Round Hill Music has acquired an interest in Trevor Rabin‘s publishing catalog, according to a statement from the Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited. The former guitarist turned film composer’s lengthy catalog contains over 3,500 film cues and songs as well as cuts from his tenure as a member of prog rockers Yes, most notably “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” the band’s lone Hot 100 No. 1.
Over the course of his storied career Rabin has earned an induction into Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and 11 BMI awards for his work, which includes the scores of National Treasure, Remember The Titans, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Bad Boys II, Glory Road, and more. Rabin notes his decision to partner with Round Hill Music stemmed from the company’s history of “stewardship in managing some of the most important music catalogs.” He continues, “I know my music will be in good hands.”
The stake in Rabin’s catalog was acquired by Round Hill using funds managed by the independent publisher — of which Round Hill’s interest represents half., and the deal includes the acquisition of the publisher’s share and writer’s share of Rabin’s relevant copyrights. Round Hill also will have administrative control for sync licensing purposes exclusively.
Josh Gruss, chairman, CEO, and founder of the independent publisher said, “We believe this is a particularly attractive area in which to be increasing our exposure, as film and TV performance revenues continue to increase in value. It is an outstanding privilege to welcome his catalog to the company’s portfolio.”
Toronto-based Daytripper Music Publishing, the creative arm of CCS Rights Management, has joined forces with KCRW radio host, School Night founder, and Grammy-nominated music supervisor Chris Douridas to officially launch the publisher in the United States.
The joint venture will see Chris Douridas spearheading the A&R strategy of the company as it signs new, U.S.-based talent to co-publishing agreements. Douridas will also lead in new creative ventures for the Daytripper roster globally. “Identifying great artistry and helping it find its way out into the world is at the heart of everything I do,” Douridas says. “An alliance with Jodie [Ferneyhough, founder and president of CCS Rights Management] is an obvious fit.”
The eventual U.S. signees will add to Daytripper’s fast growing roster of young talent which already includes Hill Kourkoutis, Tribe Friday, Featurette, POESY, Nuela Charles; CARYS, Yukon Blonde, Laurent Bourque, and Mikhail Laxton, among others.
“As we expand into the U.S., I couldn’t be more pleased to be partnering with Chris, who embodies everything we envisioned as the philosophy behind CCS’ new Daytripper Music Publishing division,” says Ferneyhough.
Independent publisher Position Music has signed rising artist/songwriter Layto to a worldwide co-publishing deal. The latest signee to Position Music, Layto joins fellow songwriters Judah & the Lion, Michael Franti, Welshly Arms and more to Position’s roster. The deal will include Layto’s back catalog, including “Little Poor Me,” the breakout single which helped put Layto on the map in 2018, as well as future works created under the deal. Along with the newly inked publishing contract, Layto is also signed to Imperial Records, a joint venture with Republic Records, and his latest single “Click” was released August 6th.
For Layto and his managers, signing a publishing deal came down to finding a team that was equally passionate about the music. “You can’t put a price on enthusiasm,” said Layto’s management team, Garrett Ream and Steve Richards. “We felt [that] from every conversation with Tyler Bacon and Mark Chipello at Position Music.
S10 Publishing, in partnership with Avex USA, has signed a worldwide co-publishing deal with rising songwriter David Arkwright. One of the masterminds behind influencer Bella Poarch’s addictive first single “Build A B*tch,” which has spent 11 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 to date, Arkwright joins the boutique publisher’s fast-growing roster. Other songs represented in part by S10 Publishing writers includes Justin Bieber’s “Peaches,” Internet Money’s “His & Hers” and “Somebody,” DJ Snake and Selena Gomez’s “Selfish Love,” The Kid LAROI’s “WRONG,” and more.
This marks the multi-hyphenate company’s latest foray into publishing and the deal will include Arkwright’s back catalog as well as his work moving forward. Currently best known for their work as the management team behind superstars Normani and Lauv, Brandon Silverstein, founder and CEO of S10 Entertainment, has placed a major focus on expanding the company’s publishing offerings in the past year.
For Arkwright, signing with S10 “could not be more exciting,” noting “it is truly an incredible fit.” Silverstein adds, “From the moment I met David, I knew he was a special talent. The depth of his songwriting is what stood out.”
Relative Music Group and Sony Music Publishing Nashville have joined together to sign Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Zach Abend to a co-publishing agreement. The hitmaker is best known for his work in the country genre with songs like “BOYFRIEND” by HARDY and “Anything But Love” by Ingrid Andress, but Abend also broke into the pop market with the TikTok viral hit “play w/ me,” by new artist Bailey Bryan.
The new deal with Relative Music Group and SMP Nashville is a go-forward deal and the two companies will represent the songwriter across all territories.
Jesse Matkosky, co-founder of Relative Music Group, noted he has been a “fan of Zach’s for a long time,” citing that the team “couldn’t be happier” to enter this new publishing agreement. Abend adds, “It means a lot to get to work with other creatives who are strong believers in me and what I bring to a song.”
BMI has partnered with Beasley Media Group and Xperi’s HD Radio Technology to launch a limited edition run of BMI’s signature “How I Wrote That Song” series. The partnership will see the airing of 12 new episodes of “How I Wrote That Song” on Beasley Media Group’s radio stations across the country as well as on the company’s website. Writers included in the 12-part series include Lauren Alaina, Chris Lane, John Popper (Blues Traveler), Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra), Oak Felder, Mooski and Parker McCollum, among other unannounced participants, and the show will be hosted by Brian Ives.
This is the latest project in a longstanding relationship between BMI and Beasley Media Group and Xperi’s HD Radio Technology. Last year, the three companies worked on a project called “Hundred Years of Radio,” and, according to Clay Bradley, vp of creative at BMI’s Nashville office, the PRO is “thrilled to join forces again.”
River House Artists and Sony Music Publishing Nashville have teamed up to sign rising country singer/songwriter Kasey Tyndall to a global co-publishing agreement.
The deal includes works made by Tyndall moving forward and will not include her previously released works, like her 2017 project Between Salvation and Survival which helped launch her career in country music.
Known for her gritty, hard-rock edge, the young talent has shared the stage with musicians like Keith Urban, Kane Brown, Kelsea Ballerini, Parmalee, and many more. Currently, she is on tour with Jamey Johnson and Whiskey Myers and is touring through the South and Midwest, and she has plans to spend the fall as an opener for Drake White.
According to Zebb Luster, vice president and general manager for River House Artists, the team has been “big fans of Kasey for a couple years now,” calling her a “true entertainer.”
Tyndall adds, “I am beyond excited to be starting a new chapter in my career and joining the River House family.”
Warner Chappell Music has signed hitmaking German rapper RIN to a global co-publishing deal. One of the most-streamed artists in Germany, RIN’s albums Eros (2017)and Nimmerland (Neverland) (2019)are regarded as deutschrap essentials, making the young star widely influential in the genre from the start of his career.
The terms of the new deal do not include his past work, but it does include future endeavors from RIN. According to Narascha Augustin, senior creative director, A&R, Warner Chappell Music Germany, “his pioneering music has helped redefine the genre and has given us some of the modern classics of German rap. With his distinctive style, he has all the prerequisites to shape the future of rap in Germany over the long term.”
RIN adds, “This feels like a great time to sign to Warner Chappell Music. I have a lot of respect for the rappers who are already with the publisher, and I know I’ll be in good company.”