New Signings & Team-Ups: January 31

Image: Alexander Biggs

SONY MUSIC AUST. INKS ALEXANDER BIGGS

Sony Music Entertainment Australia has added Melbourne-based folk singer-songwriter Alexander Biggs to its roster. At 23, Biggs has already scored BBC Radio 1 airplay and 1 million Spotify plays.

Biggs was also the 12th most played artist on triple j Unearthed. His debut single Out In The Dark from early 2016 received triple j and community radio spins and 700,000 plays on Spotify. Latest single Tidal Wave peaked at #9 in Australia, #49 in US, #31 in UK and #40 in Poland on the Spotify Viral Charts.

Biggs will tomorrow (February 1) play a show at the Gasometer in Melbourne with his band, previewing tracks from his forthcoming EP.

GLOBAL DEAL FOR GABRIELLA COHEN

On the eve of international live dates, Gabriella Cohen firmed a worldwide deal with New York-based label Captured Tracks. The deal does not include Australia and New Zealand where she remains with Dot Dash / Remote Control Records. Captured Tracks will in early March release her debut album Full Closure And No Details, which had its local release in the spring of 2016 to rave reviews.

After a run of festival and club shows this month, Cohen heads to SXSW and a host of global shows including a slot on Spain’s Vida Festival. She is currently working on the follow up inside a farmhouse in Seymour in regional Victoria.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBL STRIKES WOODES

Universal Music Publishing Australia signed a global music publishing deal with rising Melbourne artist/producer Woodes, it was announced by its President Andrew Jenkins and VP of Creative Arwen Curson.

Woodes’ self titled EP debuted in the top 20 iTunes charts in six countries including #1 on the Singapore Alternative Album Charts, and ticked over 1.5 million streams. Single The Thaw got noticed by blogs around the world, as well as US actress Emma Roberts – who tweeted the track to her 3.8 million followers. Curson called Woodes “an undeniably talented and driven writer” and added, “It’s really refreshing to work with someone with such a precise vision of the artist they are going to be.”

NICKELBACK WORLDWIDE WITH BMG

Canadian rock band Nickelback pacted a worldwide deal with BMG, as they continue work in the studio on their ninth studio album. Nickelback have sold 24.1 million albums and 34.7 million digital downloads in the U.S. Their first seven albums were through Roadrunner, including 2001’s breakthrough Silver Side Up. Their most recent effort, 2014’s No Fixed Address, was issued on Republic.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC AUST GAINS URBAN CONE

Universal Music Australia will release Swedish alt-electro pop band Urban Cone’s new single Old School, through a deal the act signed last week with Interscope. The track indicates the new sound of the seven-year-old band, with harder, hip-hop-influenced beats and guitars.

Old School damns the lack of romance in today’s generation, with its penchant for hooking up quickly through dating apps rather than go the old flowers and phone calls route: “Technology makes it so simple that it cuts out the romantic feeling of getting to know someone,” said vocalist/bassist Emil Gustafsson.

YOUTUBE RED BUYS NICK CANNON’S DANCEHALL FILM

YouTube Red, the streamer’s $10-per-month subscription service, has cut a deal with singer/actor Nick Cannon’s Ncredible Productions to release his musical drama King Of The Dancehall later this year.

Cannon wrote, directed and starred in King Of The Dancehall which is about a New Yorker who moves to Jamaica and falls for a local girl who introduces him to dancehall music. The film includes Whoopi Goldberg, Busta Rhymes and Louis Gossett Jr, worked with Jamaican dancehall legends and premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival.

PANDORA LAUNCHES STARCOM RADIO

After powering Woolworths supermarket’s in-store radio, Pandora Australia has launched Starcom Radio for the Sydney agency. Briefed to create music that could energise their office and reflect their culture, Pandora worked with staff to identify their favourite tracks and artists, and merged this with its Music Genome Project to further personalise the playlist.

“SING” SEQUEL SET FOR 2020

Illumination and Universal Pictures will work together on the sequel to box office smash Sing. They expect it to open on Christmas Day 2020.

The movie, a mix of starstruck animals and wall-to-wall pop songs, grossed US$429.8 million worldwide since it was released on December 21. In Australia, the film has become one of the hits of the summer, taking in AU$25.5 million in its first few weeks.

MARDI GRAS RE-SIGNS THE STAR

The Star Sydney continues on as a major sponsor of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras for 2017, a major partner of the Mardi Gras Film Festival, presenting partner of Fag Tag the rainbow takeover of Sky Terrace and also taking part in the parade.

The event has also brought sponsorship sales in-house to “better manage relationships”. Last year, sponsorships reached a record $2 million.

MASERATI EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH OPERA HOUSE

European luxury car maker Maserati has partnered with Sydney Opera House for the third year in a row. They created an exclusive content aimed at inspiring young women to dream big – and realise those dreams – as part of this year’s All About Women Festival on Sunday March 5.

Seeing Is Believing follows three girls as they speak wistfully of what they want to be when they grow up – then come face-to-face with female role models who have done what they think impossible – celebrated author Jacqueline Harvey, helicopter doctor Clare Richmond and marine biologist Sam Hillman. Maria Teresa de Filippis was behind the wheel of Maserati, the first woman to race in Formula One.

VACATIONS LAND US DEAL

Newcastle band Vacations has its two EPs Days and Vibes released in the US market by Atlanta-based label Human Sounds Records on cassette and digital download formats. The local outfit is the label’s first international signing.

PROPER ENTERS DEAL WITH IDOL

The UK’s largest music distributor Proper Music Group has entered a digital distribution deal with IDOL (Independent Distribution On Line) to ramp its digital activity. The deal will also see Proper use IDOL’s global network to expand and also use its data to get a better understand of consumer behaviour.

KIIS 101.1 SUPPORTS MIDSUMMA

In the wake of Sydney’s KIIS 1065 partnering with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, ARN’s KIIS 101.1 is the official media partner of Melbourne queer arts and culture celebration Midsumma Festival which winds up on February 5.

The station set up ’Rainbow KIISing station’, and a number of on-air identities and staffers joined yesterday’s Pride March through St. Kilda.

WARNER/CHAPPELL INKS GRIME PRODUCER

Warner/Chappell struck a global deal with UK grime songwriter, DJ and producer Swifta Beater. Aside from releasing his own material, Beater has produced some of the biggest names in UK grime, including Bugzy Malone, Giggs (whose Landlord album went to #2), JME, Kano and Wiley.