Music News (10/7/20)

Warner Chappell Music Nashville, King Pen Music Sign Ava Suppelsa

Ava Suppelsa has signed a global publishing deal with King Pen Music and Warner Chappell Music Nashville.

The Chicago native has been writing with Music City’s most promising talent since arriving in Nashville and has already had songs recorded by Keith Urban, John Paul White, Temecula Road, Austin Burke, Jamie O’Neal, Dylan Rockoff, Tristan Bushman, and more. Suppelsa penned the song “Lonely Girl’s World” featured on Home Free’s Dive Bar Saints, which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Album Sales Chart. Her songs have amassed over 13 million streams across music platforms and have been featured on Spotify’s “Hot Country” playlist, SiriusXM, and Radio Disney.

“I was immediately impressed with Ava the first time I met with her,” said Kelly King, CEO/Owner, King Pen Music. “She had already established so many great relationships as an unsigned writer, and her strong work ethic and friendly nature proved to me she has what it takes to make a lasting impact in this town. Early on in our signing she has already proven her extraordinary talent. I can’t wait to see the impact she has on Music Row and this community.”

This year, Suppelsa founded Hope on the Row to support the homeless community in Nashville during the global pandemic. Every weekend a team of volunteers – primarily members of Nashville’s music industry – purchases, packages, and delivers personal items and comforts to Nashville’s unhoused community on and around Music Row.
 

Kobalt Capital’s Fund Acquires David Hodges Copyrights

Songwriter and producer David Hodges has sold his catalog to Kobalt Capital’s fund, where it will continue to be administered and serviced by Kobalt Music Publishing. Hodges, who is managed by Lucas Keller and his management company Milk & Honey, has also agreed to continue his long-time publishing partnership intact with Kobalt Music Publishing, for all of his future works.

Kobalt will continue its stewardship of some of Hodges’ biggest hit songs, including chart-toppers“Bring Me To Life,” “My Immortal,” “A Thousand Years,” “Because of You,” and many more.

Hodges said, “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kobalt for over seven years. As a creator, they have made me feel supported in my craft; and as a businessman, I have had a continued confidence that Kobalt was working efficiently and passionately on my behalf. Having poured my life into creating these songs over the last two decades, I could not think of a better home for them than Kobalt.”

Hodges was a founding member of Evanescence and has been penning hits with and for artists for over a decade. His chart-topping singles include “Bring Me To Life” and “My Immortal” (Evanescence), “A Thousand Years” (Christina Perri for Twilight), “Because of You” (Kelly Clarkson), “Dear Hate” (Maren Morris and Vince Gill), “See You Again” (Carrie Underwood), and “Miss Me More” (Kelsea Ballerini).

Hodges has also had his songs recorded by Keith Urban, 5 Seconds of Summer, Blink 182, Ben Rector, Weezer, Dan + Shay, Avril Lavigne, and more. He is currently working with Ed Sheeran, Danielle Bradbery, and many others.
 

Tree Vibez Music Signs Chris Loocke

Tree Vibez Music has added Chris Loocke as the newest songwriter on its roster. Founded by Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, the current roster includes Kelley, Hubbard, Jordan Schmidt, Corey Crowder, RaeLynn, Canaan Smith, and Blake Redferrin.

“I’m incredibly humbled to be a part of the Tree Vibez Music family,” Loocke says. “The amount of talent, knowledge, and passion that these folks have is only superseded by their greatness as people. I’m very excited to start my journey as a TVM writer and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

Songwriter-producer Corey Crowder first met Loocke while he was playing guitar for Chase Rice on tour. Drawn to his showmanship, Crowder soon connected with him through mutual friends, and dug deeper into his catalog.

The Nashville-based songwriter, producer, and guitarist graduated from Berklee College of Music. Co-writing songs with GRAMMY-nominated Nappy Roots, The Cab, Josh Gracin, and songwriters from Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Motown Records, Loocke’s also produced tracks for artists like Chase Rice and Cale Dodds. His music has been featured on CMT, NBC’s The Voice, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Loocke has played as a session and touring musician with a wide range of talent including Josh Gracin, Jana Kramer, Mike Marsh (drummer for The Avett Brothers; Dashboard Confessional), Chase Rice, Nappy Roots, and Love and Theft, among others, as well as recorded guitar for major musical theater productions featured nationally and at Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame. In addition, he’s appeared in various music videos that have aired across CMT, GAC, and MTV, plus has stacked several high-profile live performances on the ACM Awards, NASCAR Awards, Good Morning America, TODAY, The Bachelor, Dance Moms, and more.
 

peermusic Expands Into Neighboring Rights

In a historic partnership, peermusic, Premier Muzik, All Right Music and Global Master Rights announced today that the companies are joining forces to form the global independent leader in neighbouring rights.

Following originating discussions between Ralph Peer, II, Chair and CEO, peermusic and Christophe Piot, All Right Music, the deal was spearheaded by peermusic Deputy CEO Mary Megan Peer and will combine the staff and services of all four companies, instantly vaulting the newly formed peermusic neighbouring rights into one of the leading independent neighbouring rights companies in the world.

peermusic’s neighbouring rights client roster will be made up of the clients of the combined companies, encompassing over 300+ record labels and 2500+ performers. Among those clients are major artists including Rihanna, Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons, DJ Snake, Metallica, Jacques Brel, Jean-Michel Jarre, Leonard Bernstein, Megan Thee Stallion, Finneas, Lady A, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Panic! At The Disco, Migos, and David Guetta, to name a few. Clients from All Right Music, Premier Muzik, and Global Master Rights represented performers in 24% of Billboard’s 2019 Year-End Hot 100 songs and 40% of the 2019 Year-End Top 20 songs.

peermusic, which did not have neighbouring rights staff prior to the deal, plans to retain the staff of the existing companies with support from key peermusic staff in technology, finance and legal. All three acquired firms will continue to operate under their current names while identifying as peermusic companies (ex. “Premier Muzik, peermusic neighbouring rights”) and out of their existing offices (Premier Muzik in Canada, All Right Music in France and Global Master Rights in the Netherlands).

The three companies add significant leadership and expertise in the neighbouring rights space to peermusic. The five principals of the three companies acquired have collectively over 60 years of experience in neighbouring rights, and all five will remain with peermusic post-acquisition. Christophe Piot started his career in publishing in 1990 and founded All Right Music in 2004. Gino Olivieri started his career as a DJ in 1977, then music production and as an A&R rep in the late 80s before founding Premier Muzik in 1989. Gino Crescenza, Olivieri’s colleague at Premier, has over 35 years’ experience in music and has been with Premier since 2000. Erik Veerman and Paul Smelt spent years working together in key positions at neighbouring rights organization SENA before co-founding Global Master Rights in 2014.

With performers experiencing the dramatic drop in revenues from touring and live performances, neighbouring rights collections have become more important than ever. Neighbouring rights are the rights tied to a master recording and are owned by the performer, label, back up musicians, and, depending on the territory, non-audible contributors such as the engineer or producer. Neighbouring rights and music publishing are similar in that both collect royalties for their clients worldwide, ensuring proper registration at all collection societies and facilitating payment.

The deals were brokered by Gowling WLG (Canada), Gowling WLG (France) and Dikhoff Van Dongen Advocaten (Holland). All Right Music was advised by Maximilien Jazani (Manswell Law Firm). Premier Muzik was advised by Ciro Cucciniello (Cucciniello Calandriello Attorneys Inc.). Global Master Rights was advised by Richard Goemans (Venture Lawyers).
 

Warehouse West Entertainment Promotes Paige Kosinski

Warehouse West Entertainment has promoted Paige Kosinski to the role of Marketing Director. Kosinski joined Warehouse West Entertainment in April 2019 as Creative Coordinator. Her role has evolved into spearheading all marketing efforts for their growing artist roster – Willie Shaw, Maggie Miles, Jordan Brooker, Alana Springsteen, Brennley Brown, and TracieLynn.

Kosinski says, “I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to grow within a new role with Warehouse West Entertainment. Getting to work with a team this passionate and roster of artists I truly believe in everyday is a dream come true.”

Warehouse West Entertainment, which launched in June 2018, offers artist development, music publishing and artist management services. One of the company’s clients, Alana Springsteen, recently earned more than 20,000,000 streams across digital platforms within the year. Other milestones include album releases for Brooker and Miles, Miles’s endorsement deal with Yamaha, a Target campaign synch placement for Shaw, and Brooker’s cut with Luke Combs (“Refrigerator Door”).

“Paige never ceases to put artists’ needs first and continues to demonstrate unparalleled work ethic. She goes above and beyond daily for each of our clients and is absolutely brilliant with marketing strategy and content creation. She is an incredible asset to our team and there is no one I’d rather build artist careers from the ground up with” says Nicole Kasper, who runs artist management and creative for Warehouse West.

Kosinski is originally from Tribes Hill, New York, and earned her BBA at Nashville’s Belmont University. Before joining Warehouse West Entertainment, she held internships at WBA Entertainment, Sirius XM, and Mini Mac Music.