The world’s fourth biggest music publisher continues to earn its stripes.

BMG Australia has signed an exclusive global publishing deal with multi-platinum, ARIA and APRA Award-winning artist Illy, TIO can exclusively reveal.

Illy (Al Murray) – who solidified his place at the top of the hip-hop-pop crossover genre with his fifth studio album Two Degrees  – joins a healthy roster of Australian acts including: Peking Duk, AC/DC, Wolfmother, The Living End, Didirri, Meg Mac, Montaigne and Matt Corby, among many more.

Two Degrees, executive produced by M-Phazes (Eminem, Madonna, Amy Shark), spawned 4x Platinum, #2 ARIA single ‘Papercuts feat. Vera Blue’, which placed at #7 in triple j’s Hottest 100 in 2016, and won the 2017 APRA Urban Work of the Year Award.

Watch the clip for ‘Papercuts feat. Vera Blue’ below:

Follow-up single ‘Catch 22 feat. Anne-Marie’ has been streamed over 19 million times on Spotify and is certified double Platinum. ‘Catch 22’ also placed at #23 respectively in the 2016 Hottest 100 poll.

Two Degrees spawned as many accolades as its singles. The record topped the ARIA Album chart, was triple j’s Feature Album of the Week and led to six nominations at the 2017 ARIA Awards for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Artist, Best Urban Album, Best Video and Best Live Act, the latter which he won.

Heath Johns, Managing Director of BMG Australia, said of the signing:

“Al is a multi-platinum, festival headliner with ARIA and APRA Awards and nine-figure streaming stats under his belt. He is the most accomplished and versatile songwriter in the Australian hip-hop community, so it is no surprise that this was a hotly contested deal. For Al to choose BMG as his new global publishing partner is no small honour and we look forward to showing him how our global team will mobilise to help make his greatest record yet”.

Illy said:

“I’m really excited about signing with BMG. Heath and the team made it very clear they wanted to work with me, and it’s awesome to have people in my corner so up for it. Now I can get back to being a musician and look forward to 2019!”.

:: Fear At The Top podcast: Heath Johns, BMG Australia & New Zealand

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.