NEW COO NAMED AT WARNER MUSIC JAPAN: Warner Music has named Kazuhiro Shimada Chief Operating Officer of Warner Music Japan. In his new role, Kazuhiro will be based in Tokyo and report to Kaz Kobayashi, CEO of Warner Music Japan. He will be responsible for the company’s daily business operations, including leading key initiatives, as well as implementing organizational-wide strategies and policies. With over 15 years of experience in the music industry, digital and business development experience, Kazuhiro joins Warner Music from Amazon Music Japan where he most recently served as Director & General Manager. In his role at Amazon Music Japan, Kazuhiro was instrumental in devising high-impact initiatives that drove the company’s creative and financial growth. Previously, he was Corporate Executive of Universal Music Japan, and prior to that, Vice President, Strategy of MTV Networks Japan. Kazuhiro has also worked at GAGA Communications, and independent film acquisition, marketing and distribution company.

FERDY UNGER-HAMILTON EXITS COLUMBIA: Ferdy Unger-Hamilton has exited his role as President at Columbia Records UK after six years at the major label. Throughout his career at Columbia, Unger-Hamilton has seen success with his team with domestically-signed acts such as Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Robbie Williams, Kasabian, and George Ezra. Before joining Columbia, Unger-Hamilton held the role of President of Polydor for seven years. While at Polydor, he worked with artists including Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Take That, Haim, and more. Columbia has had the biggest UK album for the past 2 years with Harry Styles’ Harry’s House and Adele’s 30. Unger-Hamilton is exiting the label alongside Manish Arora, Columbia MD.

AMY ALLEN INKS DEAL WITH WCM: Warner Chappell Music has signed a global admin deal with acclaimed singer/songwriter Amy Allen. A highly sought-after hitmaker, Allen has written top singles for Harry Styles (“Adore You,” “Matilda”), Halsey (“Without Me,” “Graveyard,” “Be Kind”), Selena Gomez (“Back to You”), and Lizzo (“If You Love Me”), to name a few. Notably, Allen just became one of the very first songwriters to be nominated for the newly established “Songwriter of the Year” category at the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards, and she also received a nomination for “Album of the Year” (Special, Harry’s House).

YMU MUSIC NAMES HEAD OF RADIO: Mike Kadziulis has been named Executive Manager & Head of Radio at YMU. Effective immediately, Kadziulis will be based between Los Angeles and Chicago and will report to Managing Director, US Music, Anthony Rodol. Kadziulis was previously and independent artist manager and ran his own management company, Mad Ones. He also spent time from 2015 to 2020 as a part of Chance the Rapper’s management team where he oversaw the radio campaign for Chance’s album, No Problem, which was No.1 on the Urban radio chart. In his new role with YMU, Kadziulis will help the team to elevate the careers of his own management clients as well as bring in strategic marketing & radio promotion experience to the company’s full roster.

ISC UNVEILS NEW OPPORTUNTY FOR SONGWRITERS: For over 20 years, the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has helped the careers of songwriters from around the globe including Tones and I, Vance Joy, Gregory Porter, Dean Lewis, Passenger, Gotye, Illenium, Kehlani, and others. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. With 24 categories (including Pop/Top 40, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Country, Jazz, Lyrics Only, and more), songwriters and musicians of all genres, from anywhere in the world, are invited to participate. ISC provides an opportunity for more exposure and to have songs heard by some of the most influential decision-makers in the music industry. Judges for ISC 2022 include Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Gloria Estefan, Tom Waits and others. Additional judges include executives from Warner Records, Elektra, Roc Nation, Capitol, Atlantic, Motown, YouTube, Arista, Word Entertainment, Cumbancha, and more. ISC is currently accepting submissions for its “Love Songs & Social Causes” competition. The deadline for submissions is November 28, 2022 – more information HERE.

BMG FIRMS UP DEAL WITH QUEENIE RECORDS: BMG has confirmed that Welsh alt-pop star Marina will release her sixth album through her own Queenie Records label via BMG. Marina revealed the news in a tweeted photo of her signing the contract. Within hours the tweet had been liked more than 20,000 times by Marina’s avid fanbase. Marina – previously known as Marina & The Diamonds – has released five studio albums, seven EPs, and 26 singles since her debut in 2009. Her second album Electra Heart reached No.1 in the UK and Ireland and her third album Froot charted at No.8 on the US Billboard 200. Her fifth album was released in 2021 supported by extensive touring in her own right in the UK, Europe, and the US, and included a support slot on Panic! At The Disco’s U.S. arena tour and a performance to a 90,000-strong festival crowd in Sao Paulo.

BEATBREAD ADDS $100M TO FUND ARTIST ADVANCES: beatBread, the music funding platform, has finalized a $100 million (USD) institutional funding agreement with Variant Investments, a $2.2B alternative asset fund with offices in Portland, New York and Chicago. The extended financial firepower will enable beatBread to offer multi-million dollar deals to some of the world’s biggest artists, while continuing to fund developing artists in earlier stages of their careers. Since launching in November 2020, beatBread has used its chordCash AI™ technology to make financial advances to more than 500 artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents, and a broad range of career stages. Advances offered through beatBread range from as little as $1,000 to more than $2 million per artist, with even larger advances through the beatBread investor network.  beatBread advances funds on existing catalog, as well as new and unreleased music, to provide growth capital for working artists. All advances are repaid from a share of an artist’s streaming and airplay revenues, over a period of the artist’s choosing.

BUCKS MUSIC GROUP SIGNS GLASTONBURY DEMO WINNER: Glastonbury’s Best “Demo Of The Year” winner, Tom Webber, has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Bucks Music Group. Webber earned the “Demo Of The Year” title with his 4-track EP, Stop And Think About It, at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. In the past year, Webber has been a support act for Nick Lowe, Deacon Blue, and Richard Hawley. He also has played multiple venues and festivals including Isle of Wright Festival, Henley Festival, Cornbury, Readipop, and others. Webber joins Bucks’ catalog which includes works by David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, James Blunt, Beyonce, and more.

MONSTA X’S I.M SIGNS WITH SONY MUSIC KOREA: MONSTA X member I.M has signed to Sony Music Entertainment Korea as a solo artist globally. I.M will work as a solo artist while simultaneously remaining a member of MONSTA X. MONSTA X was formed in 2015 from a survival program by Starship Entertainment and Mnet called No.Mercy. I.M recently left Starship Entertainment while the other members of MONSTA X renewed their contracts with the South Korean agency. The announcement of the signing with Sony Music Korea follows I.M’s solo debut with his EP DUALITY and single album Loop which were released last year.

MASEGO INKS GLOBAL DEAL WITH DOWNTOWN: Downtown Music Services has signed GRAMMY-nominated artist Masego to a global music publishing administration deal. Masego is an artist, producer, and saxophonist who first caught mass attention with his song Tadow feat. Producer FKJ, receiving close to 500 million views on YouTube. His first album, Lady Lady, was released in 2018, and his third EP Studying Abroad was released in 2020 with label partners EQT and Capitol Records. The new agreement includes Masego’s existing catalog as well as future releases. Masego is set to release a new album in February 2023 following the release of his latest single, Say You Want Me, which dropped on November 4.

UME LAUNCHES UDISCOVER MÚSICA: Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), the global catalog division of Universal Music Group (UMG), has announced the launch of uDiscover Música – a Spanish-language destination for music fans of all ages to discover rising artists and explore stories from the greatest music catalog in the world. The new site builds upon the success of uDiscover Music, UMG’s consumer-facing music discovery, editorial, and eCommerce platform. Latin America is the fastest-growing market in global music consumption, and uDiscoverMusica.com will be on the front lines, working closely with UMG’s international teams, and particularly Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE), to deliver the highest-quality storytelling that will not only explore the breadth of UMG’s catalog and labels, but will also focus on local markets, highlighting the best artists across Latin America, Spain, and beyond.

ROBOMAGIC NAMES NEW VICE PRESIDENT: Zeon Richards has been appointed Vice President of Robomagic Live. Previously, Richards was Head of Partnerships at Pollen, the UK-based travel and experiences company. Prior to his role at Pollen, Richards served as Head of A&R at Ministry of Sound as well working for Polydor Records in the UK as an A&R consultant. Robomagic Live was founded in 2015 by former AEG President Rob Hallett. The company has produced events such as the Free Larry Hoover Benefit featuring Ye and Drake, Nile Rodgers’ FOLD Festival, and the Essence Festival in South Africa. Robomagic Live was acquired by Outback Presents in February.

WARNER CHAPPELL SIGN SCISSOR SISTERS: Scissor Sisters have signed a new publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. The group’s members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Scott ‘Babydaddy’ Hoffman as multi-instrumentalist, and Del Maquis as lead guitarist and bassist. The group rose to prominence in the early 2000s with hits that include “Laura,” “Comfortably Numb,” and “Take Your Mama.” In addition to this new deal, the group have appointed Fascination Management as their legacy managers.

NEW APPOINTMENTS AT BLUE RAINCOAT & CHRYSALIS: Blue Raincoat Music and Chrysalis Records, which is part of the Reservoir group of companies, has announced the appointment of James Meadows to the position of Sr. Vice President of Marketing. James joins the company from his previous position as Head of Marketing at BMG and will report jointly to Chief Operating Officer Alison Wenham and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Lascelles. The company has also announced the appointment of Rachel Forde and Aaron Skates to the positions of Campaign Marketing Manager and Catalogue Marketing Manager respectively.

JIMMY BUFFETT’S MAILBOAT RECORDS NEW SIGNING: Harold Sulman, President of Los Angeles-based Mailboat Records, recently announced the signing of yacht rock superstars Yachtley Crew to the label. In addition, the group have just announced a set of monthly performances that begin the weekend of November 18th at Palms Casino Resort’s KAOS, with upcoming dates scheduled in December and February 2023. Yachtley Crew has spent the past few years selling out shows across the U.S., performing online during covid, and gathering a fan base of “Crewpies” that is unsurpassed. Having signed with legendary rock manager Andy Gould (Lionel Richie, Rob Zombie, Guns N’ Roses, Linkin Park, etc.), the band recently recorded their very first original song, “Sex On The Beach,” which was produced and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge (Stevie Nicks, Steven Tyler, Keith Urban, Bruce Springsteen).

INTERSCOPE GEFFEN A&M NAMES SR. VP SPORTS & GAMING: Interscope Geffen A&M Records has announced the promotion of David Nieman to the position of Senior Vice President of Sports & Gaming at the label. In his new role, Nieman will continue to be the label’s chief liaison within the sports and gaming sectors. Over the last 8 years, Nieman has forged relationships with leaders in sports and gaming that have resulted in a number of impactful collaborations. IGA has had a partnership with ESPN college football for 8 out of the last 9 seasons to feature the label’s artists in broadcast and promotional spots. During Nieman’s tenure, additional sports and video game collaborations have been forged including with UFC, Barstool Sports, Bleacher Report, Epic Games, Ubisoft, 2K, Rockstar, EA and Nintendo.

A FIRST OF ITS KIND: Juanes, the globally renowned Latin GRAMMY-winning artist becomes the first artist to offer an exclusive listening preview for his upcoming album in a Mercedes-Benz equipped with Dolby Atmos Music. During a recent event, Juanes himself presented his highly anticipated upcoming album in a Mercedes-Benz equipped with Dolby Atmos alongside key media members and trendsetters. This album, his 11th, is slated to release in 2023 and was mixed in Dolby Atmos and optimized for this ultimate in-car experience. Juanes, always being at the forefront of originality and innovation, showcased his inventive approaches to his musical and lyrical composition, bringing forth this first-of-its-kind listening experience and serving as an inspiring example of both genuine artistic vision and of the power that artists have in changing the world. Exclusively presented through the expansive audio lens of Dolby Atmos, guests experienced an immersive sound experience, like no other, that revealed details with unparalleled clarity and depth while simultaneously showcasing the full scope of Juanes’s vision in its truest and most authentic form. Read more HERE.