New Signings & Team-Ups: March 14

HOW WARNER BROS GOT LIL’ PUMP BACK, FOR $8M

Warner Bros signed Miami-born Cuban-Mexican artist Lil Pump when he was 16, after five self-released singles on SoundCloud generated 3 million streams each and the music video for ‘D Rose’ clocked up 108 million YouTube views. 

Then came ‘Gucci Gang’ which reached #3 in the US and Canada, Top 20 in Australia and New Zealand and Top 30 in the UK. Its video had 227 million views on YouTube. 

In January, the rapper-producer's attorney John Branca said the Warner Bros contract was invalid, as Lil’ Pump was underage when he signed it, and no court agreement had been made where the deal is typically renegotiated when the act becomes an adult.

Other labels circled around, and Lil Pump, who turns 18 in August, made it clear that he was not going to sign with anyone for under $15 million.

"If you ain't got 15 [million], don't talk to me," he told a TMZ cameraman. "I don't want no meetings unless you talkin' 15 and up!" 

However, a new deal has been negotiated with Warner Bros which is worth $8 million and includes his first album.

The seven-year deal sees Warner Bros paying him an $8 million advance, and then $9,000 for the first year, $12,000 for the second and $15,000 for the remaining years.

The rapper posted on Facebook to celebrate the news: "Got a new car got a new bitch & I got a new deeaaal ✍???"

To boot, the royalty rate is immense - 14% in the United States and up to 66% depending on the format.

UNFD SPEEDS UP FOR SLOWLY SLOWLY 

UNFD has finalised an agreement with rock band Slowly Slowly, who had their beginnings in a label machine factory the Outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. 

The band's second album, St. Leonards, is due out on May 11, with a single ‘Alchemy’ which premiered on triple j this week.

Frontman Ben Stewart says: “As soon as we sat down with UNFD we could feel how excited they were about our record.

“They understood exactly how we wanted the world to see St. Leonards – we are looking forward to both being a part of the UNFD family and also making them a part of our own.”

Slowly Slowly are doing shows with The Story So Far in Brisbane and Sydney at the end of the month, and follow up the album’s release with six national dates May 11 to June 16.

SONY/ATV AUSTRALIAN SIGNING HITS 3M STREAMS

Sony/ATV Australia’s most recent signing, Brisbane based Zimbabwean hip-hop act Carmouflage Rose has hit 3 million streams and counting on Spotify with his single ‘Late Nights’ through Bedlam Records.

SPOTIFY ALSO GOES LIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA, ISRAEL 

Aside from launching in Vietnam yesterday, as reported in TMN, Spotify also went live in South Africa and Israel. That brings the total of countries iutilising the streaming service to 64.

The three countries have a combined population of 160 million.

Spotify, positively a hive of investor-impressing activity before its public offering in early April, has also launched a new tool called Line-In which allows users to give acts suggestions on their songs and albums. 

These can be on style, language and artist roles, which provides creators with more background on what their fans are thinking. 

The tool is still a work in progress, and will eventually allow input on lyrics and titles.

WARNER CHAPPELL GETS IRV GOTTI

Warner/Chappell signed a global administration pact with music executive, producer and songwriter Irv Gotti’s future material. 

The deal includes the score music he has written for the hit BET drama series, Tales, which he created and produced through his company Visionary Ideas Entertainment. 

Murder Inc Records founder Gotti has, in various capacities, been involved in the careers of DMX, JAY-Z, Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, Ja Rule, Foxy Brown, Eve and Fat Joe. 

Jon Platt, chairman and CEO of Warner/Chappell, said, "Irv is an amazing music person and entrepreneur, and the force behind a string of game-changing records.

“Irv's impressive talents have often gone unrecognized, but there is no doubt that he has some of the best ears in the business.

“Irv and I been great friends for years, so it’s a thrill to welcome him into the Warner/Chappell family."

MIRROR EXPANDS ROSTER WITH LOLA KIRKE

Management and indie label Mirror Records – home to Gang Of Youths, Middle Kids, Brightness, Fountaineer, Clea, Sloan Peterson and Ric Rufio – has expanded its roster with US actress and musician Lola Kirke.

She’s dropped her new single ‘Monster’ in Australia, along with a video shot in Tokyo while Kirke was on location shooting her Amazon series Mozart In The Jungle.

Born in London (her father is Bad Company and Free drummer Simon Kirke) and growing up in New York, she went for a country rock sound after discovering Gram Parsons in her mid-teens.

MILK!, REMOTE CONTROL TEAM FOR EVELYN IDA MORRIS

Milk! Records and Remote Control Records team up to release Melbourne-based Evelyn Ida Morris’ self-titled album on April 20. 

Better known as Pikelet who won The Age Music Victoria Award for Best Experimental Musician, the record is set to be a significant departure from their previous work, with a focus on piano.

The compositions deal with the experience of being non-binary and making sense of that experience. 

Morris explains, “All of the songs happened really quickly, during a time when I was attempting to find clarity around my identity.

“I didn’t know what I was feeling when I started making this album. 

“I had a whole lot of unresolved feelings about being non-binary and about what that meant in the world, and I guess the album was working through that on the piano.”

New single 'The Body Appears' - “That song feels like I finally found words around my identity,” Morris added - comes with a video shot by Geoffrey O'Connor and performed by Deanne Butterworth.

Morris founded LISTEN, an advocacy group aimed at increasing awareness around gender politics in music.

ABC RADIO COMES TO APPLE SIRI DEVICES

ABC Radio listeners, including those who tune into triple j, can now use their Siri-abled devices to access the network’s stations.

Through HomePod, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Mac computers, they can also ask the voice recognition assistant to get to Radio National, ABC Grandstand Radio and ABC Classic Radio.

OAK VIEW GETS $100M INJECTION

US entertainment and sports company’s Oak View Group, set up in 2015 by Tim Lieweke and Irving Azoff, has received a $100 million injection from a technology investment firm Silver Lake. The company plans to use the funds to expand, especially into arenas.

BRISBANE’S BUGS GNAW AT NEW WORLD ARTISTS

Brisbane surf-pop trio Bugs, who started out in 2014 as a bedroom project by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Connor Brooke, are now booked through New World Artists and repped by Dom Miller.

RICH THE KID GETS HIGH POWERED MANAGEMENT

Fast-rising US rap entrepreneur and label owner Rich The Kid prepares for the upcoming debut album The World Is Yours by assigning his management to The Blueprint Group. 

Blueprint, which is part of the Maverick super-management company, itself looks after heavyweights Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy and The Weeknd.

HAYU TO EXPAND CONTENT

The Australian arm of subscription video-on-demand platform hayu has told Mumbrella that it plans to expand its international content, and may also look at commissioning local material. The platform's focus on reality TV shows has seen its Australian weekly streaming audience increase by 500% in the past year.

FUGA OPENS NEW OFFICES, PICKS UP AUSSIE ACTS

FUGA, the industry-leading technology and services company for international rightsholders, has opened new offices and picked up new clients.

Headquartered in Amsterdam and with an office in New York, FUGA has opened new offices in London and Milan.

In the US, the digital distributor has signed up a number of new clients, including indie label Mom + Pop Music (the US home to Courtney Barnett and Flume) as well as ReverbNation, the distribution and services platform for emerging artists, which services millions of musicians across the globe.

PERTH’S BEARDFOOT BOOKING THE OMNIFIC

Perth booking agency, Beardfoot has taken over the bookings for Melbourne prog-rock trio The Omnific (which consists of two bassists and one drummer), joining other heavy bands Voyager, Osaka Punch and Statues.

Beardfoot director, Josh Terlick, says he became an instant fan after the first listen of The Omnific’s late 2017 EP, Kismet. 

The band’s videos have a total accumulation of 1 million views.

COUNT JUSTINE CLARKE IN

Music: Count Us In (MCUI), Australia’s largest school music participation program, has brought in children’s TV host Justine Clarke (Play School) as its mentor for 2018.

Last year, MCUI saw over 3,000 schools and over 660,000 students take part in the program providing students and teachers with the opportunity to develop their music skills and simultaneously perform with schools around the country.

NEW PR COMPANY FOR SONOS

Sonos Australia’s new PR agency is Hidden Characters, repped by managing director Annalise Brown and group account director Kirilly Mallard.

The local arm of the home audio company previously utilised Webber Shandwick.