Sony/ATV extends worldwide agreement with 1D’s songwriter MoZella
PRESS RELEASE:
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has today announced it has extended its long-term worldwide deal with hit songwriter and recording artist MoZella.
The new agreement covers MoZella’s entire songwriting catalog alongside future works and includes the global hit “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and songs recorded by acts such as Madonna, Rihanna, One Direction and Kelly Clarkson.
Sony/ATV Co-President, U.S. Rick Krim said: “In the last few years MoZella has achieved incredible success with a number of the world’s most successful recording artists and I know there is still so much more to come from her. I cannot wait to get the opportunity for us to work together.”
Sony/ATV Senior Vice President, Creative Jennifer Knoepfle said: “Mozella is a very special writer and we are thrilled to be continuing our relationship. We know her career will be long and fruitful.”
Sony/ATV Vice President, Creative Jim Vellutato said: “MoZella, her management company AAM and Sony/ATV Music have positioned her to be one of the top songwriters in the industry. She continues to set the standard with unique singles that connect with the listening audience.”
MoZella said: “I’m so happy to be continuing with such a great publishing company as Sony/ATV. I have a fantastic team of people there working really hard on my behalf, including Rick, Jennifer and Jim Vellutato in the L.A. office, Brian Monaco doing synchs and, of course, Marty. Their support is priceless.”
MoZella is a hugely successful songwriter, having written with or for some of the biggest names in contemporary music, while her dual career as a recording artist has included being signed to Madonna’s Maverick Records and writing and recording with legendary Motown writer and producer Brian Holland. Her voice also regularly features in big brand TV commercials with recent tie-ups including performing the Bob Dylan song “Things Have Changed” for Chrysler and her own composition “Love Is Endless” for McDonald’s.
As a songwriter she headed the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in 2013 with Miley Cyrus’s recording of “Wrecking Ball”. It has to date sold 3.6 million digital downloads in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and became a hit around the world, including in the U.K. where it reached No. 1. Two more of her songs, “FU” and “Someone Else”, featured alongside “Wrecking Ball” on Cyrus’s album Bangerz, which topped the Billboard 200 albums chart and has sold more than 2 million copies around the world.
MoZella was one of the writers of One Direction’s album Four, which reached No. 1 in the U.S. last November and was one of the 10 biggest-selling albums of the year there, while it also peaked at No. 1 in the U.K. and other major music markets around the world. She is now working on new songs with the group.
A decade after she signed to Maverick Records, MoZella teamed up again with the label’s founder Madonna to co-write 11 of the songs on the music legend’s 2015 album Rebel Heart, including the lead-off single “Living For Love”, which was performed at both this year’s GRAMMY and BRIT Awards. The album debuted at No. 2 in the U.S. and U.K. in March, while winning strong critical acclaim with one review praising its “fine collection of sturdy pop tunes”.
Also in March, MoZella scored another No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. as a writer of Kelly Clarkson’s album Piece By Piece, which debuted in the Top 10 in the U.K.
She also contributed to the soundtrack of the new DreamWorks Animation/20th Century Fox movie Home starring Rihanna, Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin with Rihanna performing her song “Dancing In The Dark”. The film opened in 10 countries on March 20, including the U.K. where it instantly topped the box office chart, while did the same in the U.S. after launching there the following week.
MoZella has additionally written with or for a number of other acts, including Echosmith, Mary Lambert, Tinashe, Pentatonix, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Band Perry, Labrinth, Leona Lewis, Miranada Cosgrove, Shontelle, Foxes, The Vamps, Jojo, American Idol finalist Haley Reinhart and The Voice U.S. season 5 winner Tessanne Chin, while a close liaison with Oscar nominated film director, producer and writer Baz Luhrmann included co-penning “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” with Goonrock and Fergie for Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby as well as “A Beautiful Surprise” with David Foster for Luhrmann’s stage adaptation of his film Strictly Ballroom.
She is managed by Beka Tischker at Advanced Alternative Media (AAM).