BMG UK confirms Kylie Minogue signing

BMG UK has confirmed that it has signed Kylie Minogue, with a pop-oriented album set for release later this year.

UK media had speculated back in December that the London-based Australian singer was heading to BMG UK with which she plans to make a major recording comeback.

The 48-year-old is said to be in the studio already working on her 14th album. Last month, she posted on social media a picture of her microphone with the brief message, “So, yeah…… this is happening.”

During her promotional duties for her Christmas album, Minogue revealed, “I’d love to make a new pop album and go on tour.”

It’s believed that Universal Music had also been bidding for her. But the singer, who has sold over 65 million albums, went with BMG UK to rejoin Jamie Nelson who had earlier co-signed her to the Parlophone label in 1999.

Nelson moved over to BMG in August 2015 as Director Of A&R, joining Korda Marshall who previously ran her Australian label Mushroom Records’ UK operations.

BMG is also home to Minogue’s first record label, PWL, founded by UK songwriting and production team Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The singer had her first run of major hits with them in the 1980s, including The Loco-Motion, I Should Be So Lucky, Hand On Your Heart, Better The Devil You Know and Tears On My Pillow.

In December 2016, BMG released these tracks, along with the rest of the PWL catalogue on streaming services for the first time.

Minogue was previously with Jay Z’s management company Roc Nation, alongside Rihanna, Calvin Harris and Shakira. At the time of joining the company in February 2013, she said she wanted to “shake things up.”

However, she split from them in 2015. She was reportedly disappointed that many promised sponsorship and endorsement deals didn’t come through.

Her 2014 album Kiss Me Once wasn’t the global smash she hoped it would be. It reached #1 in Australia through Mushroom/Warner Music and #2 in the UK, but only peaked at #31 in the United States.

Moving forward to 2017, Minogue told the Evening Standard, “I just want to make good music, music that people can have as part of their life. If I can just stick with that, that’s a good place. Instead of thinking ‘how does the music industry work and how do I fit into it?’ I just want to do what I do.

“What’s worked well for me in the past is pop dance, obviously, melodies, emotional themes. I think most people think of my songs as joyful. But it doesn’t have to be just about joy — it can be sparkling melancholy — I don’t think I’ve ever used those words together before, I’m going to use it! And a slice of the unexpected, which we did with something like [2003 hit] Slow.”

Last week, it was reported that Minogue had withdrawn from her battle against Kylie Jenner, who last year took the extraordinary step of trademarking the Kylie name.

Minogue, referring to Jenner as a “secondary reality television personality”, protested to the United States Patent and Trademark Office that it would “cause confusion” and “dilute her brand.”

The specific details of this settlement are not known.