New Signings & Team-Ups: November 1

Images: The Shires and J Motor

BMG AUSTRALIA KICKSTARTS J MOTOR

BMG Australia finalised a global publishing deal with rising Sydney artist J Motor. His debut single Jungle Daze was picked up by MTV’s The Challenge before being featured in a high profile North American commercial for NFL and Budweiser. As the song gathered steam it reached #4 on the Spotify Global VIRAL 50, #6 on the Billboard Spotify Chart and added to the Spotify Viral Hits playlist. Jungle Daze also featured in a recent Acura commercial across the United States.

J Motor is off to America to write, record and collaborate for the rest of the year. There are two releases on the way: new single Meet In The Sky and a Luke Million remix of Jungle Daze.

BMG Australia Managing Director Heath Johns said, “J Motor writes interesting and infectious global pop music. The international heat on Jungle Daze is genuinely exciting and we are all confident that this is the start of something special. We are proud to welcome J Motor to the BMG family.”

The deal was the result of creative collaboration between BMG’s newly established Australian office and BMG’s international writer services team.

BMG US Creative/A&R Manager Justin Polokoff said, “J Motor’s inventive, genre-bending style blends seamlessly with strong pop sensibilities to create a fresh sound that is indicative of where modern pop music is heading. We are excited to help Jonathan find a broader home for his music in the US and beyond.”

THREE ADDITIONS TO PERFECT PITCH ROSTER

Clive Hodson’s Sydney-based publishing company Perfect Pitch have signed global deals. Sam Thomlinson, Jarred Young, Isaac Chamberlain, Mark Webber and Andries Van Niekerk are from indie rock band Bad Pony who this week launch an East Coast tour to promote their new single Bottles.

Luke August is an eclectic Perth-based singer-songwriter/producer. Bosnian-born Gold Coast troubadour Amela (Duheric) mixes classic songwriting with multi harmonies.

ROC NATION GAINS GAVIN ROSSDALE PUBLISHING

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has signed Bush singer Gavin Rossdale to a publishing agreement. “This is a creative company with a forward-thinking team and a passion for music,” he said. “I’m excited for what lies ahead.” Bush has sold 20 million albums in North America. Rossdale was also recently added as a coach to The Voice UK.

PEKING DUK CREATE PLAYABLE POSTERS FOR CRUST

In an extension of its #Outofthebox campaign, the Crust Pizza chain enlisted Canberra duo Peking Duk to create interactive musical posters which allow customers to mix their own tracks from selecting the beats and samples. Those ordering pizza from the Crust site go in the running to attend Duk performing at the ARIA/Nova Red Room on November 17.

CAROLINE AUSTRALIA SURFACE WITH HIGH TYDE

Caroline Australia has acquired UK teen “indie upstarts” High Tyde for this territory, releasing its fourth EP Real later this week. A single One Bullet has already dropped. In the UK the band from Worthing has had strong airplay from BBC 1 and Radio X, with single Speak getting 300,000 Spotify streams.

UMPG RECEIVES “KING OF BACHATA”

Universal Music Publishing Group this morning announced it signed influential Latin superstar artist, songwriter and producer Romeo Santos, aka “The King of Bachata” to a worldwide deal. Santos is also CEO of Roc Nation Latin.

This is the first major publishing deal for Santos, who had the most #1s this decade by a Latin artist. Formula Vol 1 yielded five chart toppers and spent 17 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Latin charts, Vol 2 got a Diamond award for selling over 10 million, and the single Propuesta Indecente has more than 1 billion YouTube views.

UK’S THE SHIRES GET US DEAL

UK country duo The Shires, whose second album My Universe on Decca is the fastest selling local country album in the UK, are turning their eyes on the United States.

Q&A: THE SHIRES ON THE BRITISH COUNTRY MOVEMENT & BREAKING STEREOTYPES

They’ve signed with Nashville-based Big Machine Label Group under the historic Dot Records imprint. It is the home to US country heavyweights Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett. They are BMLG’s first ever UK signing.

SPARK NZ TEAMS WITH MUSIC WEBSITE

New Zealand’s largest telco Spark has struck a partnership, effective November 1, with two-year-old online music magazine The Spinoff. The result is a new music section on The Spinoff dedicated to music news, discussion and storytelling, with a focus on local New Zealand music.

Clive Ormerod, GM of Customer & Marketing at Spark, says, this is the latest initiative dealing with the music industry. It’s already partnered with brands as Spotify and Live Nation. “Next April we’ll be launching the Spark Arena – an exciting eight-year project with music at its heart,” he said.

The Spinoff’s Editor Duncan Greive said the deal had been “a dream of mine” since the site launched in 2014. He’s just brought in as Music Editor Henry Oliver, former bass player with Die! Die! Die, who after leaving the band trained as a lawyer and ran Auckland bar DOC before becoming a full time writer.

HIT WRITER SIGNED BY REPUBLIC

After co-writing songs for others – including Justin Bieber’s current US #1 Sorry, Julia Michaels is working on her own hits. A deal with Republic Records sees her issue her debut solo EP in January 2017.

Partnering with Justin Tranter, Michael also penned Good for You and Hands To Myself for Selena Gomez, Close for Nick Jonas and Love Myself for Hailee Steinfeld. According to Republic, songs Michaels has co-written have exceeded 8 billion streams.