Benee signs global publishing deal with Sony/ATV in New York

Sony/ATV has signed singer-songwriter Benee to a worldwide publishing deal.

Stella Bennett, aka Benee, hails from New Zealand and recently made an impact with her hit single ‘Supalonely’. It’s clocked 200 million streams and over 150 million TikTok views.

The track has also earned praise from Elton John on his Apple Music show, who described the 20-year-old musician as “an amazing young artist” who “writes really brilliantly”.

Benee, 20, has quickly gone from GarageBand covers on SoundCloud, to riding the charts. Within months of releasing her viral hit ‘Soaked’ in 2018, she had signed to Republic Records.

Sony/ATV chairman & CEO, Jon Platt, said Benee is a gifted young songwriter and artist, who has “proven how powerful music can be as a unifier and healer”.

“We are happy to welcome her to the family as she continues to elevate her career and influence.”

The global music publisher’s A&R boss, Samantha Reas, got the deal across the line after a competitive race among publishers to sign the young artist.

“Benee is an absolute force to be reckoned with,” said Reas. “I couldn’t be more excited to work with such a special songwriter, artist, and human – it’s only the beginning.”

Last week ‘Supalonely’ – featuring Gus Dapperton – rocketed to #10 on the Spotify Global Top 50 Chart, #23 on the US Top 50 chart and rose to #58 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s currently #6 on the TMN Hot 100 airplay chart, rising two frames from last week, helped by over 10 million TikTok videos with over 150 million views between them.

“This past year has been an insane journey for me,” said Benee, “and I’m so happy to have added Sam, Jon and the worldwide team at Sony/ATV to my crew.

“I’m excited to be working with all of them, they totally understand me as an artist – I think we’re going to do awesome things together!”

She also just dropped a laid-back version of ‘Supalonely’, created the night that New Zealand entered lockdown and released alongside a music clip made with a visualiser.

Benee will also perform for Nova’s next Red Room Live Stream on May 14, with winners invited to ask questions in an intimate Q&A during the virtual event.