrain in 2019. Services include budget forecasting, credit consultations, and royalties administration, the latter of which inspired a spinoff venture, dubbed RYLTY.
Finding a Niche
I knew I wanted to work in the music industry, but I could never be a musician. I went to Syracuse University, primarily because they have a strong music industry program, and then became a business manager. I started my career at a large firm. I fell out of love with business management, because it didn’t feel like I was providing value to the artist. So, I left the artist side and started a consulting firm, Judd Financial.
Business School Revelations
Before starting Judd Financial, I took the GMATs. I was like, “Maybe I want to go to business school.” They last five years before they expire. I said, “It’s about to expire. Let me swing for the fences.” So, I applied to University of Chicago’s School of Business to get my MBA, never thinking I would get in. I think there must have been another Nicholas Judd with a better resume than mine and they got us mixed up. I’m sitting in class with some of the smartest people ever when it comes to math, yet they were very normal people. I know there’s going to be somebody in this room who creates the next billion-dollar company. Why couldn’t it be me?
Sparking Leftbrain
I’m in the middle of my business school education while running my consulting company realizing I could do more. I went back to my earlier days in business management and thought about some of the problems that exist there.
At the same time, I met this incredibly smart attorney and entrepreneur, Josh Kaplan. Josh would go on to be the artist manager for Doja Cat and Tyga, but at the time he was primarily an attorney. I sat down with him for coffee. He had one client who was decent size who must’ve burned through two or three of the top business management firms. [This artist] was saying there’s no transparency. It’s impossible to get in touch with people. It doesn’t feel like there’s any value being created. That was the trigger for me. This is what I can do to go from being a footnote in the music industry history book to potentially getting my own chapter.
Technology-Minded
How could we rebuild business management through the eyes of the artist and the artist’s manager? We realized technology held the key. We would dive deep into a problem and then either build technology to solve that problem or find some preexisting technology we could customize.
The first thing we built was a client-facing app. We could give our clients access to QuickBooks Online, but there was no way the information was going to be well received by a creative individual. So, we built an app that takes the data from our accounting systems and [displays] that information in a way that’s receptive to creative individuals. We used a lot more imagery and honed in on the points of information a creativeminded individual could use.
Then there are internal tools. We have a tool that allows us to search across clients and track analytics. In two seconds, I could let you know the average response time to an email or text message, which allows us to create these metrics and KPIs that nobody else has.
Birthing RYLTY
The pandemic hits and touring goes away. Clients start calling. “You know that song I have? I don’t think I’m getting all the royalty payments from that.” The typical response from a business manager is, “We’ll look into it.” They’ll pull up the statements and see if the song shows up. And when it does, they’ll say, “Yep, you’re collecting on this.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to go back to clients with certainty they were getting paid every amount they were owed. I hired Andrew Ullah. He would become one of my cofounders at RYLTY. He spent an enormous amount of time looking into what would prevent a song from being paid the full amount. He found results.
Now, we’ve identified a problem and found a solution. How can we use technology to make this commercially viable? The amount of time it took to analyze a musical work went from hours to minutes. We enrolled 30 of our clients and clawed back over a million dollars of prior period royalties. Because we were actually fixing the problem, those same clients saw a bump in their revenue streams that amounted to in excess of 10 million dollars. It was at that moment I was like, “We need to offer this to the world.”
Get a Lawyer
It’s important to have a qualified attorney on your team, one who specializes in music and has experience. While they won’t be able to prevent the types of errors that are causing you to not get paid, they should at least make sure you’re registered in all the right places.
Self-Publishing Songwriters Must Register
A lot of people don’t know self-published songwriters have to register as a songwriter and a publisher. If you don’t register on both sides, you’re only getting half your royalties. That’s one [oversight] our technology would absolutely find.
Songtrust
Rather than registering your songs with the MLC, the PROs, and all that, go to Songtrust. It’s a no-frills, dirt-cheap service where you send them information on your songs and they make sure the songs are properly registered. They’ll do the administrative work surrounding collecting your publishing.
The only downside is they lock you into a one-year agreement. If your career’s taking off and you’re going to sign a publishing agreement soon, then it’s probably not the best move. But if you’re over a year away from talking with publishers, have Songtrust collect on your behalf. It’ll make your life a lot easier.
Problems With Royalty Audits
Royalty audits are prohibitively expensive. You’re looking at $30,000 to $50,000 without a guarantee of what they’ll find. It’s also narrowly focused. RYLTY finds problems across all revenue streams; with an audit, you’re only going to get a handful of those.
It also triggers audit rights, which means you have to wait a number of years before you’re allowed to do it again.
Third, if you took an advance and you’re deep unrecouped, you’re still going to pay. If they don’t find enough to recoup you, you’re going to come out of pocket and not see the benefit. You may recoup faster because of it, but you’re still paying for something that you’re not immediately benefitting from.
OPPS
Warner Music Group Wants a Deal Specialist
The assistant role will provide support to the President/Manager of the company and day-to-day management support for clients. Typical assistant duties: roll calls, manage schedule for President. Handle logistics for President and some clients, including flights, hotel, grounds, itineraries, create budgets, etc. Session scheduling/ maintain calendar for producer client. Product management for the label side of things. Heavy invoicing—Creating and sending invoices for multiple accounts. Apply at ShowbizJobs.
Universal Music Group is Looking for a VP
Oversee the planning, budgeting and travel for tours and promotional events for artists of the CMG Labels. Manage, mentor, train and support the Artist Relations staff as needed. Work with Managers, Tour Managers, and various CMG departments (Marketing, Digital Media, Publicity, Video and Radio Promotion, Sales, and International Marketing) to create, approve, and execute promotional opportunities for assigned artists. Prepare and maintain accurate and comprehensive daily itineraries for assigned artists that include all elements of daily promotional and tour activities. Apply at J and J Body Shop.
Moonbug Entertainment needs Music Production Coordinator, Cocomelon & Little Angel
Reporting to the Music Production Managers, you will be coordinating the music production for multiple children’s brands, and will be able to organize assets including audio stems, cue sheets, budgets, purchase orders, and contracts on time for delivery deadlines. Coordinate multiple projects simultaneously—ensuring audio and metadata is complete and all necessary approvals are finalized by MPMs. Track production schedules and delivery deadlines for releases. Apply at WREG Jobs.
Sony Music Entertainment US wants a Director A&R
You will identify, sign and develop songwriters, writer/producers, and writer/artists across popular genres including pop, hip hop, R&B, and alternative. You will also be connected and trusted among artists, writers and producers and their managers, and will be effective at securing co-writes, collaborations, cuts, covers and other uses of compositions by Work of Art Music Publishing writers. Seek out and sign songwriters and producers with world-class talent and strong commercial potential. Apply at Salary.com.
For More Career Opportunities, check out musicconnection.com daily. And sign up for MC’s Weekly Bulletin newsletter.
LABELS•RELEASES SIGNINGS
Lisa O’Neill Signs to Rough
Trade Records. Evocative Irish
HUNTER DAILY FINDS THE SKELETON KEY
Los Angeles singer and songwriter Hunter Daily has released a new single and video of the track “Skeleton Key.” “’Skeleton Key’ is about a relationship that inevitably has to come to an end because you are no longer a match, like a broken lock and skeleton key,” Daily says. Contact erin@tellallyourfriendspr.com for more info.
music songwriter Lisa O’Neill has signed with Rough Trade Records. Her debut release for the label will be the All of This is Chance album, out Feb. 10. Taking cues from traditional Irish musician Tony McMahon and poet Patrick Kavanagh, the record is a truly authentic affair. “Throughout all eight songs on this album, it feels like she is writing in a constant state of wonderment,” reads a statement. “Not only a portrait of the artist in love with nature, but one perplexed by the ever-expanding gulf between it and modern society.” Contact taliamiller@roughtraderecords. com for more info.
London-based electronic artist The Blessed Madonna has signed to Warner Records.
Kentucky-born, London-based artist, DJ and producer Marea Stamper, aka The Blessed Madonna, has signed to Warner Records and celebrated with new single “Serotonin Moonbeams.” “We talked about what it was like to fall in love in the Vicks Vapo-rub, candy soaked raves
MARY BRAGG
Producer and musician Mary Bragg has been singing since before she can remember, a fact that has been caught on family home videos.
“I grew up in a big, southern family, where singing in school and in church was a primary pastime, and I started playing guitar in high school at church camp, where somebody taught me how to play ‘Closer to Fine’ by the Indigo Girls,” Bragg says. “Santa Claus brought me my own Martin DM in 1998, and that is still my primary acoustic guitar to this day.”
Bragg defines her “I wrote my first song in high school...” story as cliche, but it was born out of grief from losing her cousin. She moved to Nashville in 2013 and started taking her writing seriously.
Nowadays, the artist describes her sound as “song-obsessed folk-Americana complete with lush guitars and harmonic layers to support the lyric.” And she’s doing just fine with it.
“Being a winner of the 2017 MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was a feather in my cap that I really needed at the time, or at least that’s what I told myself,” she said. “Producing a record of my own for the first time (Violets as Camouflage) in 2019 was another big turning point, when, I liked what I’d made, and it seemed other people did, too. ”The term [DIY] usually sends the conversation to the business side of things, which of course can be a rabbit hole of a topic, but in a musical sense, DIY is a real gift,” Bragg says. “The call and challenge to do it—the work —yourself, couldn’t be a sweeter gift, since having the ability and privilege to express yourself with your voice or an instrument is pretty unbeatable.”
Bragg’s latest release is “Hard Time,” taken from her new album.
“‘Hard Time’ is a pandemic song written on the front porch of my good friend and co-writer on this song, Caroline Spence,” she said. “I loved that day. It was so surreal to be writing in person again after what seemed like a decade of Zoom writes. That song is on my new selftitled album, which was recorded during the pandemic, mostly remotely, in Nashville and New York, where I live right now.
For more, visit marybragg.com.
of the ‘90s,” said The Blessed Madonna in a statement. “It’s about ‘cuddle puddles’ and the intense emotional, physical and spiritual connections that can form when serotonal conditions are right. Barriers that might exist in a normal dating atmosphere evaporate and strangers can become intimate and beloved figures in an instant. It’s gotten an incredible response since I tested it the first time in Brazil on tour.” Contact darren.baber@ warnerrecords.com for more info.
Melodic metal troupe Swansong
signs to Noble Demon. The deal for Finnish band Swansong is a worldwide one with the German label. “We are honored and excited to announce, that we have started to work on our first fulllength album with Noble Demon Records,” said Swandong. “This is HUGE for us! The recordings for the album have already begun. We want to THANK YOU ALL, this is all for you! Thank you Noble Demon for seeing our potential. We are grateful to join the impressive Noble Demon roster with many awesome bands.” Contact shauna@odonnellmediagroup. com for more info.
The first U.S. residency for the multi-room One Love
Experience will be held at Los Angeles’ Ovation Hollywood from Jan. 27-April 23. Visitors will see the reggae music legend’s entire Rock & Roll Hall of Fame archive at the exhibition, alongside previously unseen photos, rare memorabilia, concert videos, guitars, lyric sheets, sneakers, a Marley-branded jukebox, and Marley-themed artwork inspired by the star. There will also be a silent disco in the venue with headphones at the Soul Shakedown studio, where fans can dance along to Marley’s music. Tickets are available online.
BRETT CALLWOOD has written about music for two decades, originally for Kerrang!, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and more in the U.K. He’s the author of two books, about Detroit proto-punks, the MC5 and the Stooges. He’s now the music editor at LA Weekly, and has regular bylines in the SF Weekly, Tucson Weekly and idobi Radio, as well as here in Music Connection. He can be reached at brettcallwood@gmail.com
2KBABY STANDS FOR LOVE
Louisville artist 2KBABY is back with vulnerable new song “Stand Love,” which sees him take a deep dive into his emotions. “Why all you girls play these games,” he exclaims in the song. “I can’t stand love.” The artist said in a statement, “I don’t know what love is or if I’m doing it right. I’m tired of trying to figure it out.” Contact yashar. zadeh@warnerrecords.com for more info.
BY GLENN LITWAK
SONGWRITERS HAVE LONG
been concerned about the amount of income they receive for songwriting. The music industry has evolved over the last 10 years or so as revenue streams have changed. Artists and music producers who are also songwriters don’t have to solely rely on songwriting for their income. But for those who are only songwriters the outlook is not as good.
Lauren Christy is a successful songwriter and music producer. She has co-written such hits as Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated” and also has written for Britney Spears and Liz Phair. As she told Rolling Stone Magazine, she’s worried about the future of songwriters. “On this current path, we are headings towards a national funeral for the songwriting profession.” She indicates that songwriters who are also recording artist and/or music producers can still make it, but those who rely only on songwriting are becoming rarer and could disappear unless the music industry does something about giving songwriters a bigger slice of the pie.
In August of 2022 there was an important decision when the major streaming services and music publishers entered into a new agreement through what is known as the Copyright Royalty Board (“CRB”), which is a three judge panel chosen by the Librarian of Congress to determine issues concerning music publishers and songwriters. The Royalty Board determines the amount of songwriters and music publishers royalties for the next five year period. The CRB still has to approve the deal between streamers and publishers which is expected to be made in the near future. The decision will decide how much money publishers and
SONGWRITERS CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR INCOME
songwriters receive for their music from companies such as Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora.
The streamers and publishers had a huge battle over the rate for the 2018-2022 time period. The CRB ultimately decided to raise the rate from 10.5 to 15.1 percent (the highest rate ever for songwriters) which was considered a big win for songwriters.
The CRB had recent hearings to determine the rates for the years 2023 to 2027 and the rates will increase by a much smaller amount: 15.1 to 15.35 over the next five years which is the highest rate ever for songwriters. As songwriter Michelle Lewis told Rolling Stone:
“For publishers or writers with multiple hits, anyone with market share at scale, they’re stoked because this is a format that rewards scale. But this doesn’t help anyone below the 1 percent [richest writers].”
Other issues songwriters are pursuing are “Day rates’ for songwriters to guarantee they get paid not just royalties but also for their time and work. And they would like better terms for publishing deals. Another source of revenue for songwriters could be giving songwriters a percentage from master recording royalties. Currently, songwriters only receive royalties on the composition, not the master recorded from the composition.
If songwriters are to be paid more it has to come from somewhere. Streamers and/or labels and/or artists would have to take less. I don’t predict that happening any time soon.
GLENN LITWAK is a veteran entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, Grammy winning music producers, hit songwriters, management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels. Glenn is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as South by Southwest and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Email Litwak at gtllaw59@gmail.com or visit glennlitwak.com.
ALLY SALORT Date Signed: May 2021 AUTUMN MARINI Label: Blackground Date Signed: January 2022 Type of Music: R&B Label: Geffen Records/Listen To The Kids, Fish Grease Management: Tchalla - 678-523-1529 Management: Rene Symonds - Tap Management Booking: N/A Legal: Debra White Loeb Legal: Arrington and Phillips Publicity: Christina Lo Duca - UMG/Geffen Publicity: Jeremy Johnson - The Live Vibe, info@thelivevibela.com, Web: instagram.com/allysalort 805-889-4098 A&R: Conor Ambrose Web: instagram.com/autumn_marini A&R: Mike Jackson and Barry Hankerson
Ally Salort once roamed the hallways of the very same high school that SZA and Lauryn Hill attended, years after the Grammy winners were in their teens. Hence, the groundwork for a successful career in mainstream music was presented to her at a very young age.
However, the latest music protégé out of Columbia High School in New Jersey forged her own blueprint upon being discovered by her music producer, Pop Wansel, and participating as a contender in a talent search for a roster spot with Atlantic Records back in 2018. Salort placed among the top contestants, and the knowledge she gained prompted her to upload videos by Top 40 artists such as Adele and Bruno Mars to her YouTube channel, once a week, in order to garner an organic fan following. She repeated the process for about two years until her rendition of “IDK you Yet” by Alexander 23 landed on the radar of Conor Ambrose. The musician-turned-A&R manager at Geffen Records reached out to Pop Wansel on Salort’s behalf about a couple of months later, and they negotiated a recording contract with the help of her manager.
“We talked over Zoom once,” Salort recalled. “I just had a feeling about [Conor] and I just really like him. I also thought, ‘He’s young and he knows the music industry is ever-changing.’ I felt that he was really up-to-date with the way the industry works now. My manager was also saying that [Conor] could be a really good fit.”
Terms of the joint-deal stipulated that Ally Salort was not only signed to Geffen Records, but also Conor’s independent label, called Listen to the Kids, and a separate imprint belonging to Pop Wansel’s manager. The signing was made official in January of 2022. In the months that followed, the team commemorated the deal with a “signing dinner” before working on Salort’s transition from being a well-known “cover band musician” to a brand-new recording artist. The 19-year-old released a music video for her debut single, “Stranger Things” in May and another video for her follow-up single “You’ll Never Notice” in September. Collectively, the tracks are a blend of R&B and Pop that resonate similarly to the early work of Alessia Cara and Ariana Grande. Salort’s third single, “Nostalgic” was published in November and her debut EP should drop sometime during the first quarter of 2023. The music production will be handled by Salort’s Grammy-nominated producer, Pop Wansel. All of the content will be released under the umbrella of Epic Records. – Miguel Costa Approximately a year and a half ago, R&B singer Autumn Marini was busy writing and recording. She knew having a solid catalog of tunes was key to making it in the industry. Then she found a manager whose professional network included somebody personally familiar with Barry Hankerson, the legendary founder of Blackground Records who played a vital role in launching Aaliyah to superstardom. As fate would have it, Aaliyah is one of Marini’s idols.
“The chance to sign with someone like Barry Hankerson was amazing,” gushes the singer from Georgia. Marini views the chance to hear Hankerson recount stories and impart hard-earned wisdom as a valuable bonus. Listening to one of Marini’s demos secured the honcho’s interest.
A performance at Hankerson’s house was subsequently arranged. There, she was introduced to members from Empire, the resurrected label’s distributor. A deal was soon in the offing, and Marini is now the first artist on Blackground 2.0.
Other labels had approached Marini, yet none made the grade. She’d take their proposed contracts to her attorney for review and always received the same advice not to sign. That wasn’t the case with Blackground. “My lawyer said it was a great contract for a first artist,” reports the diva.
One signing from her past proved troublesome. She inked a threeyear deal in 2016 that didn’t work out. Extracting herself from that entanglement required legal maneuvering. Despite the experience, she had zero hesitation about signing with Blackground. “They believed in me,” she affirms. “I was ready.”
Marini’s latest banger, “Don’t Stop,” featuring Kodak Black and produced by Jazze Pha, has been going gangbusters on Spotify, YouTube and radio. Last year, she released “Drive,” produced by Damon Thomas of The Underdogs. Additional material is in the works.
The vocalist stresses that she wouldn’t be where she is today without a strong team. Others looking for a label should have the same. Also, she warns hopefuls to proceed with caution. “Don’t ever rush into something, because you can get yourself in some mess if you do.” – Andy Kaufmann
CHASE MATTHEW
Date Signed: Sept. 22, 2022 Label: Warner Music Nashville Band Members: Chase Matthew, vocals; Carsen Richards, bass; Ciaran Wilkie, lead guitar; Johnny Gentry, drums Type of Music: Country Management: Ignition Management Booking: United Talent Agency Legal: Eric Griffin - Music City Counsel Publicity: Lexi Cothren, lcothran@shorefire.com Web: chasematthew.com A&R: Rohan Kohli
When an artist calls their debut album Born for This, they’re asking for trouble. Hubris, they say, is usually reserved for those who have already achieved success. But Chase Matthew was only speaking the truth. The singer-songwriter isn’t a household name just yet, but he’s poised to become one.
“I’m what they call a ‘unicorn,’” he laughs, noting that his parents work in the music industry. “I’m born and raised in Nashville, and went to school here. I’ve walked these streets dreaming about this day.”
At the encouragement of friends and family, Matthew posted a clip of “County Line” last year. The song notched 700,000 views on TikTok on the night he put it up, eventually leading to RIAA gold certification.
Many people living here don’t realize what they have at their fingertips,” Matthew says. “You have the opportunity to be in the right room at the right time, playing the right kind of music. You can’t have a cynical mindset. I promised Ryan (Upchurch) I wouldn’t stop working hard. I’m tired of seeing my family struggle.”
Matthew increased his exposure by collaborating with managerrapper Big Snap (Ryan Upchurch) and his Holler Boy Records. Big Snap facilitated meetings with Warner Music Nashville, while Matthew drew in more than 1.5 million plays on Spotify.
Thanks to that work ethic, Matthew recently inked a deal with Warner Music Nashville. All the while, he sold out 1,500-capacity venues across the country with his captivating live shows.
Matthew put his nose to the grindstone after dropping out of high school and dealing with the aftermath of his best friend’s death in 2017. The two developed their music chops playing together in church. (Matthew asked that his friend’s name be kept confidential.) “I wanted to make sure that I lived his legacy for him,” Matthew says.
He confesses: “I’m a little rough around the edges. “I might kiss, drink, smoke … but I’ve never stopped believing in God’s plan. As my aunt told me, I’m not lucky—I’m blessed.” – Kurt Orzeck
SASH
Date Signed: July 2022 Label: Apex Sound Type of Music: Hip-Hop/Pop Management: N/A Legal: Marisa Pizarro + David Fritz - Boyarski Fritz LLP Publicity: bailey@bbgunpr.com
Native New Yorker Sash grew up surrounded by music. His dad was a massive hip-hop head, so the fledgling Sash’s artistic education began early.
“We’d listen to an old Kanye or a J Dilla-produced record, and that took you to different samples,” Sash told us by phone. “You got into investigating different genres and different sounds. Different kinds of music. I just grew up as a listener. I got into making music in high school, it was always for fun. I never really thought to put out anything until my friend suggested I throw this one song on Soundcloud. It’s all grown from there.” He’s evolved organically over time into an artist with a sound very much his own. Sweet vocals and melodies over dark, brash music coming together to form something quite delicate. He’s also the very first artist signed to the newly formed Apex Sound—the brainchild of Mike Dean and Apex Martin.
“Apex reached out to me years ago, when he heard something on Soundcloud, and we started working on stuff ever since,” Sash says. “We had recorded a few things together, some beats. Then Mike heard some of the stuff that we had recorded recently and was like, ‘Let’s try to work on something together.’ We started working on music and it naturally progressed until like, ‘let’s put this stuff out, it’s sounding great.’”
The artist says that he didn’t need any more of a hook than the opportunity to work with Mike Dean. “I grew up as a Mike Dean fan,” Sash says. “I grew up listening to all the stuff that Mike was working on. So just the chance to work with him is the hook. Just being able to create music with people like Mike and Apex—there’s nothing past that. It’s essentially an independent label. So, it’s not like it’s a major label where you’re getting promises. Where I am right now, all I need is to be dealing with people creating stuff that I like consistently.”
Sash’s first release for the label is “Lemon Sorbet,” a moody, noir gem with some killer synth from Mike Dean and an epic, movie-esque video. “Then we’re doing an EP called Bittersweet—it’s a short project, so it’s technically an EP, but it’s like a batch of music,” Sash says. “We’re going to be releasing a lot over the next year.”
Bittersweet came out on Dec. 2. Much like the duality in his music, the EP’s theme is one of pleasure and pain, beauty and darkness. That’s kind of what makes him tick. “I want the music to feel like ‘50s and ‘60s jazz musicians,” Sash says in conclusion. “Performance-wise and characterwise, that’s what I want to make it feel like.” – Brett Callwood
KENNEDY CENTER HONORS LEÓN
Peermusic classical artist Tanya León has received a Kennedy Center honor for her extensive work in expanding the possibilities for the sound of classical music–including her recent Pulitzer Prize-winning piece, “Stride,” as part of “Project 19” (that marks 100 years of the woman’s vote).
FUTURE ICON APOLLO
Omar Apollo received Variety’s 2022 Future Icon Award at their annual Hitmakers event and is on the ballot for 2023 Grammy Best New Artist, following two Latin Grammy nominations in 2021, and a 2022 U.K. Music Video Awards win for “Invincible” as Best R&B/Soul Video–International.
KOBALT SIGNS VENBEE
Songwriter Venbee has signed a global pub deal with Kobalt Music for sync and creative services for catalog and future works. Debut “Low Down” succeeded on TikTok and radio, with “Messy In Heaven” at U.K. No. 5, Radio 1 A-List, 13 million Spotify streams, 24 million TikTok views and No. 1 on U.K. viral chart.
Tin Pan South Returns
The Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival returns March 28 – April 1, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Nashville event. The full schedule will be up on Feb. 28, with more details to follow soon.
This year’s program includes a new festival app for IOS and Android devices to help navigate all of the festival’s happenings, which was designed by the team at Aloompa Nashville.
For more information, tickets, and full registration, visit: tinpansouth.com
SESAC Support Groups
In partnership with MusiCares, SESAC is offering Cyber Emotional Support groups for artists needing help with anxiety and other mental health challenges. Confidential support and community is being offered weekly and is free of charge, with groups based in Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta, Fort Collins, New Orleans, and Austin (as well as virtually). Groups cover general mental health and anxiety struggles, as well as challenges specific to women, the black community, LGBTQ+, and addiction recovery.
To find out more, please visit: musicares.org/get-help/addictionrecovery
SongNet Sessions
The Songwriter’s Network (SongNet) hosts industry speaker sessions on the first Wednesday of each month and live performance showcases on the third Wednesday of each month.
As a network of career-minded songwriters, musicians, artists, and music industry professionals supporting each other in events, seminars, showcases, and collaborations, SongNet began as a way for songwriters at all levels to collaborate and network to help each other achieve their goals and feel less isolated.
Details and membership at: songnet.info
BIG DOG COULAHAN
Big Yellow Dog Music has added Kyle Coulahan to their artist-songwriter roster. Penning songs with Bobby Pinson (Jason Aldean, Randy Hauser), Clint Daniels (Eric Church, Jon Pardi), etc., his latest success stems from his collaboration with comedian Carlos Kane on “Country As Hell.”
Listening Room Retreats
Brett Perkins’ Listening Room Retreats are back with opportunities for 2023 in Tuscany, Italy (April 3-8), Copenhagen, Denmark (Aug. 21-26), Inisheer, Ireland (Oct. 23-29), and Sisimiut, Greenland (dates still TBA).
The Retreats revolve around “The Listening Circle,” which is a platform of communication based on community-building principles that support the energy and participation of each member to give and receive focused attention. Daily facilitation is led by Brett Perkins, alongside partners, co-leaders, and invited songwriting professionals to add their experience and perspectives. Morning start by exploring various aspects of the creative process, followed by a fresh co-writer pairing each day.
Full details and registration at: listeningroomretreats.com
Secretly A&R Grows
Following Eddie Sikazwe’s appointment to Sr. Director of A&R last summer, Secretly Publishing’s A&R team has grown again with the addition of two new members. Trinity Hood has been hired as the A&R Associate, and Tony MessinaDoerning as A&R for the busy Los Angeles office in an effort to help with roster, catalog, and synch growth and administration. Both Hood and Messina-Doerning will report to Sikazwe.
Adding to Secretly’s team in Brooklyn, the Secretly Group label recently hired Laura “Lau” Frias as the A&R Director for Dead Oceans, Jagiaguwar, Saddest Factory Records, and Secretly Canadian.
BMI Honors Keith & Hardy
BMI congratulates Toby Keith on being the recipient of 2022’s BMI Country Music Icon Award for his songwriting contribution to country music, as well as his humanitarianism. Having sold over 40 million albums, Keith has had 32 No. 1 singles and written a No. 1 song every year for 20 straight years. He has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,
and has been named BMI’s Country Singer of the Year three times.
BMI also wishes to congratulate Michael Hardy on his BMI Country Music Awards Songwriter of the Year win, following his AIMP and ACM Songwriter of the Year award wins for 2022. Hardy’s sophomore album, The Mockingbird & The Crow, is set for release this month.
Full award listing at bmi.com/ award-shows/country-2022
Durango Songwriters
The next Durango Songwriters Conference is being held in Ventura, CA—Thursday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 25—with listening sessions, open mic opportunities, panel discussions, and plenty of time and space to network with other songwriters and industry professionals.
The community is open to all levels of songwriting and is a very supportive place to move forward in your songwriting and development.
Full details at: durangosongwriters-expo.com/
HUME Amplifying Songwriters
Web3 record label, Hume, is using the metaverse to amplify the workings of real-life songwriters as part of a new songwriting camp. The team of founders includes producers and songwriters that have billions of streams for artists including Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, and Demi Lovato. Inaugural artist, angelbaby already has numerous No. 1 songs on the Audius platform and two No. 1 NFTs on OpenSea, with the Hume community left to vote on which song angelbaby will produce next.
Partnering with the Blocktones immersive audio project and web3 R&B artist Reo Gragun, Hume hopes to bring music to the metaverse in a weeklong writing camp, with the goal of finishing 2-3 new tracks written by a human artist and a virtual metastar artist (which has never happened before). More at: wearehume.com
WCM Gets Defiant
In a first-ever web3 entertainment deal, Warner Chappell Music (WCM) has partnered with Defiant to help incubate the next generation of creatives. In an initiative to create more opportunities for Warner’s songwriters and producers to engage and utilize the web3 platform and blockchain technology, the agreement represents the first step toward next-level creation and the integration of new income streams for WCM artists.
“Archives” is being launched as the first project, which consists of a digital museum backed by blockchain which focuses on the art and stories behind songs to create a more intimate experience for fans. The “exhibits” include digital collectibles, events, memorabilia, etc., and will show insights behind the creative process. The digital museum launches early this year with an “Archives Mint Pass”–a 2,000-piece NFT collection, with each piece granting the holder access to participate in drops, auctions, and virtual experiences.
ANDREA BEENHAM (aka Drea Jo) is a freelance writer and marketing consultant based in Southern California. The South-African born, Canadianraised California transplant has a passion for music, people and fun. She can be reached at drea@dreajo.com
AJ GETS WISE
Wise Music Group has entered into an exclusive worldwide co-publishing agreement with pop phenom AJ Smith for his future workings. The deal will also cover his catalog of music to date, which includes hit songs, “We’re All Gonna Die,” “Confetti,” “Drama,” and “Lonely Year.”
SCISSORS FOR WCM
Scissor Sisters have signed their catalog over to WCM. Their first success was in the U.K. covering Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” Their self-titled debut received Best International Album at 2005’s BRIT Awards. Ta-Dah (2006), Night Work (2010), Magic Hour (2012) also found success.
HOPELESS AJJ
AJJ (formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad) have released their first single since signing to Hopeless Records. True to their trademark of addressing difficult themes and starting conversations, “The Baby Panda” is meant to highlight the dangers of global warming.
