Newswire

Adding to the company’s growing team of international industry experts, the esteemed executive brings over 20 years of experience in the music industry to Audoo in areas of business development, strategy, partnerships, licensing, and sales, and previously worked at EMI Music Publishing, Facebook, and Sony ATV Music Publishing. Her appointment bolsters a team, and board of senior experts from APRA AMCOS, BMG, Bowers and Wilkins, PRS For Music, Sony Music Publishing and more.

AIM celebrated an electrifying evening at this year's Independent Music Awards, with success for Avelino with 'Best Independent Album', RAYE and 070 Shake for 'Best Independent Track' & Shygirl for 'UK Independent Breakthrough'.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship announced today that Jewel John is its sixth scholar, who will be awarded a full scholarship for a place on University of Westminster’s highly regarded Music Business Management MA course, commencing later this month.

London and LA-based independent music publisher, OTM, has announced the signing of DJ and producer, Sub Focus, as well as the expansion of its US office with a brand new hire. Melissa Maskan joins as Head of North America and SVP of Creative at OTM.

Established music technology company Soundplate have today officially announced their newest product, Music Tickers, designed to support music creators to share and celebrate their successes.

Welsh-Jamaican singer and media personality Aleighcia Scott releases her landmark debut album Windrush Baby, produced by sound system and production legend RoryStoneLove.  Windrush Baby went straight to number one, pipping UB40, Bob Marley and Gyptian to the top spot. Over half a decade in the making, Windrush Baby is a lovingly sculpted, deeply personal project that celebrates the JA-to-UK heritage of both Aleighcia and Rory, taking a musical journey from the blues dances and shubeens of Cardiff and London to the modern age.

On the heels of releasing his new single and video for “dummy,” hilarious multi-hyphenate Zack Fox, the comedic rapper/DJ behind the viral hits “Jesus Is The One (I Got Depression)”and “fafo,” has inked with creative music publishing powerhouse Third Side Music to help fuel his exciting next chapter!

AMR Songs Acquires Songwriting Catalog of Grammy-Nominated Songwriter/Producer and Fitz and the Tantrums Keyboardist Jeremy Ruzumna

The UK office of Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies, has entered into a new partnership with breakout Afroswing artist Darkoo and UK rap titan Tion Wayne for new single 'Shayo'. 

FreshTracks Music UK today announces the expansion of its recently launched UK division with the hire of three new executives in addition to the launch of its Smart Search technology, revolutionising music search by harnessing the power of AI prompts and combatting the challenge of describing music when searching for a match for your media projects.

Swedish streaming startup Staccs, has announced the recruitment of a former MTV host to head up a brand new music programme on its platform. Vanessa Warwick, known for hosting the legendary ‘Headbangers Ball’ on MTV during the 1990s, will host ‘Heavy Metal HeyDaze’ - an original series on Staccs TV dedicated to showcasing the best of metal and rock music videos.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has revealed the winners of the Innovator and Outstanding Contribution to Music Awards alongside performers for the upcoming ceremony.

In the first year of the partnership Decca delivered mentoring to 13 Tomorrow’s Warriors artists. This year, Decca has increased their funding support, and 15 artists are receiving mentoring including Akin Soul, Allexa Nava, Anoushka Nanguay, Cara Crosby-Irons, Cassius Cobbson, Francisco Garcia de Paredes, Grifton Forbes-Amos, Harry Ling, Joseph Oti, Kianja Harvey-Elliott, Luke Bacchus, Maddy Coombs, Menelik Claffey, Nadav Schneerson and Sultan Stevenson.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced that tickets for its annual Venues Day event, which will take place at The Fireworks Factory in London on Tuesday 17th October, are now on general sale.  Hundreds of delegates from across the UK’s grassroots music venue (GMV) sector, representing venues throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, have already booked their places at the event.

Exceleration Music, the prominent global independent music company dedicated to advancing the future of independent music, has announced a substantial expansion of its operational reach with the acquisition of Redeye, a leading worldwide digital and physical distribution and music services company. The acquisition also encompasses Redeye's in-house labels Yep Roc and Sundazed, and its publishing company Riff City Sounds.

The Production Music Awards—celebrating exceptional production music libraries and composers—today announces its nominations list for 2023. The nominees span categories across Composition and Sync, and will be honoured at a ceremony at Here Outernet in London, on November 20.

Exceleration Music, the global venture dedicated to enhancing the future of independent labels and artists, is forming a strategic partnership with Azadi Records.

Absolute Label Services is mourning the loss of a valued member of the Absolute family, Dianne Bonney, who passed away on Tuesday 22 August 2023 after a period of illness. She was 39 years old.

As anticipation grows for the UK's biggest night in independent music, the Association of Independent Music (AIM) has crowned Björk with the coveted Best Live Performer award and revealed the Awards' final nominees.

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the international body bringing together the independent recorded music sector, has published its 2022/23 Annual Report, declaring a landmark year for independent music. 

K-pop megastars BLACKPINK opens an immersive experience on Roblox for fans. BLACKPINK THE PALACE will be available to play on the platform from 25th August. Karta, an award-winning metaverse studio from London, built the experience, after partnering with management company YG PLUS and Roblox.

"Huta Luna" will be the band's long-awaited fifth studio album. The tour promoting the new material starts on 2nd November with an eclectic line-up of Zamilska, Owls Woods Graves & Krzta.

Sound City is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its revered Launch Training programme, which supports 16 - 24 year olds with an ambition to work in the music business as an artist or industry leader.

Karta, an award-winning metaverse studio pioneering the world of in-game experiential marketing, has launched its own studio dedicated to creating bespoke in-game experiences in Fortnite. Karta's Fortnite studio has been set up to partner with rights holders and popular IP owners from music, entertainment and sports talent to create innovative takes on Fortnite experiences within the platform - opening up new revenue streams for rights holders.

MAVIN, the biggest and most influential independent label in Afrobeats, celebrates its 11th year of developing some of the genre’s best talent by unveiling new artist LIFESIZE TEDDY and sharing the staggering global success of its superstar roster that includes REMA and AYRA STARR - two of Afrobeats’ biggest exports.

Fresh from blistering performances at 2000 Trees Festival and Wildfire Festival and sharing stages with the likes of RXPTRS, Of Virtue, and InMe, Kite Thief will release their new single ‘The Tide’ on the 11th August 2023. The band also announce signing to Year Of The Rat Records. The single starts the next phase for the band which promises to grab your attention!

Audoo—the music technology company revolutionising public performance royalties—has partnered with PRS For Music and PPL with the aim to improve music royalty distribution for over 300,000 artists, recording rightsholders, music publishers, writers and composers, with the installation of Audoo Audio Meters™ in businesses across Great Britain.

Live Music Society has announced its latest grant initiative, the Toolbox Grant. Totaling just over $100,000 this grant aims to support 13 small music venues with critical practical support, ensuring sustained growth and prosperity. Distinct from the Music In Action Grant, which was created to support community development, the Toolbox grant focuses solely on aiding music venues for practical needs. It offers $5,000 to $10,000 to each selected venue for essentials like regulatory compliance, accessibility improvements, and ticketing system upgrades. With the addition of the Toolbox grant, Live Music Society has now awarded $3 million across four grant cycles to 156 venues, with this year's grants amounting to $600,000.

Music Venue Trust and Coca Cola have announced a new partnership that will see the drinks brand support the grassroots music community from August 2023.

Utopia Distribution Services (UDS), and DP World, a leading provider of global end-to-end supply-chain solutions, will open the UK's biggest distribution warehouse for physical music and video at the end of August.

Dequency has expanded its blockchain-based music licensing marketplace to cater for more digital media types, meaning that music rights-holders on the platform can now capitalize on sync opportunities across podcast, student film, digital advertising, corporate videos, live events, and video games.

Produced by sound system legend RoryStoneLove, In My Shoes is a bouncy, horn-driven reflection on irresistible attraction – that recalls the ska-to-rocksteady transition of the early to mid-1960s. It’s particularly fitting as the third single from Aleighcia and Rory’s exciting, imminent album Windrush Baby, because it pays tribute to the music that soundtracked Britain’s first Caribbean communities’ lives.

SAVE US sign to Year Of The Rat Records and release their debut single 'New Light'

As part of the deal with the Greek record label, the band will release its third full-length album, “Magna Mater”, in early 2024. The first single "Bless Us" will be available on all digital platforms on 1st September.

AMR Songs (AMR), a full-service, global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company founded by music industry veteran Tamara Conniff, has launched a new Christian division and acquired a breadth of interests in hundreds of songs by top artists and songwriters in the genre, including GMA Dove Award-winner and Grammy-nominated Christian rock band Sanctus Real, GMA Dove Award-winner and Grammy-nominated artist Phil Wickham, GMA Dove Award-nominated contemporary Christian artists Christy Nockels and Nathan Nockels, and chart-topping GMA Dove Award-winning hip-hop artist and songwriter Kevin “KB” Burgess.

Independent digital distributor, IDOL has agreed global artist services deals for two key signings that span diverse African genres, whilst Christophe Mauberqué joins to head up the company's international business development.

The AIM Independent Music Awards have revealed its first set of 2023 nominees, celebrating the vibrant and innovative breadth of talent across the UK's independent sector. 

WIN (Worldwide Independent Network), the international body representing the independent recorded music sector, has welcomed new members from two key regions — Asociación de la Música Independiente del Paraguay (AMI Paraguay) and the South India Music Companies Association (SIMCA).

Absolute Label Services' leadership team is excited to announce that it has regained ownership of the company.

Sentric Music Group, recently acquired by Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies, has signed LA-based writer and producer Sean Silverman to an exclusive administration agreement.

Bucks Music Group has signed Jamie McCool and Simon Pogson to individual, exclusive, worldwide songwriting agreements.

T-Live Festival announced today that BAD BOY Records superstar MA$E has been added to the star-studded list of R&B royalty headliners, to replace Jeremih, who due to unforeseen logistical and scheduling issues, can no longer perform at the festival.

Karta, an award-winning metaverse studio pioneering the world of in-game experiential marketing, has secured investment from industry pioneers across the music, gaming, sports and finance worlds after a successful funding round. The recent funding round was led by venture capital firm GameTech Ventures and includes names from the music sector including Amy Thomson as well as drawing support from a range of other high-profile investors including global entertainment company Toikido, CEO of Sports Loft Charlie Greenwood, Chairman of UK Finance Robert Wigley, Powster Founder and CEO Ste Thompson and venture studio Big Ideas Group. The new investment now provides a springboard for Karta, enabling it to service the booming demand for these virtual worlds.

IDOL, the independent digital distributor, has agreed a global artist services deal with Erick the Architect; rapper, producer and founding member of Brooklyn hip-hop trio Flatbush Zombies.

AIF has partnered with LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop and anti-spiking charity Stamp Out Spiking to bolster its Safer Spaces Charter.

Today, Canva, the world’s first all-in-one visual communication platform, announced partnerships with Warner Music Group (including Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music) and Merlin, which for the first time will grant paid and education Canva customers in many countries unprecedented access to use music clips from some of the world’s biggest artists in their designs.

The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) and SX Works have joined Independent Music Publishers International Forum’s (IMPF) Friends and Supporters category.

UK concert promoter and venue operator, Glasswerk has made two new additions to its curated venue portfolio - LSE Student Union’s The Venue and St Helen’s historic Citadel.

The Music in Action grant, totalling $500,000 and distributed to 17 for profit and non-profit small venues, is to help venue owners and managers in developing and implementing creative ideas to engage their communities, expand audiences, and generate new revenue sources.

THE BOYZ, MAMAMOO+, Kep1er and CIX are the first acts to be announced for Poland’s first ever K-Pop festival, KPOP Nation. Taking place at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw on September 23, KPOP Nation is expected to be the largest K-Pop event in Europe.

Bucks Music Group (UK) and Mushroom Music (Australia) have signed Manchester-based artist and producer joshua epithet to a joint venture exclusive publishing deal for the world. 

One in six UK festivals came to an end during and in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, new data from the Association of Independent Festivals suggests.

Experimental and prolific singer songwriter Paul Fox releases his new album Standing Tall, on June 16th. It’s an ambitious, socially conscious work, packed with guest collaborations sourced from across the globe. From his beginnings in UK sound system Roots Reggae, Fox has become a genre-fluid artist, while staying true to his ethical and musical roots. Standing Tall moves seamlessly between reggae, dancehall, rock, pop, rap and other styles. It’s the continuation of a journey that began four years ago.

The Production Music Awards—celebrating exceptional production music libraries and Composers—announces its 2023 call for entries, and details of its upgraded ceremony at new London venue Here at Outernet on November 20, 2023.

TuneCore, the leading development partner for self-releasing artists (owned by Paris-based Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies), has partnered with category-defining AI development studio CreateSafe and Grimes. The initiative is part of Believe's wider AI strategy, and enables TuneCore artists to distribute collaborations created through Grimes' Elf.Tech AI to all major streaming platforms. The partnership sprang from conversations during Beatport's International Music Summit in Ibiza in late April 2023.

Future Independents', the free online conference from The Association of Independent Music (AIM) that democratises access to industry knowledge, attracted over 900 viewers from across the UK, as well as 40 countries worldwide.

The Association of Independent Festivals has today launched a pioneering new campaign and fund that will enable access to festivals for hundreds of thousands of people aged 18+ across the UK.

Capitalizing on the recent growth and investing in the future of the music market, B2B music IP solution Revelator is promoting experts from within and hiring new talent.

Independent music rights management company Bella Figura has joined IMPEL.

T-Live Festival is proud to unveil six stages of the hottest black music, with over 70 artists and DJs from RnB, Hip Hop, Grime, Desi, Afrobeats to Old Skool 90s and more, with an incredible line-up of much-loved, stellar RnB Royalty US headliners.

The IMPF has release the following statement on the UK Intellectual Property Office's recently published 'Industry Agreement on Music Streaming Metadata.

Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies, today celebrates a milestone in its partnership with respected dance label Cr2 Records, which has signed an exclusive long-term artist deal with Platinum-selling artist and producer Matt Sassari. The global signing follows Cr2's close collaboration with Believe's UK office with which it signed a global distribution deal in 2021.

Since 2000 Attitude is Everything has supported industry professionals and organisations to understand and improve access, with their UK-government endorsed Live Events Access Charter, training, consultancy, resources and industry campaigns.

The new Metadata Agreement sets out a commitment for the UK music streaming industry to improve metadata in new recordings.

Macka B was working on a project with Jazzwad, and one of the tracks was a tribute to Jah Shaka, written while he was alive and intended to be a living tribute.  Sadly Jah Shaka passed away before their song was finished. Jazzwad and Macka B decided to complete the piece posthumously as a tribute.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a new deal with songwriter Enrique “Kiki” Garcia to acquire rights to his full catalog, including the international hit song “Conga” performed by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.

Independent music publisher signs Ashnikko producer Slinger, The Heavy, Poter Elvinger, Flyte and moa moa. OTM aims to create new opportunities for artists through sync placements

The Equator’s latest single, Hippopotamus, revisits Desmond Dekker’s song originally recorded with the Birmingham band for his Stiff Records album back 1980 and captures the energy of The Equators’ live shows.

To meet growing demand for physical music and video across the UK, Utopia Music has entered into a long-term contract to provide warehousing and logistics with DP World, a leading provider of supply-chain solutions. The move highlights the ongoing resilience in the UK's physical music and video market, worth £1/2bn in 2022.

BDi Music has signed multi-instrumentalist, music director, composer, producer and songwriter Ben Lythe to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal.

Exceleration Music, the global venture dedicated to enhancing the future of independent music, has named former Spotify exec David Ecker as its new Label Development Manager. Rachel Cunningham, previously of Gimme Radio, also joins to lead Fan Engagement and Commerce.

AMR Songs, a full-service, global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company founded by music industry veteran Tamara Conniff, has partnered with country superstar Kimberly Perry and acquired her songwriting interests in the No.1 multi-platinum hit, “If I Die Young,” which won The Band Perry the CMA Single of the Year and Song of the Year in 2011. As she embarks on her solo career, Perry released on May 5 her first new single, “If I Die Young Pt. 2” (RECORDS Nashville/Columbia), which uniquely interpolates the original song.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship has opened for its 6th round today, with a call out for applications from future music industry leaders from underrepresented communities with the passion, drive and commitment to make a contribution to the music industry and who already hold an offer of a place on the Music Business Management MA course at University of Westminster. This year, through generous funding from Universal Music UK, Universal Publishing UK, Sony Music UK and Sony Music Publishing UK, it offers an additional a new ‘London Living Wage Stipend’ to cover the higher current cost of living and studying in London. This will include a bursary and stipend that totals £22,000, plus mentorship and assistance with work placement that will be aligned with the scholar’s professional focus and aspirations. The 2023 scholarship pot is more than double the value of the 2022 scholarship, which was a bursary of £10,500.

SoundCloud and Merlin today announced a global licensing deal enabling Merlin members and their artists to participate in SoundCloud’s Fan-Powered Royalties (FPR) model.

The UK office of independent record company Because Music and London Records have both made senior appointments, including new Managing Directors, to continue driving growth across their respective rosters.

Paul Fox releases new single A Better Tomorrow – featuring guest vocals from Jamaican singer Ann Ominous. It’s a conscious yet hopeful song, encouraging humanity to consider the world we are leaving for the people who come after us.

Dequency has partnered with AI music tagging and recommendation engine Cyanite, with a view to enhancing discovery on its own decentralized music licensing marketplace.

Reservoir Media, Inc. today announced a new joint venture with American Idol producer, 19 Entertainment. Through the relationship, Reservoir and 19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television, will aim to sign new publishing deals with the talented contestants featured on the longstanding series, with Reservoir committing to developing their songwriting with robust support from the Company’s creative and marketing teams. The companies will also work alongside 19 Entertainment’s label partner, BMG.

The UK office of Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies, has formed a partnership with Rinse, pioneers within London's underground dance scene, to handle distribution and label services for its Rinse Recordings and Bad Music imprints.

Beginning his music industry career in 1999 as HMV’s Head Vinyl Buyer, Peters built up a varied CV with roles at Somerset Music Hub, Bristol Music Foundation and Glastonbury before establishing himself as a booking agent.

The London Theatre Consortium (LTC), in partnership with the MOBO organisation, have appointed a fourth cohort of five LTC MOBO Executive Fellows to address the lack of diversity at executive level in UK theatre buildings. The Fellows began in February 2023 for an attachment of up to a year.

Tomorrow’s Warriors announced today that its illustrious multi award-winning alumna and tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia will perform alongside the shapeshifting Nu Civilisation Orchestra (NCO) for an exploration of Stan Getz’s ‘Focus’. An exciting concert marking over 60 years of the seminal jazz masterpiece from a true great, ‘Focus’ will take place at Royal Festival Hall, the Southbank Centre on 15th September

Leading UK/Swedish independent label Icons Creating Evil Art (ICEA) announced today a London showcase at the Sebright Arms on the 9th of May that will include artists from the companies Label and Management rosters.

MOBO is proud to announce an exciting new chapter for MOBO UnSung, the industry-leading nationwide emerging talent competition and talent development programme for the country’s best unsigned emerging artists producing original work. MOBO and TikTok’s SoundOn unveil a gamechanging new partnership that will open up entries for the first time to TikTok creators. With the continued backing from partner Marshall and support from PRS Foundation and the MOBO Help Musicians Fund, 2023 will bring through a wider and broader pool of artistic excellence and future superstars. As the digital partner of MOBO UnSung, TikTok will introduce an exciting new gateway for artists to enter this year’s competition via their app, and once the final ten UnSung Class of 2023 are selected, TikTok’s SoundOn will provide its specialist support to promote the ten finalists.

Public Pressure, the international Web3 media company, has announced a new London based division, Public Pressure Music, which will be headed up by Stephen King who has been appointed Managing Director of the new initiative.

IDOL, the global artist and label services company, has appointed Nashville-based Thomas Sharp Maxwell as General Manager, USA, to lead the growth of its operations across North America.

IMPF celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with a series of occasions planned throughout 2023 to mark the milestone.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) ("Reservoir" or the "Company"), an award-winning independent music company, today announced the acquisition of the catalog of multi-Platinum, Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer, and artist Byron Thomas, professionally known as Mannie Fresh. The deal includes both publishing and recorded music rights.

AEI Music, the engine behind leading electronic music brands and labels including Drum&BassArena, UKF and NCS, has unveiled AEI Ventures, a dedicated investment arm to support the next generation of founders in the music and hospitality industries.

Music industry veteran Jonathan McHugh has joined global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company AMR Songs (AMR) as Senior Advisor Creative and Sync. He will also serve on the company's board.

“Jazz Jamaica All Stars…Britain now has its own rival to the Buena Vista Social Club.” The Guardian “The sheer energy and high spirits that the Jazz Jamaica All Stars generates is quite overwhelming.” The Observer “Jazz Jamaica should be permanent ambassadors to the United Nations of Good Times.” Cheltenham Jazz Festival “Britain’s finest big band.” The Times

IMPF, representing independent music publishers internationally, has launched the third edition of its Independent Music Publishing Global Market View.

The UK office of Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies, has made a string of senior promotions to power future growth and support its burgeoning local team.

Award winning talent incubator and charity Tomorrow’s Warriors announced today it will go on tour with its exciting new talent development project LDN Rising, which takes the hottest, rising jazz talent to four venues across all four corners of the capital every month. LDN Rising is part of Tomorrow’s Warriors Emerging Artist Programme. The programme sees the organisation work with industry partners, promoters, venues and international festivals to deliver a diverse array of performance opportunities to the musicians aged 25+, who have come through its free to access Young Artist Development Programme (YADP) aimed at young musicians aged 11-18. The Tomorrow’s Warriors Emerging Artist Programme also delivers mentoring, training, traineeships, talks, masterclasses, and bursaries to support artists into professional careers, with a number of exceptional musicians securing a place at a Music Conservatoire following their time on the talent programmes.

FreshTracks Music UK—a new MCPS Production Music publisher—today announces the launch of its business helmed by former Global Head of BMG PM and Universal PM UK chief John Clifford. As Managing Director, Clifford is tasked with building the UK team and label partners. Alongside its own repertoire, FreshTracks Music UK will sub-publish select quality Production Music from international labels, expanding the offering of the wider FreshTracks Music network that already operates in 10 European countries 

[PIAS], one of the world’s leading music companies, has announced the appointment of Tom Keil as Global Head of Dance and Electronic & Executive Vice President of A&R.

Pandrador is the latest signing by Pagan Records. The label will release the group's second full-length album, entitled "Seiðr". It is both a continuation of the well-received debut album "Ov Rituals, Ov Ancestors, Ov Destiny" (self-released) and the opening of a completely new chapter for the post-death metal band.

Their new single 'NEW BOY' is taken from their forthcoming new album and comes ahead of an extensive run of Spring 2023 UK/EU headline dates and festival appearances from the band including a support slot with fellow label-mates Tokky Horror and appearances at Takedown Festival and The Great Escape, where the band play an official showcase at The Hope & Ruin (see below for listings).

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is opening applications for its new Amplify apprenticeship programme, launched in partnership with Amazon Music, Women in CTRL, and All Things People & Talent.

Vistex solutions help businesses take control of their mission-critical processes. The company’s enterprise software provides a high-volume, easily configured solution poised for traditional, current and future music business trends. Contracts, metadata and all royalty activity are captured in a single system, which is used for registration, licensing, sales, royalty reporting, analytics and more. This enables music companies to manage all aspects of their industry in a single solution.

ALL-STAR REGGAE ARTISTS RAYVON, LUCIANO AND SUGAR BEAR UNITE FOR EPIC NEW SINGLE ‘PEACE, LOVE & UNDERSTANDING’ Inspiring new release encourages a better understanding of the human experience Multi-platinum recording artist Rayvon has teamed up with the reigning ‘King of Conscious Reggae’ Luciano and international dancehall artist Sugar Bear.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has revealed final speakers and panel topics for AIM Connected, its flagship conference and networking event that brings together business owners, strategists and senior execs across the independent music and technology industries.

International artist management company Various Artists has announced that Melanie Chisholm, also known as Melanie C, has joined its roster for exclusive global representation.

AMR Songs (AMR), a global independent music publishing, rights management, and catalog marketing company, has launched with backing from private capital for catalog acquisitions and frontline operations, including artist and songwriter development, label distribution, film and TV licensing, digital marketing, and more. Founded by music industry veteran, Tamara Conniff, AMR CEO, and private equity professional Steve Reinstadlter, AMR CFO, the full-service, Los Angeles and New York-based company has been strategically building its diversified portfolio, acquiring rights in a vast array of music catalogs across multiple genres - most recently the catalogs of folk-rock legend John Sebastian and his interest in The Lovin’ Spoonful, and Grammy-winning reggae group SOJA.  

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has revealed final speakers and panel topics for AIM Connected, its flagship conference and networking event that brings together business owners, strategists and senior execs across the independent music and technology industries.

Independent sales, marketing and distribution company Republic of Music has signed a deal with world-leading distribution management platform Labelcamp.

UK singer-songwriter and producer Paul Fox announces his forthcoming album and shows his versatility with new single, World We Living In. He’s teamed up with rising Jamaican singer FireVerse for a propulsive, socially-aware, conscious dancehall track, addressing social injustices across the globe.

The UK office of Believe, one of the world's leading digital music companies, has signed a long-term label solutions partnership with legendary drum and bass label Hospital Records. 

Aux.app founder Ben Bowler comments, “At the core of our company is a desire to support independent musicians. I’m humbled to see industry and fans alike come together with true excitement for this year’s voting, it definitely exceeded our expectations."

ICE is a music technology company created by rightsholders, for rightsholders. It is a joint venture between PRS, STIM and GEMA, and actively encourages collaboration between other CMOs, music publishers and digital service providers to ensure composers and songwriters are compensated accurately and fairly for the use of their works internationally.

Various Artists Management whose roster of clients includes, Ashnikko, Tom Grennan, La Roux, Sad Night Dynamite, Yonaka, The Libertines, Supergrass, Cassyette and others has announced the appointment of Joe Etchells as Head of A&R and Artist Development.

Karta, a fast-growing metaverse studio pioneering the world of in-game experiential marketing for musicians, brands and sports teams, has announced ex-Virgin EMI Records senior director and music industry veteran Tony Barnes as its co-founder.

Find LSTNR online at www.LSTNR.co and on Instagram as @LSTNR.co.

Diesel and Public Pressure, the international Web3 media company, have unveiled the first commercial campaign since recently announcing a wide ranging partnership between the brands last year, with the aim of celebrating the fabric and future of underground music by promoting breakthrough artists, Web3 culture and technology.

IMPF condemns in the strongest possible terms Meta’s decision to exclude The Italian Society of Authors and Publishers’ (SIAE) repertoire from its platforms. The move is nothing short of a bullying tactic used to force SIAE to accept a one-sided proposal that disregards any reasonable, shared evaluation of the value of music.

Following today's Spring Budget announcement, a comment from the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which represents the UK's independent music community.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) recently presented to Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and HM Treasury details of the negative impacts that failure to extend the enhanced business energy relief scheme would have on Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) from April1st 2023. Already in 2023 one GMV is closing every week. The budget was an opportunity to ensure that this number of closures did not explode from the April 1st when GMV’s will be hit by excessive and unaffordable energy bills. The Chancellor has failed to respond to the evidence we submitted. There is no additional support for music venues and the inevitable result will be mass closures of venues. 

International artist management company Various Artists has announced the launch of a new, joint-venture music publishing company.

Soulful reggae powerhouse Aleighcia Scott drops Do You, the long awaited first single from her forthcoming album with legendary producer Rory Stonelove, Windrush Baby. Supported by a David Rodigan BBC Radio 1xtra world premiere and a Reggaeville video premiere, the new single went straight to number one on the Itunes Reggae Single Chart.

Miloco Studios has added five London studios to its roster, which now includes 169 facilities around the world in total.

Merlin, the independents’ digital music licensing partner, is thrilled to announce 2023 as “15 Years of Merlin” to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

(March 10th 2023) Brooklyn Funk Essentials are on a roll as they release their feelgood, rollerskating jam ‘Rollin’ (Love Will Be Here)’ today on Dorado Records. ‘Rollin’ (Love Will Be Here)’ is the 4th single from ‘Intuition’, Brooklyn Funk Essentials' seventh album of stellar, master-crafted R&B, discofunk, poly-riddims and pop-laced hooks, which will drop on 5th May, ahead of two UK shows at Jazz Café London May 10th and Blues Kitchen Manchester May 11th.

First Artists Management (FAM) has announced its expansion with two new agents - Zoe Hart (London) and Hailey Flame (Los Angeles), and the strengthening of its talent roster with a number of new signings providing a full music department.

Transformational mentoring platform The Cat’s Mother Network held an exclusive event last night to thank an illustrious group of luminaries from across the UK music and creative industries on the eve of International Women’s Day. Hosted by luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet at their beautiful AP House in London, the cocktail party saw The Cat’s Mother Network welcome artist ENNY as its inaugural Ambassador and Claudia Winkleman present the first ‘Cat’s Mother of the Year’ award to Emma Banks (Head of CAA), who has fully embraced the network and invested many hours of her time.

Sentric Music Group has agreed to a global administration deal with Rough Trade Publishing.

King Dude - the blue-eyed Mephistopheles with an acoustic guitar - will feature as a guest vocalist on “Βυσσοδομώντας”, the new album from The Magus, a veteran Greek musician known for his work with the likes of Necromantia, Rotting Christ and Yoth Iria among others.

The music publisher and former performing right organisation (PRO) executive adds to Audoo’s growing team of international industry experts - joining Audoo’s global expansion and mission to revolutionise public performance royalties for music creators, licensees and businesses worldwide.

BDi Music has signed bedroom producer and songwriter Lemonade Shoelace to an exclusive worldwide publishing deal.

London-based independent record label and management company, Finesse Foreva (FF) have been awarded 'Music Entrepreneur of the Year' – the Young Music Boss Awards' (YMBA) flagship title, presented in partnership with the Association of Independent Music (AIM).

Mojo Music & Media has announced new catalog acquisitions which collectively represent 30 chart hits spanning seven decades, from the 1950’s through the 2010’s. The deals, done with 2022 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Warren Cuccurullo, Teddy Sky, Bruce Belland, Omar Lyefook, Anthony Improgo and Blake Healy, include rights to such era and genre defining songs as Missing Persons’ “Destination Unknown,” Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” Jennifer Lopez’ “On The Floor,” The Four Preps’ “26 Miles (Santa Catalina),” Omar’s “There’s Nothing Like This” and Metro Station’s “Shake It.”

Currie has been tasked with signing new talent and bringing creative and promotional opportunities to the company’s existing roster of writers.

‘Own Our Venues’ the campaign launched by Music Venue Trust (MVT) to make a radical intervention into the ownership of the UK’s grassroots music venues (GMVs), is nearing its £2.5m fundraise target and has set a final deadline of March 30th to secure the remaining investment needed to commence the purchase of properties.

Tomorrow’s Warriors announced today that Nu Civilisation Orchestra will lead Aladdin Sane Live – an ambitious concert reimagining Bowie’s masterpiece ‘Aladdin Sane’ on the album’s 50th anniversary year, as part of Southbank Centre’s Aladdin Sane: 50 Years.

Managing Director of The Orchard UK Ian Dutt:“We are delighted to welcome Adam, Rob and the Perfect Havoc team to The Orchard. They have built an incredible business over the past few years and we very much look forward to helping them on their exciting journey."

Across 9 categories, the shortlist has been thoughtfully selected by the visionary team at Aux - led by founder, tech entrepreneur Ben Bowler - together with reputable industry partners: MusicAlly, Lady of The House and DataTransmission. And anyone can vote in the Awards be they fans or industry alike.

“House music has traditionally been underrepresented in film, television and commercials and we aim to change that by getting the music we represent into the hands of those decision makers...” Carlos Mena, CEO of Ocha Publishing.

Independent Music Services company Kartel Music Group announces the appointment of Abi White as Head of Dance and Electronic Promotions within its expanding marketing and media promotions agency, Kartel Marketing Agency. The role will see Abi leading on promotions for all dance and electronic agency clients, plus Kartel’s own electronic label, EMK.

Today, Phrased Differently includes Budde Music UK after the London-based boutique publisher and the German-based independent powerhouse formed a joint venture in 2020.

The US Music division of international artist management company YMU, has announced the promotion of Dani Chavez to the position of Senior Marketing Manager.

Independent publisher Minds on Fire have announced a global admin deal and co-publishing agreement with BMG.

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), which represents the global independent music sector, has appointed its board of directors for 2023, with Zena White, chief operating officer of Partisan Records (New York, USA) as its new chair.

Jamaican/Nigerian independent artist, Arinola, releases her debut single 'Love Story', showcasing her love of Black British dance music through R&B, with a riveting upbeat track infused with guitar and drum and bass rhythms.

Italian and English artist Angelina Luzi returns, releasing her first song of the year ‘Silent Moon’, an alt-pop/soft rock indie track - imagine a utopian collaboration between The Cranberries and Jeff Buckley with infectious synth lines, a strong hook at 1.08 and appealing lyrics. Angelina’s sentiment and trademark stylings feature throughout a vibrant composition, epic melodies and magnificent sound produced by frequent collaborator Nick Burns.

The mobile-friendly Digital Music Collectible (DMC) format, VAULT, created by the co-founders of sports betting market leader FanDuel announces $4M funding round following FLETCHER’s breakthrough drop. The fundraise will further scale the company’s DMC format and launch the VAULT Protocol, an open and fully decentralized network for purchasing, playing, and sharing music on third-party websites, apps, and music players.

“An incredible pianist, drummer, writer, producer and artist, Matt has been leading the way with British Jazz Funk for the last 30 years” – Gilles Peterson

Boosey & Hawkes is pleased to announce that Thomas Bangalter, co-founder of Daft Punk, has signed a new agreement to publish the music from his ballet score Mythologies. The full evening ballet, choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj, has been touring France and Italy and its first recording is released by Erato in April. Individual tableaux from the 90-minute orchestral score are now available for concert performance.

Twitch and Merlin are celebrating Valentine's Day by raising money for a great cause through a livestreamed charity “relay raid” on February 14 starting at 11:30 am ET. The “Sour Hearts Valentine’s Day Streamtacular” will feature back-to-back performances from artists represented by Merlin members and Twitch streamers. Throughout the event, viewers will be automatically directed to each performance and can donate to MusiCares®, the leading music charity, by clicking the link provided in the livestream. 

Sentric Music, has signed Dutch producer and DJ Iason Chronis, aka Mason, to an exclusive administration deal.

The Association of Independent Festivals has reached 100 members.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents almost 1000 UK grassroots music venues (GMVs) has launched its 2022 Annual Report, which highlights the important contribution that its members make to the UK economy while delivering sobering news about the challenges facing many in the sector.

On the Heels of a nomination for iHeartRadio Dance Artist of the Year and a recent #1 Album, 2X Grammy-nominated electro pop sensation SOFI TUKKER has extended its exclusive, worldwide deal with Third Side Music.

Visionary independent label +1 Records has announced a strategic, global partnership with Exceleration Music, the global venture dedicated to enhancing the future of independent music. 

Concord Music Publishing today announces the appointment of Adam Gardiner as Senior Vice President, International Sync

Ultra International Music Publishing (‘UIMP’), the leading independent publishers of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Electronic Dance Music, Pop, and Reggae has announced a new agreement with acclaimed, Atlanta-based songwriter and producer Zaytoven.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has unveiled the lineup for AIM Sync 2023, the UK's leading global sync conference and marketplace.

One of the most influential bands of the black metal genre, Necromantia, will release its first official and complete biography book in English in March 2023 via Pagan Records. Entitled “The Serpent and the Pentagram: The Official Chronicles of Necromantia”, the book was written by The Magus (Necromantia’s co-founder) and Aris Shock (author of “Rites of the Abyss”).

This year will see Festival Congress move to Bristol Beacon – a larger venue following 2022’s sell-out event.

The cult funk ensemble Brooklyn Funk Essentials have returned to chase the January blues away with the release today of joyous, new R&B-disco-funk jam ‘How Happy’, to follow up on the success of last year’s singles ‘Scream!’ and ‘AA Side Single’. The single once again features the legendary, inimitable Alison Limerick and comes ahead of the release of hotly anticipated seventh studio album ‘Intuition’, which will come out in Spring 2023 on Dorado Records, and two UK live dates at Jazz Café London on May 10, and Blues Kitchen Manchester on May 11, tickets on sale now here.

We are writing to you as a group of organisations that represent key stakeholders in the live music industry.

MMC patron and CICAS® member Shingai features on Zimbabwean artist Winky D's new single 'Dzimbe Dzemabwe', paying homage to their Motherland and expressing concerns of poverty, wealth inequality and climate change.

St. Louis based alternative recording artist Roman Richey, (professionally known as (Badhabits555) creates music that is comforting to the masses with intriguing tones that allow for one of the most interesting listening experiences in the underground scene today.

"AIM welcomes recommendations for transparency, a proactive strategy and inclusive working groups to look collaboratively at practical positive outcomes in streaming."

The survey conducted by audio collaboration platform, Aux.app, reveals more in its annual survey including the most popular DAW amongst professional audio makers, which revenue streams generated the most income, and to what extent producers have been affected by The Economic Crisis.

"KID ON THE RADAR, pop punk! A 20-year-old musician released a follow-up single after the success of "Drug Dealer!".

Huess announces a new single coming in February 2023. 'The Song' comes hot on the heels of his debut album 'While I Was Waiting', inducing a thoughtful mood via characteristic electronic experimentation and rhythms - think Harmonia remixed by Metro Boomin'.

Record labels association the BPI today reports that UK artists have made history by claiming a clean sweep of the year’s Top 10 singles for the first time ever, according to its analysis of Official Charts Company data1.

As announced by the Grammy-winning hip-hop trio De La Soul today, the group’s iconic catalog will be released on digital streaming services for the first time ever on March 3rd , 2023, with support from Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”) and distributed by Reservoir-owned Chrysalis Records.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, today has announced a dynamic new agreement with STYNGR, a B2B technology platform that provides a turnkey music licensing solution for video games and the metaverse. This partnership provides game developers access to the wide-ranging music released by Merlin members, creates a new revenue source for Merlin members, and generates exposure for independent artists around the world. It also brings the two companies together in a commitment to protecting the value of copyright and ensuring that rightsholders are properly compensated for use of their work.

IMPEL, the independent music publishing digital licensing body has announced a strategic partnership with Blokur, which will be key in creating the conditions for its future growth.

Full Time Hobby has signed Ghost Woman to its publishing roster under its sponsorship agreement with Bucks Music Group.

Public Pressure, the Web3 music specialist, which officially launched in August, has announced a new round of funding.

In Fear have signed to UK label Year Of the Rat Records, and the new single ‘Abyss’ is released on the 9th December 2022. The single kickstarts the next phase for the band. Over the single cycle the band have already had support from Rock Sound, Metal Hammer, Kerrang Radio, Prison Radio, Moshville Times and many other respected publications. 

Event décor and installation specialists, Visual Architects has been recommissioned for services at Kendal Calling 2023 taking place at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District from 27th – 30th July, following a successful, full transformation of the festival in 2022.

Clampitt has consistently garnered industry recognition for his impressive collaborations. His co-write “Company” by Justin Bieber landed him on Australasian Performing Right Association’s (APRA) prestigious “The 1,000,000,000 List".

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, and Supernatural, the popular VR fitness app for Meta Quest headsets, today announce an exciting new partnership. The deal will bring the music of independent artists via Merlin members to soundtrack workouts on the virtual service.

[PIAS] one of the world’s leading independent music companies and Universal Music Group (UMG), the global leader in music-based entertainment, have announced the first significant repertoire partnership under their recently announced global alliance.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has appointed Silvia Montello as its new CEO. Montello brings thirty years of experience in marketing, commercial and strategic operations. She replaces Paul Pacifico in leading AIM's overarching operations and strategy, as it continues to support the UK's growing independent music sector, which now comprises 29% of the market.

Off the back of this new single the band will head out for three headline shows at home, before heading abroad for tours in Australia, the USA, Europe & the UK throughout 2023. L.A.B will perform at the O2 Forum Kentish Town on Thursday 12 October 2023

Bucks Music Group has signed an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal with Yahael Camara-Onono, the creator and leader of West African collective Balimaya Project.

The new Head of Membership role brings together AIM's membership, events, and marketing and communications functions. Radojewski will be responsible for managing these areas, as well as continuing to lead professional development initiatives for members such as the AIM Academy and the Associate Members' Knowledge Base.

[PIAS] one of the world’s leading independent music companies, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, announced today that UMG has invested in a minority share of the [PIAS] Group.

Voice streaming platform Logcast has announced its new integration with Spotify – providing a new way for music artists to earn money on talk content.

"While consumers have clearly benefited enormously from greater access to music at decreasing cost, we must take care to ensure music is not undervalued and that we balance that with the opportunity for more creators to benefit from a sustainable digital ecosystem."

From Copland to Shostakovich, Gorecki to Prokofiev - these incredible pieces have been given a new lease by the likes of Alice Ivy, Tobie Tripp, Hale Zero, Ed Critchley, Petrels and others.

Bucks Music Group has hired Jen Moss as a Senior Sync executive. Moss has 15 years’ experience in the sync industry.

UK Music today reveals the findings of its 2022 Workforce Diversity Survey, as part of its UK Music Diversity Report. It also unveils a radical action plan with 15 key recommendations to improve diversity across the music industry.

Bucks Music Group has signed artist and songwriter Tom Webber to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal. Webber’s debut 4-track EP, Stop And Think About It, with its standout track Martha, earned the title of Best Demo Of The Year at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

The UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM) announced two new initiatives to support entrepreneurship in the independent music sector at its Annual General Meeting in Manchester. Held at YES live music venue, and also livestreamed, AIM's first AGM outside London was themed "Taking Independents to the Next Level."

Comment from the Association of Independent Music (AIM) on UK Parliament's evidence session today looking at progress since the DCMS Select Committee's inquiry into the economics of music streaming.

Independent record labels' share of the UK recorded music market is on course to grow for a fifth consecutive year in 2022, according to new analysis from the BPI, the representative voice for independent and major record labels across the UK.

L.A.B Take Home Four 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards Including the Three Big Ones! Repeating their 2021 haul, L.A.B has secured their spot in award history as the major winner at the Aotearoa Music Awards for the second year running. Their success story continues, with the group taking home Album of The Year for L.A.B V, Single of the Year for ‘Mr Reggae’, Best Group and Best Roots Artist. L.A.B are now the first band in New Zealand music history to win all four awards in two consecutive years, and are only the second act to ever win Single of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Group in back-to-back years.

Following a year long campaign between Marshall Amplification and MOBO UnSung, today Marshall Records are proud to release ‘MOBO UnSung: Class of 2022’. The album features thirteen tracks with a total of ten artists that are part of this year’s MOBO UnSung finalists. Each artist brings their individual flavour alongside on their respective tracks as well as collaborations between the extended MOBO UnSung family. These artists consist of A3O, Zitah, JClarke, Crae Wolf, Sarah Ikumu, Natalie Lindi, Mace the Great, Adreyn Cash, Genesis Elijah and Jordan Adetunji.

Curve Royalty Systems, the London-based music technology company, has unveiled a ground-breaking new version of its industry acclaimed platform that will provide royalty processing expertise to any music industry company regardless of its size.

The appointment was announced today during AIF’s 2022 AGM, with Rostron officially beginning his tenure on November 18 following a two-week handover period with current CEO Paul Reed.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, is proud to welcome Adam Wright as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Wright comes to Merlin after three years as director of finance for Creative Artists Agency (CAA) overseeing its brand licensing business in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Miloco Studios will open the doors to its legendary London HQ for an industry evening of studio tours, gear demos and talks from a range of world-class engineers on November 24.

International artist management company, YMU, has announced the appointment of Sophia Margerison to the position of Global Business Development Director.

Matt Cooper, recording again as Outside, makes a surprise return following a 20-year creative hiatus to release stunningly beautiful four-track EP ‘A New Beginning’, which comes out today on Dorado Records. Studio mastermind and prodigiously gifted multi-instrumentalist, writer and arranger Matt Cooper, aka Outside, has been a creative powerhouse from the time he founded Outside in 1993, to now where he has been Musical Director of Jazz-Funk pioneers Incognito and collaborated on the STR4TA project with Incognito’s Bluey and Gilles Peterson as co-writer/producer/performer on four new tracks from the forthcoming album, including current STR4TA track ‘Lazy Days’ featuring Emma-Jean Thackray.

Reporting directly to Bucks MD Simon Platz in his new role, Price will be responsible for maintaining and developing the company’s relationships with composers, broadcasters and production companies, as well as managing publishing interests in music composed for film, TV and media.

The album has been produced by Rudimental’s Amir Amor and features other production collaborators including Nile Rodgers, Fryars and Lewis Thompson.

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) is launching two new projects to develop new associations and foster cross-regional collaboration in key music markets. These will also help members of existing independent music trade associations build and maintain international connections and bridge gaps between markets.

Neoclassical act Autumn Tears has announced its return with the band’s biggest and most ambitious work to date, a double album entitled "Guardian of the Pale". The album will be released in multiple formats via The Circle Music in March 2023.

The Aux desktop app lets remote-working creators collaborate unlike any existing tool. Two Ableton Live or Logic Pro X users can work on the same project, utilise file syncing across all devices and bring real-time chat directly into the DAW. With intelligent version history of all file uploads, timestamped commenting on waveforms, and an in-built DAW stems player; producers’ audio workflow and the collaborative process are simplified and streamlined like never before.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has attracted widespread investment, endorsements and support from across the music industry for its ‘Own Our Venues’ initiative.

Exceleration Music has appointed David Gorman as its Creative Director, based in Los Angeles. Reporting to the company's partnership group, Gorman will play a leading role across all creative aspects of Exceleration's business. He will help to craft the direction and execution of consumer-facing digital and physical art, as well as packaging and video projects for the company's various label and artist partners, which span a wide variety of music genres and styles.

Swedish tech startup, Staccs, has agreed a deal with Samsung TV Plus for its new TV channel for concert video and music documentaries. Launched in the Nordics and the Baltic states last year, Staccs provides fans the opportunity to relive their favourite concerts, on demand, advert free - and in the highest quality possible. Following the success of the platform, the company has recently launched Staccs TV to provide music fans a glimpse into the vast and unique music content that is available from its streaming service. The new deal means that Samsung TV Plus users in Sweden now have free access to Staccs TV for an unlimited time.

DHP Family has today revealed the first wave of artists for charity fundraiser festival Beat The Streets, renowned locally for the vital funds it has raised in support of Framework Housing Association and awareness it has brought to the rising homelessness crisis in Nottingham.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, and China-based short-form video platform Kuaishou have signed a broad new partnership. This arrangement will make Merlin members’ expansive variety of music available across Kuaishou’s products around the world, including Kwai and SnackVideo.

IMPF has formed a partnership with Music Publishers Canada to host an in-person co-writing camp promoting publisher and songwriter collaboration between Canada and the Nordic territories.

L.A.B IN DUB has been lovingly crafted by Baldini at his Alambic Conspiracy Studio in San Foca, Italy. Each dub has been created live in the studio, with Baldini working live on the stems of each track. These new versions are all created in one take with no overdubs or edits, creating entirely new versions.

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF) are delighted to reveal our much-anticipated shortlists for Breakthrough Artist and Breakthrough Manager for the Artist & Manager Awards in association with artist funding platform beatBread. We also reveal that Red Light Management and Music Declares Emergency will join our incredible roll call of winners.

Initial applications - which must be submitted before midday Monday 24th October - should take less than 30-minutes to complete. For full details go to: www.themmf.net/accelerator/

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced the acquisition of the catalog of songwriter and recording artist Louis Prima from the Gia Maione Prima Foundation. The deal includes rights to both Prima’s publishing and recorded music catalogs.

Leading independent commercial dance label and artist management agency, Perfect Havoc, has announced the signing of New York producer and DJ, PS1 to its management roster. It follows a string of hit records for PS1 on Perfect Havoc, which saw his debut ‘Fake Friends feat. Alex Hosking’ reach No.19 in the UK Official Charts.

Matthew Fackrell and Eric Nguyen will serve as SVP & GM in APAC and North America, respectively. The former performing right organisation (PRO) executives add to Audoo’s growing team of international industry experts. Continuing Audoo’s global expansion and mission to revolutionise public performance royalties for music creators, licensees and businesses worldwide.

UK roots reggae singer and producer Paul Fox focuses on the horrors of war and displacement for his track Warzone Part Two – Refugees. Taken from Fox's current album, Same Blood, Warzone Part Two revisits a topic he first examined on a track of the same name in 1993.

The new 10,000 sq. ft. facility in north west London, along with its esteemed advisory board of industry pros and investors will help kick-start the on-demand vinyl revolution.

IMPF successfully hosted a first of its kind music business summit and writing camp for creators and publishers this week, bringing together the independent music publishing community and the wider industry from around the world.

Dan McEvoy (Black Country, New Road) and Bertie Gibbon (Sorry, The Goa Express) join ATC Management, while Matt Greer adds the The Hives to ATC’s client roster.

The annual Drake YolanDa Awards are a series of cash prizes presented to emerging young musicians aged between 16-30, enabling them to showcase their talent and assist them in taking their careers to the next level.

Four more winners are revealed for the November 17th ceremony

Glass Fish is inspired by memories of prized retro ornaments from Sunday afternoons spent with friends and their families' living rooms, it’s a warm and gentle swim through the hidden waters of the soul. Brazilian guitarist João Erbertta’s woozy slide guitar melts into Idris Rahman and Robin Hopcraft’s brass – blown softly and carefully as glass. Glass Fish/Glass Fish Dub are out today digitally with limited 7" vinyl available via Bandcamp and Soothsayers’ website.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship has announced that, after a highly competitive round of applications, it will continue its support to diverse, future industry leaders with the announcement that Janelle Mitchell is its fifth scholar. She will be awarded a full scholarship for a place this year on University of Westminster’s highly regarded Music Business Management MA course, commencing later this month.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced the hiring of Russell Hunt as a Senior Creative Manager. Hunt will be based in Reservoir’s London office, working closely with Reservoir’s U.K. Head of Creative Charlie Pinder to help expand the Company’s global presence. Hunt will report to Donna Caseine, Executive Vice President and Global Creative Director of Reservoir.

[PIAS], one of the world’s leading independent music companies, has announced details of its 40th anniversary celebrations in the wake of its two founders receiving the prestigious ‘Indie Champion’ award at last week’s AIM Awards 2022 in London last week.

BDi Music has signed emerging songwriter, artist and producer FJ Law to an exclusive worldwide publishing deal.

Pioneering talent development organisation and charity Tomorrow’s Warriors today announced the release of ‘I AM WARRIOR’, a single out today featuring Zara McFarlane, and album of the same name coming out 28 October, in celebration of three illustrious decades of the organisation.

Polish post-black metal act Gorycz have announced that they will release their second full-length album “Kamienie” via Pagan Records on 4 November 2022. The single ”Chcę inne oczy" is streaming now.

After bringing down the curtain on riotous performances from The Libertines, Lethal Bizzle and Pixey, the AIM Independent Music Awards celebrates another glorious year of the independent sector and the talented artists, labels and outstanding individuals at the forefront of its success.

Highly anticipated new album from Mord'A'Stigmata will be released on 4 November 2022 via Pagan Records. New single "Blood of the Angles" is available to listen now.

The award-winning club that regularly features in DJ Mag’s ‘Top 100 Clubs in the World’ is returning with top of the range production to deliver a fully immersive clubbing experience.

Sentric Music Group, part of Utopia Music, has made four key A&R hires in the United States, bringing experienced executives Matt DuFour, Carlos Escalona Cruz, Kebu Commissiong and Lou Plaia to the company. The hires follow Sentric’s move into North America and establish a presence in all the major markets within the territory.

Following last week's win at the Maori Music Awards, New Zealand Roots Band, L.A.B release their 2nd single, Fashion Dread Dub, from the forthcoming album, L.A.B in DUB, a collaboration with Italian sonic visionary Paolo Baldini and legendary dub label, Echo Beach. L.A.B are a multi-award winning and platinum selling band, they play a seamless mix of reggae, rock, blues, electronica and funk. Their last album, L.A.B V enjoyed 20 million streams on Spotify as well as more than 10,000 radio spins worldwide from over 100 stations including the BBC. L.A.B are selling out stadiums across the Pacific and heading to the UK in 2023.

The cult funk ensemble Brooklyn Funk Essentials release their infectious new jazz-funk jam ‘AA Side Single’ today on Dorado Records, to follow up the critically acclaimed recent single ‘Scream!’.

"Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes this intervention by the Government, which appears at face value to comprehensively tackle the immediate short term energy crisis for Grassroots Music Venues."

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced Ticketmaster as the headline sponsor for its forthcoming Venues Day annual networking event, which takes place on Tuesday 18th October at Hackney Church (formerly known as St John at Hackney Church), London. 

Stormzy and Rina Sawayama will be recognised for their outstanding achievements and ground-breaking work at this year's Association of Independent Music (AIM) Awards. The final list of nominees are also unveiled ahead of the star-studded ceremony on 28 September at London's Roundhouse, with rising star Pixey completing the line up of the live show.

Digital Sports MGMT represents leading brands such as Warner Bros and Xbox, and influencers such as Danny Aarons, ShaunaGames and AJ3

The Nu Civilisation Orchestra: Hejira and Mingus UK tour will feature the acclaimed vocalist and multi-instrumentalist and Tomorrow’s Warriors alumna ESKA. The tour will explore the music of two legends: Joni Mitchell, through her classic, jazz-influenced album ‘Hejira’, and Mitchell’s work with the great Charles Mingus, that was recorded shortly before his death.

One-woman dark neofolk project from Poland, Ols, returns with darker & bolder music on new album “Pustkowia”, scheduled for a 20 October 2022 release via Pagan Records. Ahead of the album's release, Ols releases a music video to the single "Pustacie". The new album will be available in digipak and digital formats and pre-orders are open now.

Public Pressure, a Web3 media company with a carbon-neutral NFT music marketplace, is joining forces with fashion brand, Diesel, to celebrate the fabric and future of underground music.

Becky Hill will receive our Artist of the Year Award for her outstanding achievements in 2022 The MMF & FAC recognise Martin Hall’s 30+ year career in artist management representing clients including Manic Street Preachers, The Script and Wet Leg beatBread confirmed as the A&MAs headline sponsor for the November 17th ceremony

Italian neoclassical band unveils the third single from its upcoming 28th studio album, “Pomegranate - The Chant Of The Elementals”

As the AIM Independent Music Awards prepares to return in-person at the Roundhouse on September 28, labels and teams behind some of 2022's most exciting acts are set to receive well-deserved recognition.

The reissues from the legendary Greek black metal band will include never released tracks and for the first time on vinyl, celebrating the band's 30-year history.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, in conjunction with PopArabia, the leading music publisher and independent music company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), announced the acquisition of iconic Lebanese label and music publisher, Voice of Beirut. This acquisition builds on Reservoir’s emerging markets strategy, further diversifying the Company’s music rights in the fast-growing MENA region.

Talented UK-based music managers are being urged to apply before the October 24th deadline

Available in print across five UK cities, each tailored copy of The Aux Guide features hundreds of local artist managers, label services, rehearsal spaces and more. This comprehensive guide is to be an indispensable tool for budding musicians to kick start careers and get networking in all the right places.

"Congratulations to Michelle Donelan MP on her appointment as Secretary of State at DCMS. It remains a uniquely challenging time for festivals as we look to the 2023 season."

IMPEL, SX Works Global Publisher Services (SX Works), and the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) have announced the completion of a strategic partnership that expands North American and international mutual licensing and back-office administration opportunities, ensuring music publishers are accurately and fairly compensated.

Eclectic New Zealand reggae-influenced band L.A.B have teamed up with Italian producer engineer Paolo Baldini for their new single Shadows Dub. It’s the first release from their forthcoming full-length project L.A.B In Dub – where Baldini reshapes choice cuts from the band’s back catalogue in dubbed out style.

Strange Fruits, the hugely successful Netherlands based music and tech company specializing in music playlist promotion via creative marketing with a variety of proprietary, in-house tech products, has announced that it is re-branding as Fruits Music.

Veteran UK roots reggae singer Paul Fox and legendary UK dancehall deejay Apache Indian have joined forces for the song Same Blood. The title track from Fox's current album, Same Blood is a call for unity in these fragmented times, reminding us that inside, we are all one.

L.A.B win best record at the Rolling Stone New Zealand Awards. The first-ever edition of the awards saw the band taking home Best Record for the chart-topping album L.A.B V. The band took home the award over fellow nominees including BENEE, Aldous Harding & Crowded House. 

The recently appointed chair of British Phonographic Industry (BPI), broadcaster and multi-instrumentalist YolanDa Brown and entrepreneur James ‘JP’ Drake are delighted to announce that applications for the annual Drake YolanDa Awards are now open. The Drake YolanDa Awards are a series of cash prizes presented to emerging young musicians aged between 16-30 enabling them to showcase their talent and assist them in taking their careers to the next level.

Headquartered in London but with offices and team members in Europe, Hong Kong and the United States, Public Pressure was originally launched in 2015 as an online community and magazine dedicated to giving a voice to emerging artists and labels.

Paul Reed will step down as CEO of The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) in November, after nine years at the trade body.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has warned music venues, studios and other music businesses face closure without swift action to combat soaring energy bills.

Crunch Digital's patent-pending online platform Tempo is an industry game-changer, providing the first one-stop solution to a litany of problems that plague companies and services who have catalog licensing deals in place, yet have trouble determining which tracks they can or cannot use.

Cult British rockers The Libertines will be taking to The Roundhouse stage on 28th September, as the AIM Independent Music Awards returns for a star-studded, in-person event.

Born Ethan Healey, Ferris began releasing music online under the alias Save Ferris, inspired by the classic 1986 John Hughes hit film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. While his initial love from music stemmed from all kinds of genres it wasn’t until he was 16 when he discovered passion Hip-hop. Influenced by the 90’s classic Boom-Bap sound, Ferris began as a local beat maker in St. Louis.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a new publishing deal with Grammy-nominated writer-producer Nick Lee for his future works.

The Home Of Breakout Records From Creeper, Boston Manor, Milk Teeth, Conjurer, Employed To Serve, Cold Years, Puppy and many more.

Paul Pacifico will leave the UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM) at the end of 2022. His decision marks the end of his second three-year term as CEO and the delivery of several long-term strategic goals.

Exceleration Music has appointed Jennifer Newman Sharpe as its Head of Legal & Business Affairs and General Counsel, based in New York. Utilising her broad legal and commercial experience, Newman Sharpe will oversee the company's activities in developing agreements and negotiating contracts across all areas of Exceleration's fast-growing business.

On-demand vinyl platform elasticStage raises £3.5m

The Hempolics gear up for their forthcoming album with the release of single ‘One Law Fi Dem’, a team-up with soundsystem veteran Macka B. The collaboration captures a tale of the time, indeed a tale of the ages, as Macka B spits “One law fi dem, One law fi you, Do as I say but no do as I do”.

The first hint at a leaner and more mainstream leaning sound to come from his new material, coming ahead of Lenman’s performance on the Yokhai Stage at ArcTanGent Festival on Friday 19th August 2022.

Twitch and Merlin will come together to present a livestreamed charity “relay raid.” The relay raid will feature back-to-back performances from some of today’s hottest independent hip hop artists. Throughout the event, viewers will be automatically directed to each performance and can donate to MusiCares® by clicking the link provided in the livestream. 

Bucks Music Group has signed double platinum selling songwriter Marvee Woods to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal.

Perfect Havoc has today launched a new NFT project on leading NFT marketplace OpenSea that celebrates its anniversary and five years of the leading UK dance music label. In collaboration with music industry creative lab Synthetic Artists, the collection sees the initial release of 366 unique artworks based on themed iterations of Perfect Havoc’s graphical logo, originally designed by Pure Evil.

London based independent music company Distiller Music Group (Distiller) has announced the launch of a groundbreaking new division, which will focus on developing music based TV opportunities in the Virtual Reality (VR) space.

Geoff Taylor, the Chief Executive Officer of record label trade body the BPI, who also oversees the BRIT Awards and the Mercury Prize, has announced his intention to move on in 2023 to a more directly commercial role, after 25 years working for label associations, including more than 15 years leading the BPI.

Merlin, the independent's digital music licensing partner, has appointed Kyle Elwin in a  newly-established role of People & Culture Lead. Elwin’s hire is the organization’s first of this type. She will report directly to Merlin’s CEO, Jeremy Sirota, to help develop the company’s culture and support team growth. With her leadership, Merlin will continue to foster an environment of creativity and collaboration, two key traits in the fast-paced world of music and technology.

The US Music division of international artist management company YMU, has announced the appointment of Elena Awbrey to the position of Executive Manager.

Serenade, the eco-friendly music web3 marketplace, has partnered with Warner Records UK to launch the world’s first Digital Pressing; a brand new, limited edition and collectible music format that will produce the first UK and Australian chart eligible music format since album streams in 2015.

Curve Royalty Systems, the London-based music technology company, has announced two key hires in its North American and UK divisions.

Exceleration Music, a company formed to enhance the future of independent labels and artists, has acquired the catalogue of innovative Dutch independent Heroic Music Group.

AIM CEO Paul Pacifico: "We welcome the CMA's update report which reinforces what we know – that building success in music is hard – and underlines the need for organisations across music to work together to secure positive outcomes for the sector."

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI said: "We welcome the CMA's preliminary findings, which have concluded that the streaming market is competitive, providing artists with more ways to release their music, and fans with more choice and value than ever before."

Concord Music Publishing are delighted to announce a new global publishing deal with hitmaker Tre Jean-Marie. The British songwriter and producer is currently enjoying success with Mabel’s latest album About Last Night… which debuted at No.2 in the UK Album Chart, which Tre co-wrote and/or produced six songs on.

The AIM Independent Music Awards nominees have been revealed, as the event is set to return in-person at London's iconic Roundhouse on 28 September. 

International artist management company YMU has announced the appointment of Matt Rowsell to the position of Artist Manager.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced a new partnership with Mobility Super App, FREE NOW.  The new headline sponsor of the Mercury Prize, FREE NOW is supporting grassroots music venues in the UK by underwriting the costs of 120 shows by future Mercury Prize hopefuls in 60 grassroots music venues.

Forthcoming new album Uncertain Joys was recorded and produced by front man and producer in his own right Billy Lunn, mixed by the Grammy Award-winning Adrian Bushby (Muse, Foo Fighters, Everything Everything), and mastered by Katie Tavini (Mykki Blanco, Arlo Parks, Nadine Shah).

Black & White describes the colour sweetly sliding away from the world and the worries around what it means. In the frame of mental health, Black & White combines indie and neo soul to lull the listener into a captivating new sound world, with you stuck inside it. This is the second single from their upcoming EP, which will be released on 30th September.

IMPF welcomes the election of publishing representatives to the Board and Audit Committee of the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAiKS) after 20-years of campaigning.

The outrageous new comedy film Nude Tuesday (Nûde Tuęsdäy) starring Jemaine Clement, Jackie van Beek, and Damon Herriman, has released the first-ever gibberish soundtrack featuring songs by Clement and indie darlings Elly-May Barnes, Kirin J Callinan, Reb Fountain, and Moniker (aka The Phoenix Foundation). 

Aspiring young film and TV composers from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply for the mentoring scheme and opportunity for a full-time paid placement. Composer Mentors for the programme from the First Artists Management roster include David Arnold, Ré Olunuga, and Gazelle Twin. In partnership with Youth Music, C.A.M.P. aims to help increase diversity in the Music for Screen industry.

Independent Music Services company Kartel Music Group announces the appointment of Heather Swaine as Managing Director of its expanding marketing and media promotions agency.

The BPI – the representative voice for independent and major record labels across the UK – is delighted to announce that its new Chair is acclaimed musician, composer and broadcaster YolanDa Brown.

His forthcoming album is an emotionally volatile and heart-wrenching collection of cutting edge punk that pushes genre boundaries whilst traversing extremely challenging political subject matter with aplomb and vitriol.

The BPI, the representative voice for independent and major record labels, has today confirmed that High Court website blocking of pirate music sites and apps – which previously applied only to users of fixed line broadband networks – is being extended to users of mobile networks, starting with EE, part of the BT group.

Ultra Music Publishing (‘Ultra’), the leading independent publishers of Electronic Dance Music, Pop, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Reggae has announced the launch of a new studio complex in Liverpool, which will serve the songwriters and musicians it represents as well as those signed to its sister labels Helix and Payday Records.

Dequency has today launched its web3-powered music licensing marketplace, opening its portal to music rightsholders everywhere, having completed a 4-month restricted beta phase.

UK Music, the collective voice of the UK Music industry, has urged Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries to dump "dangerous and damaging" plans to allow artificial intelligence companies to "launder" music to generate new content.

Sensational live, the band’s recent skyrocketing notoriety on Tik Tok (currently running at 2 million views a month) has seen attendances rise throughout a sold out March UK tour and excitement around them intensify, as the inherently DIY band take their summer sounds to the next level.

Middlesex University London (MDX) and leading music industry body the Association of Independent Music (AIM) are proud to announce an exciting collaboration on an MA Music Business programme by distance education.

Serenade, the eco-friendly music NFT marketplace whose mission is to support artists by creating new revenue streams from unique fan experiences, has announced the members of its UK advisory board.

ACM and The Music Federation (TMF) have come together to bring the professional music services of the business direct to students across the creative industries spectrum on programme at ACM.

Sky Ferreira was signed to the exclusive global publishing administration deal by Brontë Jane, Third Side Music's VP Creative/Director of A&R based in Los Angeles. She joins the company’s diverse and eclectic roster, a cadre of rising stars and GRAMMY-nominated artists, songwriters and composers such as SOFI TUKKER, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Blonde Redhead, Colin Stetson, and BADBADNOTGOOD, who Brontë Jane recently re-signed to the company.  

The Garage - without a doubt one of London’s landmark live music venues - is marking its 30th anniversary year with a series of shows from artists who have graced its stage over three decades at the heart of live music.

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has appointed Notting Hill Carnival CEO Matthew Phillip as its new Chair. Phillip is the CEO of Carnival Village Trust, London's leading Carnival development agency, which is dedicated to supporting and delivering an integrated programme of Carnival arts.

The cult funk ensemble Brooklyn Funk Essentials have announced their exciting new single ‘Scream!’ will be released on 13th July, and their hotly anticipated seventh studio album ‘Intuition’ will come out in November 2022 on Dorado Records, the original label who first signed the band in 1994.

Legendary labels Chrysalis and Tommy Boy Records have signed a world ex. Americas distribution deal with Proper Music Group, part of the Utopia family. Both independent labels are part of the Reservoir group of companies.

The announcement comes after Just Kiddin were signed to Perfect Havoc for a global single deal in November 2021 and ahead of their forthcoming single ‘Moonshine River’ which is released later summer alongside DiRTY Radio. They join a roster including the double platinum selling Swedish artist producer Tobtok, Oliver Nelson and further one-to-watch talent, Alfie Cridland.

Fresh from a performance on The Other Stage at Glastonbury last night, this morning Years & Years and On Air announce that fans around the globe will be able to experience Years & Years homecoming London show from OVO Arena, London.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a deal for a stake in the catalog of multi-Platinum hip-hop producer Marlon Williams, professionally known as Marley Marl. The deal includes the iconic, 2x-Platinum album Mama Said Knock You Out and its Grammy-winning title track performed by LL Cool J.

Downtown Music Services, which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners has announced a new agreement with international music company Geejam Music which incorporates Geejam Studios in Port Antonio, Jamaica.

Award-winning DAACI has developed and filed a series of patents for its ground-breaking AI core tech which is set to revolutionise the creative process of music composition, democratising music creation for the metaverse masses.

Bucks Music Group has signed Kathryn Williams to a worldwide administration agreement. Williams has released 14 albums to date including Little Black Numbers, which was Mercury nominated in 2000.

The new feature allows anyone with a smartphone to create voice-based NFTs with just one-click; you simply record your voice, add a picture and title, set a price and list them for sale as limited-edition digital collectibles, coined by Logcast as “NFMs” or “Non-Fungible Memories”. 

L.A.B return with two live renditions of ‘Proud Man’ & ‘Mr Reggae’ taken from their album L.A.B V. Filmed & recorded live at Massey Studios, Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, the live rendition of the tracks showcase L.A.B’s electric live sound which has seen them sell out multiple events & tours across Aotearoa & Australia. Following on from multiple number one singles & albums, alongside a growing list of platinum sales & awards across New Zealand & Australia, this is the band's first ever release featuring a small collection of live tracks.

Nearly two-thirds of the past year’s most successful UK albums came from domestic artists who either grew up or formed their bands in the nations and regions outside of London, with the North West leading the way1, according to a new report from the BPI, the representative voice for independent and major record labels. 

Effective immediately, the new deal covers his catalogue including his seminal 1991 hit “I Want You Forever,” collaborations and co-writes with the likes of Nile Rogers, Nicole Moudaber, Fatboy Slim, Juan Atkins, Josh Wink, Franky Wah and Sofi Tukker, alongside all new material including his forthcoming new album, Electronic Generations, his first to be released in over a decade.

London based music company GigRealm, the groundbreaking online platform that provides an end-to-end solution for organizing live music performances, has announced a new partnership during Pride Month with Ask for Clive, a charity that works with venues to promote inclusion and to create welcoming spaces for the LGBTQ+ community.

Last night, A2IM celebrated the strength of the independent music community at their annual Libera Awards, gathering artists, labels and industry players in New York City and online. Presented by Merlin, the A2IM Libera Awards provided a platform for Independent artists to honor the work of their peers.

London collective Soothsayers have teamed up for an exciting new project with New York-born, São Paulo-based producer-engineer-bassist, Victor Rice, and some of Brazil’s top musicians. The result is ‘Last Days’, the powerful new single from their forthcoming album together – ‘Soothsayers Meets Victor Rice and Friends’.

Concord Music Publishing has hosted the first in an innovative series for their writers exploring music composition for moving images – The Scoring Sessions. Held last month, the inaugural session focused on advertising and was held in partnership with leading music supervision agency Native Music at their studios in Soho and included Concord songwriters Darryl Reid (Dopamine, Iggy Azalea), Rob Turner (Go Go Penguin) and Ben Garrett/Fryars (Mark Ronson, Pharrell Williams, Rae Morris).

Don Letts is currently working on his first solo record with Cooking Vinyl, due for release Spring 2023, and will be appearing at multiple festivals across the UK this summer. Upon signing to Cooking Vinyl, Don said “It’s taken a bit of time to create this soundtrack to my mind but with the help of a few friends, some heavy bass lines and a record label with taste the dread stands firm” - Don Letts 

Downtown Music Services (DMS), which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a major expansion of its operations in Spanish speaking Latin America.

Swedish tech startup, Staccs, has agreed a licensing deal with Cherry Red Records - a London-based independent record label - for its streaming service for concert video and music documentaries. Launched in the Nordics and the Baltic states last year, Staccs provides fans the opportunity to relive their favourite concerts, on demand, advert free - and in the highest quality possible. Built upon a user-centric model, this new deal provides Staccs the rights to stream in the UK, Scandinavia and the Baltic states. The new home for concerts on demand, Staccs presents a fresh commercial opportunity for the music industry.

Humble but prodigiously talented singer/multi-instrumentalist Beneil Miller releases his new song ‘Spread Your Wings’. It’s a serene and breezy meditation on the importance of finding your own path, set to a cool, soulful jazzy reggae beat. Miller’s rich, wide-ranging voice and easy-going message are the perfect remedy to these stressful times.

Aux App (www.aux.app) the collaboration and file sharing platform for producers, musicians and podcasters, has received £50,000 funding from Innovate UK’s Young Innovators Next Steps Award. The grant recognises trailblazing young entrepreneurs, giving them financial support to accelerate their business growth. For serial tech entrepreneur and Aux founder, Ben Bowler, this crucial support will go towards the development and launch of the platform’s ground-breaking AI technology, designed to support the next generation of music and content creators.

Through the course of 4 solo albums, Mississippi-born Jhelisa has journeyed through soul, trip hop, jazz, avant-garde, gospel and more recently, esoteric sonic experimentation. She’s been the go-to vocalist for the likes of Bjork, Massive Attack and The Shamen and Chaka Khan has covered one of her songs. But one thing has remained constant; her unwavering, uncompromising artistic vision. Her thrillingly genre-smashing approach to music subverts her sweet, sensual voice with emotionally raw, often dark, yet spiritually resonant lyrics and a musical sophistication seen nowhere else. It comes as no surprise then, that Jhelisa’s remarkable new project, ‘Oxygen’ is a breath-taking, expansive, unapologetic 11-minute opus. Released on Dorado Records on June 15, it paves the way for her forthcoming album, ‘Wild Orbits’, but is also a stand-alone piece.

Proper Music Group, part of the Utopia family, and Naxos UK, part of Naxos Music Group, the global classical music specialist, have unveiled a new logistics deal.

Partisan Records, the Brooklyn-headquartered independent music group with offices in London and home to Fela Kuti, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Laura Marling and others, has announced the signing of Ezra Collective and details of their debut single for the label.

IMPF is delighted to announce a brand-new annual music business conference and writing camp that will bring together music publishers and the wider industry from around the world.

“We’re obviously thrilled for the opportunity to work with Just A Gent’s catalog, and equally excited to explore prospective collaborations with Jacob as part of our Admin+ music services offering. This signing is an exciting entrée into the EDM market as we look to expand and diversify our creative roster,” added Sean Harrison, Angry Mob Music Co-Founder and Creative Director. 

Saint Louis born rapper / producer "Save Ferris" creates songs that are often driven by his mellow flow & classic production. 
 Born Ethan Healey, Ferris began releasing music online under the alias Save Ferris, inspired by the classic 1986 John Hughes hit film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. While his initial love from music stemmed from all kinds of genres it wasn’t until he was 16 when he discovered passion Hip-hop. Influenced by the 90’s classic Boom-Bap sound, Ferris began as a local beat maker in St. Louis.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced the final wave of speakers for 'Future Independents,' its free virtual conference aimed at giving artists, labels, managers and other music entrepreneurs access to the knowledge they need to level up in music.

‘Common Ground’ is the debut album from Skantia and it's a timeline of the producer's ascent following his exclusive signing to RAM Records in 2019. Already spearheading a takeover slot on BBC Radio 1 Dance Presents, as well as boasting a range of tastemaker support, ‘Common Ground’ further solidifies the foundations he has built over a short but explosive period of time. Representing RAM on the global stage during its 30 year anniversary, Skantia has shown that he’s here to continually innovate and as he moves through his early twenties he has helped to change the game when it comes to production style. Something which is a resounding fact which features throughout ‘Common Ground’. 

Proper Music Group, part of the Utopia family, and Hyperion, one of Britain's leading classical music labels, have agreed a logistics and supply chain deal.

Social audio platform Logcast has launched its first monetization tool for creators, giving them the ability to charge fans directly for access to exclusive content on the app. The payment feature, called $UPERLOGS, allows Logcast creators to share paid-only audio content with their community, charging listeners directly to access exclusive clips like news and announcements, educational tutorials, early previews, and private conversations.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is thrilled to announce the lineup for the 2022 A2IM Libera Awards Presented by Merlin. The largest global independent music awards show, this year's event is two fold: an in-person, ticketed gala focused on industry and advocacy awards held at Webster Hall in New York City, and a separate, free-to-watch broadcast of consumer-facing awards and performances from top artists in the independent space.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced an ambitious new initiative, #ownourvenues, that will help grassroots music venues (GMVs) secure their long-term futures.

Feedbackotw was raised on the Hip-Hop music scene to & swayed by the Neo soul culture. Even at the young age of 17 his passion began to take over when he started joining in on cyphers in high-school. Surrounded by musical culture his Father (a musician/vocalist), encouraged him to pursue his dreams. With years of musical experimentation behind him, Feedbackotw remains a strong force in today’s Hip-Hop culture.

CAVA, we come in peace! Their debut single's sound draws from and mashes together indie, electronica, world music, primitive rhythmics and electro-pop through electro-acoustic manipulations into catchy futuristic tunes.

Charity music festival all dayer Beat the Streets made a welcome return this year to raise vital funds to help the homeless in Nottingham. Back with a bang with an in-person event this year after being forced online in 2021, the festival raised £76,000 to provide housing and specialist support to rough sleepers in and around Nottingham.

The Floor has increased its Creator Fund. Creators can request up to £5000 to get the most out of their upcoming project.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a worldwide publishing deal with Roxy Music’s lead guitarist, musician and songwriter-producer, Phil Manzanera. The deal includes works from Manzanera’s catalog, which features songs by Roxy Music, as well as Pink Floyd, Tim Finn, and Brian Eno amongst others, plus future works.

Independent publisher BDi Music has signed emerging artist and songwriter Ellysse Mason to an exclusive worldwide publishing deal.

Serenade, the eco-friendly music NFT marketplace whose mission is to support artists by creating new revenue streams from unique fan experiences, has announced significant new investment and plans to expand its global operations following a breakthrough first six months.

103 UK festivals have committed to The Association of Independent Festivals’ (AIF) Safer Spaces At Festivals campaign, which is aimed at tackling sexual violence at festivals and has been relaunched today to address the issue in 2022 and beyond.

Years in the making, and with tracks in the spotlight across the DJ circuit throughout this time, Calyx & TeeBee’s brand new ‘Plates’ project has finally hit stores. The standard which was set for ‘Plates’ remained clear; not just through the album’s art, but also in the return to dubplate culture which was the primary ethos behind its release. Calyx & TeeBee wanted to strip back the way in which people consumed their music through ‘Plates’, especially within the new digital age. And despite a global pandemic, they persevered in delivering their cuts across clubs, through DJ sets and online through live streams for RAM Records as well as music festivals around the world. So each individual release featured music which had already done damage, but with a less disposable feel to every single; something which has resonated with the pair's deep history within drum & bass.

Leading independent record label mom+pop music and Exceleration Music, the venture led by industry leaders for investing in the future of independent labels and artists, have agreed to a strategic financial alliance. This provides mom+pop with the ability to rapidly expand its scope of operations, including new signings.

After many hours of fun and games in the studio, My Boyz Beatz proudly presents a massive Macka B track, ‘The Youth Are Being Hypnotised’. The track inspires us to be our best selves reminding us that despite all the surrounding influences, there is infinite potential within us all. GT’s production has expertly lifted the track to higher levels, putting together a band of master musicians including members of Steel Pulse, Selwyn Brown (keyboards) and Amlak Tafari (bass) alongside Gary Moore (guitar), James Crosdale (synth’s) and David Skins (drums)

London based independent music company Distiller Music Group has announced a new agreement for its music publishing division with Downtown Music Services, which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners.

Silva Screen Records presents Benji Merrison and Will Slater’s lush and atmospheric soundtrack to BBC Earth’s five-episode TV series, The Green Planet narrated by David Attenborough, available as a special 2CD album on pre-order for release on May 13th. This follows the OST release on streaming platforms in April. 

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR), an award-winning independent music company, in conjunction with PopArabia, the leading music publisher and independent music company in the Middle East and North Africa, announced two new deals as the Company continues to execute on its emerging markets growth strategy. The deals include the signing of Egyptian rapper and singer Mohamed Ramadan to a worldwide publishing deal, which includes hits from his catalog and future releases. Reservoir and PopArabia separately announced the acquisition of Egyptian label 100COPIES, as well as a joint venture with the company to sign and develop Egyptian talent.

found.ee, the first-party data and digital marketing platform acquired by Downtown Music Holdings in 2021, has launched its landmark self-service Premium Video Ad Buying tool.

The growth of the Jamaican recording industry… Records have played an integral part in the history of Jamaican music and the importance of making records, as opposed to making music, can never be overstated. These are the stories, told through first-hand accounts wherever possible, of the men and women… manufacturers, musicians, singers, deejays, arrangers and record producers… who made the records and who made the sound of reggae available worldwide.

The Music Managers Forum expands resources of its UK office to bolster the range of professional development training offered to its 1,200+ members

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a worldwide publishing deal with Dan Nakamura, professionally known as Dan the Automator, a Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter. The new deal includes Nakamura’s catalog and future works expanding the scope of an existing publishing relationship between Reservoir and Nakamura, first established in 2012.

Future Independents, the Association of Independent Music (AIM)'s digital conference empowering DIY artists, labels, managers and entrepreneurs, is set to return on Wednesday 8th June. 

Black Country Beats celebrates the diverse musical genres that emerged from the Black Country between the 1970s and 2000s. It spotlights a selection of iconic artists whose styles were influenced by the unique heritage of the region and by the social and political change that happened here during their formative years.

As the Independent Music Insider explains, ‘with the announcement of TMF Advances, independent operators that want to invest in artists or any part of their catalogues and music rights generally, have a tool that allows them to ascertain the current value of an asset, estimate ROI and offer an advance accordingly’.

Talenthouse AG (SIX THAG) expands its music industry vertical through the acquisition of Creative Commission, adding a loyal user base of subscribers and a vast roster of world-renowned record companies and music artists to its community. Creative Commission has facilitated over $12 million in work to creatives through their platform since inception, and are now bringing over 800 job-opportunities per year, effectively more than doubling Talenthouse client bespoke briefs.

Downtown-owned FUGA, the world's leading full-service B2B distributor, today announces a global distribution and marketing services deal with independent Stockholm-based label and creative studio, YEAR0001; who count acclaimed post-punk band, Viagra Boys and pioneering Swedish rapper, Yung Lean, as part of its esteemed roster.

New analysis from the BPI – the UK association of independent and major record labels – reveals that a record number of tracks are now hitting eight-figure UK streaming totals.

New analysis from the BPI – the UK association of independent and major record labels – unveils that new albums increased their share of the UK's vinyl LP market by more than 40% in 2021. Nearly 43% of LP sales last year were for albums released during the calendar year, compared to 30% in 2020.

The ‘Festival of the Live Remix’, Punkt announced today it will re-connect with its international family in 2022 for the 18th edition. Following a Norway only festival in 2020 and 2021, Punkt Festival will take place 1 – 3 September at its home in Kristiansand, Norway.

IMPF welcomes the judgement of the European Court of Justice in the long-awaited decision brought about by Poland’s challenge to Article 17 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.

Eventual is the winner of the Innovation category at PRO Gaala 2022, an award ceremony that spotlights the most promising projects and professionals in the hospitality industry in Finland.

Long established UK indie label Cooking Vinyl have announced that they have concluded a deal with the 90s indie band Symposium that will see their recordings released on streaming services for the first time.

Red A Red Music Group and Maroon Productions present an exciting rebirth of a foundation riddim: The Generation Gap. This era-spanning project features some of Jamaica’s greatest musicians, with vocal cuts by veterans Mutabaruka and Lutan Fyah, as well as emerging talents Imeru Tafari and Autarchii. Co-produced by Jermaine Joseph, Linton Hinds Jr and Donovan Joseph, the Generation Gap Riddim takes us back in time and provides a clear look to the future. The riddim is an up-tempo reimagining of the 1983 classic, ‘2000 Years’, originally recorded by the harmony group Time Unlimited. True to the Generation Gap concept, two of the co-producers are father and son. Original Time Unlimited lead singer Donovan Joseph hands the mantle to his son Jermaine ‘Autarchii’ Joseph, who reinterprets his father’s ‘2000 Years’ on the riddim. Further continuity is added by the presence of legendary guitarist Earl Chinna Smith - whose High Times band played the original cut.

Part of the Utopia Music family, Proper Music Group's distribution arm, Proper Music Distribution (PMD), has been awarded the UK's most prestigious business award, The Queen's Award for Enterprise.

ASCAP Experience, ASCAP’s signature event created to inspire, educate and connect aspiring songwriters and composers everywhere, has announced its next wave of spring programming. On April 27, together with The ASCAP Lab, it will host a conversation with Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Poo Bear (Justin Bieber, Usher, Chris Brown) about the potential of NFTs for music creators. On May 5, wrapping up ASCAP Screen Music Awards, it will present a panel discussion between the ASCAP composers of some of the past year's biggest hit streaming series.

One of the most important neo-cabaret projects to come out of Italy, AIT! will release “Romanticismo Oltranzista” on vinyl for the first time ever. Originally released in CD format via Punch Records in 2007, this dark experimental masterpiece will receive vinyl treatment via Devoted Art Propaganda.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, is expanding global access for independent artists through its broad new partnership with FLO, one of South Korea’s biggest music streaming apps. With over 8.5 million listeners in South Korea on digital music services, Merlin members now have the potential to increase their artists’ fan bases by connecting with more international music lovers than ever. 

Voly, the integrated financial management software & payment platform for the music industry, aimed at simplifying and streamlining budgeting, accounting processes and reporting for artists, managers and business managers, has announced the appointment of Ryan Williams-Reid to the position of Client Relationship Manager.

NYC-based entertainer, Young M.A, has teamed up with eco-friendly NFT platform Serenade to release an exclusive NFT capsule focused on milestones from a 6 x platinum artist career.

New analysis from the BPI – the UK association of independent and major record labels – shows that independently released music is thriving and in 2021 enjoyed its fourth consecutive year of growth.

Kate Hendry and James Cattermole have been offered exciting new roles at Absolute Label Services.

Tomorrow’s Warriors announced today a highlight of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations - the acclaimed Nu Civilisation Orchestra presents: Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite, which will take place at Queen Elizabeth Hall on Friday 3 June, with tickets on sale tomorrow 13 April to Southbank Centre members, with general sale on Thursday 14 April.

Saint Louis born Hip-Hop artist & producer Save Ferris creates songs that are often driven by his mellow flow & classic production. 
Born Ethan Healey, Ferris began releasing music online under the alias Save Ferris. While his initial love from music stemmed from all kinds of genres it wasn’t until he was 16 when he discovered passion Hip-hop. Influenced by the 90’s classic Boom-Bap sound, Ferris began as a local beat maker in St. Louis.

Held on Thursday 30th March, the Aux Awards commended the brightest artists and brands making innovative steps in the independent music industry. Winners across 10 categories took home the gold including singer-songwriter Emma Mae (Best New Single), Audience Republic (Best New Music Software), Pool Valley (Best Live Music Business), CLOUD (Best Album) and Sub-Label Recordings (Best Independent Label).

Globally, more countries are beginning to take notice of L.A.B. The past months have seen radio airplay across stations such as BBC Radio 1xtra & 6 Music, Jazz FM & Reggae.fr (France’s largest reggae radio station), plus glowing reviews in Vive Le Rock! & Blues & Soul Magazine. ‘Real Ones’ is set to show off a different side of the L.A.B sound as the world starts to listen.

Sentric Music Group has signed British rock band Boston Manor to a publishing deal that includes their back catalogue and a number of future works.

Having received critical acclaim for his 2018 debut Little Ghost Full Of Songs, Wheeler followed up with 2021’s Ten Embers, which was recorded with virtuoso guitarist Robbie McIntosh (John Mayer/Paul McCartney), award-winning drummer Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow/Willie Nelson), and bassist David Troke (Beverley Knight/Josh Groban), and mastered by Pete Maher (U2/The 1975).

Merlin, the independent's digital music licensing partner, extends a heartfelt congratulations to its members who are celebrating their artist wins at the 2022 Grammys. 16 categories saw awards go to artists who work with Merlin members. Merlin applauds all of this year’s nominees and would like to highlight its members’ winners.

As an artist on 30 year strong RAM Records, Chords has gradually established himself as an integral part of the roster. With the success of his ‘Arrhythmia EP’ sitting in its backdrop, he now emerges with a brand new selection, another package which exemplifies how he bridges the gap between his classically trained sound design and his dancefloor prowess.

Partisan Records, the Brooklyn-headquartered independent music group with offices in London, has announced the launch of a new music publishing division, Left Music.

The AIM Independent Music Awards, the most anticipated night in independent music, is back on Wednesday 28th September, returning as an in-person event at London's iconic Roundhouse with an exciting array of new and updated categories.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a new deal for the catalog of the late lyricist Larry Kusik, best known for his collaborations on theme songs from blockbuster films like The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet.

With more than 20 years of experience in creative and administrative systems delivery at companies including Warner Music Group, EMI Music Publishing, and The Walt Disney Company, Kirker will lead Synchtank’s product roadmap and play a key role in broadening and focusing the company’s solutions.

Round Hill Music Nashville has announced the appointment of industry veteran Mike Whelan to the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager.

The UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM) has appointed Esta Rae as its new Senior Events Manager to drive vision and strategy across its programme of events, conferences and the AIM Independent Music Awards.

Patrick Moxey has announced details of his new label group and has signed a new, worldwide deal for two key record labels with Warner Recorded Music.

The US Music division of international artist management company YMU has announced the promotion of Taren Smith to the position of Senior Manager.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is proud to announce the nominees for the 2022 A2IM Libera Awards Presented by Merlin, continuing its 17-year tradition of supporting and honoring the extraordinary talent of the independent music sector. Nominees in the 33 categories range from the experimental pop of Japanese Breakfast (the most-nominated artists of the year with 7 nominations) and Jason Isbell’s celebration of the music of Georgia to the soulful cross-genre sound of returning Libera Awards winner Arlo Parks.

“We are disappointed that the Chancellor has not responded to our repeated calls to grant an extension to the 12.5% VAT rate on festival tickets beyond the end of March."

"Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes the Business Rates discount. However, with no action for businesses on energy bills, or NI liability, and the missed opportunity of action on VAT that would support the sector to recover from the Covid crisis, the outcome of the budget is that none of the extraordinary financial pressures being placed on venues have been mitigated or alleviated."

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced the acquisition of rights in the catalog of award-winning film score composer Henry Jackman. The deal includes rights in Jackman’s entire catalog, including scores for blockbuster feature films like the Captain America franchise, Wreck-It Ralph, Jumanji, and many more.

‘Warehouse Days’ is the final release before Calyx & TeeBee introduce their full-length album which aims to take listeners back to the original ethos of releasing music.

Breaking talents Emma Mae, CLOUD and Anna Wolf are set to perform at the livestreamed Aux Awards on Thursday 30th March. Launched by music tech start up app, Aux, the event will award the scene’s most exciting independent music creators and innovative brands shortlisted by Aux and partners, Access All Areas, Music Ally, The Independent Music Insider, HotVox and Far Out Magazine, and voted for by the general public.

The BPI, the association of independent and major record labels, today reports that UK recorded music revenue rose by 12.8% in 2021 to reach £1.262 billion.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a global publishing deal with Grammy-winning artist and songwriter Michael Render aka Killer Mike, who is part of the popular hip-hop super duo, Run The Jewels. The deal includes his entire catalog and future works.

Hearing this soulful release it’s difficult to believe that Beneil Miller was “not considering singing as an option” but “was more into piano… listening to Monty Alexander and Michel Camilo”. Beneil Miller’s music transcends categorisation and transports us all to kinder, calmer places… and there’s much more to follow.

Dan Miller has been promoted to Director of Client Services at Downtown Music Services, reporting to Chief Operating Officer Ben Patterson.

Absolute Label Services has today told clients that it will suspend the delivery of content to Russia’s Yandex and VKontakte (via UMA) effective immediately.

The Music Federation is pleased to announce the creation of Killing Moon Academy as a solution to procure the best opportunities for their members and remit of artists. Created with one simple objective, to let creative people create, KMA has the success of its artists as its core objective. With a sole-purpose of developing these emerging artists and helping them fulfill their full potential, KMA puts the artist and their talent first.

Macka B has the ability to take any topic and turn it into a song.  My wife can answer my phone is no exception.  Macka B always brings a positive message to any given situation always dealing with reality.  Produced by one of Jamaica's top producers,  Top Secret Music, the track is set over a heavy pulsating reggae rhythm mixed in true Jamaican style with an authentic 70's feel.

The manager of DHP Family’s flagship Rock City venue has been announced as one of the 30 most talented young live industry professionals in a national award scheme. Will Richardson (29) has been revealed as one of the winners of the Access All Areas 30 under 30 live event professionals designed to recognise and reward excellence of the younger generation in the live event industry

Music tech company Serenade, which launched its acclaimed artist/fan-centric NFT platform in 2021 has announced a number of high profile new investors from the music and associated creative industries.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a new deal with award-winning hit songwriter, Ali Tamposi, who has been represented by the Company since 2017. The deal demonstrates Reservoir’s ongoing commitment to developing its talented roster of active songwriters. Under the extended partnership, Reservoir will continue to publish Tamposi’s hit-driven catalog, as well as her future works.

Full Statement of IMPF on Ukraine; calls on all those within the music and licensing industry to immediately sever economic, business, political and socio-cultural ties with all Russian counterparts, members, companies, affiliates, and organisations.

Utopia Music, the Swiss Music fintech company, announced that Christine Pepe will join the company as VP, Business and Legal Affairs, reporting directly to Paul Stuart, Chief Legal Officer. Pepe will be based in the New York Metro area.

International artist management company YMU have announced plans for the launch of new label, AmperSounds that will be a home for new and emerging talent from its own roster of management clients and beyond.

Chainska Brassika return from lockdown armed with their first single ‘Down the Barge’ from their forthcoming album ‘Tales of a Londoner’, recorded, produced, and mixed by Grippa Laybourne from the infamous Hempolics, and mastered in Canada by Jesse King aka Dubmatix.

Ultra Music Publishing (‘Ultra’), the leading independent publishers of Electronic Dance Music, Pop, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Reggae has announced a strategic alliance with Warner Chappell Music.

IMPF has received a substantial grant from the European Union as part of the Creative Europe Programme, which will fund a new project designed to support IMPF’s members across Europe, as well as benefitting independent music publishers more widely around the world.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced several changes to its Board of Trustees including the appointment of new Co-Chairs and a Treasurer.

Bucks Music Group has signed songwriter, producer and mixer James Dring to an exclusive worldwide songwriting agreement.

Black entrepreneurs have been integral to the music industry throughout its storied history, yet they remain underrepresented in boardrooms and executive positions. The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization that represents nearly 700 independent music labels, strongly believes in the necessity of a diversity of voices in the music business. With the ultimate goal of fostering a more equitable industry, the Black Independent Music Accelerator (BIMA) is a fellowship initiative designed to amplify Black voices in the independent music community. Today, A2IM is pleased to announce the 14 outstanding fellows chosen for its second annual BIMA program.

UK record labels association the BPI today announces that Ged Doherty has given notice of his intention to step down as its Chair after seven years in the role.

Utopia Music, the Swiss Music fintech company, has acquired Absolute Label Services (Absolute) a UK-based distribution and services provider to independent artists and record labels. Included in the acquisition is neighbouring rights company Absolute Rights Management. Absolute’s current offering will be integrated into Utopia’s Distribution Services business unit, which launched in January with the acquisition of Proper Music Group.

The former Chief Economist of Spotify and PRS for Music, Will Page, has been announced as a keynote speaker at AIM Connected 2022, as the final line-up of speakers and sessions is revealed.

Serenade, the eco-friendly platform for music NFTs, has partnered with The Kooks to release the band’s debut NFT. Created to mark the 15th anniversary of the British indie-pop trailblazers’ acclaimed debut album Inside In / Inside Out, the NFT will be priced at an affordable £30 and is released at 9am GMT on Thursday February 24 from serenade.co 

International artist management company YMU has announced the promotion of Anthony Rodol to the position of Managing Director - US Music.

Downtown Music Services ,which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a global music publishing administration agreement with producer, singer, writer, DJ and visual artist Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez known professionally as Arca.

ClicknClear, the world’s only specialist music rights tech and licensing company for performance sports, has secured a new blanket deal with Warner Music, spanning their entire global catalogue.

Downtown Music Services, which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced two new label services hires within its UK operation as part of a broader expansion in the territory.

Kicking off the year long birthday celebrations, this April RAM Records returns to one of London’s most iconic venues for a club series that will showcase 30 years of a label that has led the game.

Narrated by award-winning actor Ray Winstone (Nil by Mouth, Sexy Beast), the documentary tells the rough-and-tumble story of the small community of British stunt performers who came to dominate Hollywood in the 1970s and 80s.

Proper Music Group, part of the Utopia family, and Bertus, two of Europe's leading physical distributors, have agreed a new sales and distribution deal.

The music industry came out in numbers for the return of the Young Music Boss (YMB) Awards in its second year, with more than 400 industry executives, artists and other professionals in attendance. The awards took place in partnership with the likes of MMF (Music Managers Forum), AIM (The Association of Independent Music), PPL and The Music Federation at the iconic EartH Theatre in Hackney.

Paul Pacifico, CEO of the UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM), has made the following comment on the CMA's provisional conclusions in its investigation into Sony's acquisition of AWAL.

MatchTune, the music technology company that simplifies music-to-media integration, today announces the launch of AI-powered app TuneBlades. The smart music editing tool resizes, remixes and adjusts any song automatically according to the desired duration while preserving melody fundamentals and vocals, giving content creators access to tailored music in a matter of seconds. MatchTune has partnerships with the likes of BMG Production Music, Universal Music Publishing Group and other music publishers, and is dedicated to creating smarter music and video tools that are easier for everyone to use while respecting the hard work that goes into music creation.

Dequency, the world's first Web3 music synchronisation licensing marketplace, has raised $4.5 million through an investment round led by Borderless Capital.

“My connection with Richard Antwi was deep. When somebody goes through your life, they leave a mark. Thankful to him for all that he has given me, and so many other people. I love that his legacy is still felt and it’s a privilege to support the Richard Antwi Scholarship and its vision of increasing representation for our next generation of music industry leaders. This is a call to get involved and grab the opportunity now.” Alec Boateng (co-President, 0207 Def Jam)

Utopia Music, the Swiss Music fintech company, announced that Steve Markland will join the company as Vice President for Nashville, helping the company expand its US presence in one of the world’s most exciting Music Cities.

Jim Mawdsley is to step down as Chair of The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) in May 2022, after seven years in the role.

A live entertainment supply chain crisis, workforce shortages, and the effects of Brexit could create a ‘perfect storm’ as the 2022 festival season approaches.

Launched by music tech start up app, Aux, voting is now open for the Aux Awards. In celebration of the scene’s most exciting independent music creators and innovative brands, nominations come handpicked by such forward thinking industry organisations as Access All Areas, Music Ally, HotVox, Far Out Magazine, and us at The IMI. 11 Awards will be given out at the livestreamed event on 30th March alongside a number of exclusive performances.

FooR x Mollie Collins x Emma Cannon ‘Too Bad’ is the new single from FooR’s forthcoming collaboration album, which is set for release later this year. A peaktime drum & bass cut from FooR and UK star Mollie Collins, the killer vocal from Emma Cannon makes this a rave favourite with heavy crossover potential. Premiered by UKF’s legendary YouTube channel, and already added to the Kiss Dance Playlist, ‘Too Bad’ drops on 28 January on Yosh. This single follows the Warner Music-signed FooR x Majestic X Dread MC’s ‘Fresh’, which earned huge support from Radio 1, Kiss, Capital Dance, and beyond, and was chosen for the Coors Light TV ad campaign.

Europe's biggest ever K-pop festival KPOP.FLEX is adding a second day at Deutsche Bank Park Stadium, Frankfurt.

As soon as the song was released, it gained direct entry into the #3 position on the official iTunes Portugal charts.

The owners of the legendary Rock City in Nottingham have announced a partnership with leading alternative independent music festival Bearded Theory’s Spring Gathering.

Today, AIM Sync 2022, the UK's global sync conference and marketplace from the Association of Independent Music (UK), took place virtually with over 70 music supervisors and sync specialists sharing their insights and taking part in panel discussions, Listening Sessions, workshops, online networking, and one-to-one meetings.

Zick joins Utopia Music as Chief Marketing Officer, reporting directly to Utopia’s CEO Markku Mäkeläinen, he will be responsible for the overall strategic vision and direction of Utopia’s marketing, positioning, communications, content strategy, and execution of the brand direction. He joins from Universal Music Germany where he was Managing Director, International, responsible for overseeing and leading the strategic development and marketing for the Music company’s diverse international talent roster.

YouTube Music, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and the Scottish Music Industry Association continue to support the groundbreaking grants and training initiative for a fourth successive year

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is proud to announce that the Company has acquired a significant majority of the rights to the legendary and influential American rock band, Alice In Chains. The acquisition covers the publishing, masters and neighbouring rights of the band.

Independent booking agency Runway Artists has expanded its team with four new hires and launched a new live showcase event for the music industry.

AMG/MaDigital is the first music publishing company in West Africa and was established with the goal of educating African artists about publishing income and its opportunities.

Tony Wadsworth CBE, Chair of The BRIT Trust music charity, is today delighted to announce that he has appointed Mulika Sannie to the newly created role of Deputy Chair.

With its vision of “Fair Pay for Every Play”, Utopia Music establishes a Royalty Management Services business unit, which will enable the processing, allocation, distribution, and licence management required by songwriters, publishers, collection societies, performers, and labels. The foundation of this new business unit is Liverpool-based Sentric Music Group, led by CEO, Chris Meehan, who joins Utopia as Vice President of Royalty Management Services.

The Music Federation is thrilled to share the news of its recent partnership with ICMP. The Industry Mentoring Scheme is designed to match final year degree students at ICMP with industry professionals working in their areas of interest to provide mentoring during their final Semester. Successful applicants to the programme would receive expert guidance and feedback from industry professionals as well as a chance to build their professional networks – a chance to ‘kickstart’ their careers.

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) has appointed its board for 2022, with Maria Amato, CEO of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) as chair.

Downtown Music Holdings (Downtown℠), the leading music services provider to the global music industry, has announced a further round of senior executive promotions as it expands its Legal and Business Affairs team.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, today announced a dynamic new agreement with Twitch, the interactive live streaming service for content spanning gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and more. Through its creator-first culture, Twitch has served as a powerful service for fan engagement and new music discovery. This partnership recognizes the power of independent artists and their impact in the Twitch community, creates revenue earning opportunities for Merlin members and their artists, and leans into Twitch’s increased focus on music-centric programming.

Senior Parliamentarians from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music will host the next stage of their inquiry into the barriers facing UK artists touring the EU by taking evidence from legendary promoter Harvey Goldsmith.

Exceleration Music, a company formed to enhance the future of independent labels and artists, is forming a strategic partnership with the groundbreaking US independent label Kill Rock Stars.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a worldwide publishing deal with #1 hit writer-producer Warren “Oak” Felder. The deal includes all of Felder’s future works and expands on a joint venture established with Felder in 2017, through which Reservoir signed his accomplished songwriting and producing collective The Orphanage, initially comprised of Trevor Brown and Zaire Koalo, and later including Keith “Ten4” Sorrells.

FUGA, the world's leading full-service B2B distributor, has signed a deal with Mascot Label Group, the independent label family home to artists such as Black Stone Cherry, Beth Hart, Shaman's Harvest, Vola and Dragged Under.

“Eventual connects the event industry - venues, restaurants, clubs, hotels or cafes - with performers and audiences in a whole new way”

Various Artists Management have announced ambitious plans for an increased presence in the USA with a new office in Los Angeles, which will serve as a base for its growing roster of artists.

Multi-platinum rock band Shinedown have released their lead single “Planet Zero,” the title track from their newly announced seventh studio album out April 22 on Atlantic Records.

he winner of the YMB Awards flagship title has been announced today: Michael Adex, founder and CEO of 360 entertainment company NQ, is Music Entrepreneur of the Year 2022, presented in partnership with the Association of Independent Music (AIM).

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced the final wave of speakers and sessions for its global sync licensing conference AIM Sync, as well as the full details of panels, listening sessions, and networking taking place virtually on 10th February 2022.

- Asciolla will join Utopia Music as Vice President, Global Artist and Creator Community and reports directly to the CMO. She will be based out of Los Angeles, California - Asciolla is a Spotify veteran where she most recently held the position of Head of North America, Artist & Label Partnerships. She led the team working directly with global artists, managers, labels, and distributor executives by supporting, empowering, and educating the creative community about maximizing opportunities on Spotify - Prior to that she was part of the Spotify Artist Services and Artist Marketing teams and integral in building and nurturing relationships with artists and their teams by advocating transparency on streaming economics, data and on-platform-tools for artists to express themselves and reaching a global audience to connect them with their fans - Her work resulted in recognition from prominent publications such as Billboard Women in Music Edition, Variety Rising Leaders List, and Billboard's 40 Under 40

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) kicked off 2022 by launching the second year of BIMA, its Black Independent Music Accelerator, a fellowship initiative designed to amplify Black voices in the independent music community. Applications for A2IM’s 2022 BIMA Program will close on January 24, 2022.

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has revealed the full programme for its Festival Congress 2022, taking place in Bristol on February 15.

Hot on the heels of its recent partnership with LA label SideOneDummy, Exceleration Music, the fast-growing company formed to enhance the future of independent labels and artists, is set to mark the first year anniversary of its partnership with a number of key new executive hires.

US-based music publishing administrator Regard Music has officially joined IMPEL for pan-European licensing of its represented works.

With its vision of “Fair Pay for Every Play”, Utopia Music bought Proper Music Group to supercharge their song economics, accelerate Royalty payouts for Creators as well as bring their massive data repository and opportunities to digitise operations and processes to Proper Music Group’s services. The acquisition will launch a new Distribution Services business unit that will service the entire industry including major and independent labels by facilitating both physical and digital b2b and d2c distribution as well as dropship fulfilment services. It will provide labels access to new and exciting technology and provide managed services such as administration, sales, and distribution, both physical and digital with digital retail marketing, reporting and additional services. Distribution Services will equally include digital distribution services.

London based music company GigRealm, the groundbreaking online platform that provides an end-to-end solution for organizing live music performances, has announced a wide-ranging new partnership with leading DIY distribution platform TuneCore, part of Paris-based global digital music company Believe, who provide independent musicians with the tools they need to send their music out to the world, connect with fans, and stay 100% in control of their careers.

On 19th January, The Music Federation Live launch their new Safe Spaces Policy as a response to the recent surge in spiking women across the UK within the live sector. In partnership with The F-List, Strut Safe and Girls Against, the policy is something TMF Live will be implementing across all their live shows.

The Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) — the organisation formed to promote better ticket resale practices across Europe — will today launch a guide for FEAT members and European promoters on how to deal with suspected touted tickets.

- Martinez will join Utopia Music as Director, Spain and reports directly to COO Roberto Neri. She will be based out of Barcelona, Spain - She brings more than 20 years of Music Industry experience in the areas of licensing, publishing, brand partnerships and digital marketing. - Her ticketing experience stands out having left her imprint at the big three: Ticketmaster, CTS Eventim and AXS - For the past 10 years, Martinez has been an active advocate of using technology to enhance Music fan experiences through personalised data-enabled entertainment services

Tannoi’s 1985 smash hit ‘Worries And Troubles’, recorded for Greensleeves UK Bubblers imprint has been chosen by the Tate Britain as the soundtrack to Between The Islands, the recently opened acclaimed exhibition that traces over 70 years of Caribbean art.

Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired the music publishing, master rights and master rights royalties for, and entered into a long-term administration agreement for the neighbouring rights income from, the catalogue of David Coverdale.

Round Hill Music, via Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Ltd, has acquired a significant share of the master artist royalties and entered into a long-term agreement to administer the neighbouring rights income of the catalogue of Nancy Wilson, acclaimed singer, songwriter and guitarist of Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame-inducted band Heart.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, has announced a multi-year deal with Lickd, the platform helping YouTube content creators legally use the music they love. The partnership injects music from tens of thousands of labels and hundreds of thousands of artists across the globe into the flow of usable content, granting Merlin members access to the creator boom, opening up robust revenue streams, and offering prime marketplace exposure for artists.

Reservoir has announced the acquisition of the publishing catalog of the late Grammy-winning DJ, songwriter, and producer Fred Rister, including several collaborations with his internationally acclaimed creative partner David Guetta. Together, Fred Rister and David Guetta helped define the genres of Dance, Pop, and Electronic throughout the 2000s, including contributing to the most downloaded song of all time in the U.S., “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas.

One of the first major highlights in the UK’s 2022 live electronic music calendar, Vitalic’s ‘20 Years Of Vitalic’ live show takes place at London’s Electric Brixton on 1 April. The all-night event runs from 21:00 to 05:00, and will see the French electronic music artist perform a “best of” live set drawing on his substantial discography; the unique live show will feature exclusive tracks, and nod to past concerts and tours.

The Music Federation Live is a london-based music promoter supplying live entertainment across the city and the UK. Giving the opportunity to gig-goers to catch their favourite artists both emerging and established, this re-brand continues to follow in the footsteps of The Music Federation and it’s ethos of equality and giving deserving musicians a chance.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced the nominees for the AIM Sync Awards, shining a spotlight on the ever-increasing use of independent music in the sync landscape.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, starts the new year announcing its newly-elected Board. The organization’s Board includes representatives from twelve different countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania. This diverse expertise will provide strategic guidance to Merlin in better serving its membership as it strikes premium deals with partners such as Apple, Facebook, Peloton, Snap, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, and more.

A2IM is kicking off 2022 by launching the second year of BIMA, its Black Independent Music Accelerator, a fellowship initiative designed to amplify Black voices in the independent music community. Applications for A2IM’s 2022 BIMA Program open on January 10, 2022 and close on January 24, 2022.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced a new campaign to encourage music fans to enjoy live music in safe environments by supporting their local grassroots music venues.

Exceleration Music, a company formed to enhance the future of independent labels and artists, is launching a strategic partnership with influential Los Angeles-based indie label SideOneDummy Records.

Dr. Richard James Burgess steps into 2022 as an MBE honoree for his services to music, having been announced on Queen Elizabeth’s New Year’s Honours List.

Official figures released by record labels' association the BPI, based on Official Charts Company data1, show that recorded music consumption in the UK rose by 2.5% in 2021, with 159 million albums or their equivalent either streamed or purchased across all formats by music fans.

New figures to be released by record labels' association the BPI using Official Charts Company data will show that purchases of vinyl LPs and audio cassettes in 2021 continued their surge of recent years. Fans kept showing their love of the album on physical format while also continuing to stream in ever-growing numbers.

The band have been awarded Single Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Group & Best Roots Artist, adding to the two awarded in 2020. L.A.B are the first act since Lorde in 2017 to win both Single & Album Of The Year in the same year, and are the first Independent act since Scribe in 2003 to win Single Of The Year. This adds to the three Waiata Māori Music Awards won earlier this year. 

"Late Night People" by Goldfish ft. Soweto Kinch was licensed through Dequency's SmartSync contract for use in Algorand's Decipher conference, held November 29 - 30, 2021 in Miami, Florida.

Boomplay, Africa’s leading music streaming service and Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, today announced an expansion of their licensing agreement that will extend the availability of Merlin members’ music catalogue to 47 additional countries in Africa.

"This feels like March 2020 all over again" says Promoter Anna Moulson of Melting Vinyl in Brighton "Shows are collapsing every single hour. It's rapidly getting worse. Yet there's no Government support. If we are not financially supported during this time - either to operate and cover the losses, or to be closed so we can wait to safely re-open, the UK live music scene will lose hundreds of small independent promoters. Without us, there is no UK live music scene."

Rising Irish talent Elaine Mai has signed an exclusive publishing deal with respected industry pioneer Nick Halkes and his joint venture with Sentric Music Group.

With its vision of “Fair Pay for Every Play”, Utopia Music is now launching a new Financial Services business unit, which will focus on accelerated Royalty Payments based on consumption analytics. Utopia Music’s technology will be able to help record labels and distributors support their Creator communities by providing them with the intel necessary to accelerate royalty payments and strengthen the Music Industry’s value chain. The Financial Services Business Unit will be led by Jörg Auf der Maur, as Vice President, a seasoned Swiss banker with an extensive career in roles as CRO, CFO, and CEO in various European banks. Utopia Music also secured a partnership with Liechtenstein-based, VP Bank, one of the top innovators in banking services in Europe and with TuneCore, which provides overarching data insights from DSPs.

KINDA, the European marketing company representing several of the world’s most important alternative rock labels in mainland Europe, has announced the promotion of Samir Batista to Director of Business Development. Based in London, Samir will report to KINDA’s headquarters in Milan, Italy, while developing the company’s London office.

Launched in 2004, Wardlaw Music is an established boutique music publisher, representing an eclectic roster of songwriters, artists and their musical works. The team is led by founders Stanley Banks and Julian Lyons, who have over 35 years’ music industry experience between them.

The International Music Publishers Forum (IMPF) has launched its second Independent Publishing Market View, which dissects the value of the independent music publishing industry, as well as the sector’s influence on the modern music ecosystem and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

L.A.B return with their new album, L.A.B V, their fifth in five years. Following on from a string of albums & singles that have reached number one at home in New Zealand, L.A.B V features a band continuing to experiment with multiple genres, while staying true to the L.A.B sound. The album sees the band combining their eclectic sound into a compelling journey that moves across reggae, soul, funk & blues.

Downtown Music Services , which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a number of senior executive promotions within its US team.

Feeder and Sea Power (formerly British Sea Power) will both release new albums in the first quarter of 2022 via Townsend Music’s D2C+ offering, with Absolute providing label services.

A catastrophic drop in attendance, advance ticket sales and spend per head has hit Grassroots Music Venues since the Government announced the implementation of the Plan B restrictions last Wednesday, placing the entire sector back on red alert for the risk of permanent closures.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today acquired a stake in the publishing catalog of Fred Parris, the iconic writer, lead vocalist and founder of the all-time top doo-wop group The Five Satins. Parris is best known as the writer and lead singer of “In the Still of the Night.”

A group of leading music companies have signed a wide-ranging commitment to 'decarbonise' the global music business in alignment with the latest climate science.

Latham will join as Vice President of the Investor Services business unit and will report directly to COO Roberto Neri. Latham officially started his tenure at Utopia Music on 25 November, 2021 following a considerable career in the Music Industry and brings significant experience across the commercial, financial, and operational fields of music publishing and licensing. The Investor Services business unit will support catalogue acquisition and maximise fund lifecycle monetisation opportunities for existing and future Utopia clients

Musician Brix Smith will be interviewed in the headline session at AIF’s 2022 Festival Congress, which will take place at Bristol’s M Shed Museum on February 15.

The Music Managers Forum (The MMF) has today published a new report exploring the opportunities and challenges facing managers who specialise in overseeing the careers of songwriters, composers and music producers, calling on industry partners to better recognise and support their work - and for all labels and publishers to sign up to the Government’s Prompt Payment Code. Download the report for FREE.

With its vision of “Fair Pay for Every Play”, Utopia Music is now readying its Creator Services business unit via two key acquisitions to provide creators with an analytics portfolio, an industry directory, and other marketing tools that will help them find their perfect audience and boost their growth.

Italian distribution company and record label Artist First has announced a wide-ranging new agreement with international artist management specialists Various Artists Management.

Gary Crosby OBE, the co-founder and Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors today receives an Honorary Doctorate, entitled ‘Doctor of Music honoris causa’ at the University of London.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced the first speakers and sessions of its flagship independent music conference, AIM Connected, which returns as an in-person event at BAFTA's iconic London headquarters on Thursday 10 March 2022.

In response to the UK Government announcing further COVID restrictions in a press conference this evening (Wednesday) , Mark Dayvd, the CEO of Music Venue Trust , which represents over 900 grassroots music venues has issued the following statement...

Round Hill Music has announced that its Music Royalty Fund Two vehicle has acquired the music publishing catalog of legendary producer/writer/musician/music supervisor/music publisher and DJ Jellybean Benitez, which includes worldwide hits by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Snap, Will Smith and Nas among others.

Steinbrueck will join Utopia Music as Chief of Brand and Design Officer and report directly to CEO Markku Mäkeläinen Steinbrueck will officially start his tenure at Utopia Music on January 1st, 2022, after more than two years as Head of Creative and Brand Director at Joyn, a German a cross channel entertainment streaming platform His experience includes Reeboks’s rebranding efforts, Porsche Design”s foray into a luxury brand, serving as Vice President at Elie Saab, among others

The Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), the global coordination and support body for the independent music sector, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, announces exciting additions to The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour taking place in January 2022.

This Friday, 3rd December, Labour MP Kevin Brennan brings to Parliament his Private Member's Bill which he feels will address problems in the music streaming market. Kevin Brennan is a long-time member of the Musicians' Union, and is close to campaigners who have called for changes to the way music streaming works.

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced a new round of sync experts, brands and music supervisors joining its global conference and marketplace for sync licensing and brand partnerships, AIM Sync 2022 on 10 February. Also announced is 'How to Get Started in Sync', a primer AIM Academy event for those new to the area.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has announced that Dr. Richard James Burgess’ contract as President and CEO has been renewed for a third term.

Sound Royalties announced today that the company is expanding their suite of services. In addition to royalty advances and interim bridge financing for musicians selling their catalogs, the company is now offering tour financing to artists and performers to help get their live performances back on the road. All interested music creatives generating more than $5,000 in annual royalty income and or with touring agreements from major promoters can contact Sound Royalties to learn more about the program and receive a free analysis and valuation of their royalty earnings.

Downtown Music Services , which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a global music publishing administration agreement with multi-media artist and musician MELO-X.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has revealed additional panels and speakers for its second annual Let’s Get Digital summit. The two-day online event takes place December 9-10 and is designed to connect the independent music community, creating opportunities between independent record labels, digital service providers, technology solutions, and other music industry professionals.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour will return in January 2022 with tours by a diverse range of artists including KEG, The Wytches, Cultdreams, Ferris & Sylvester, The Kut, Good Karma Club, BLOCS, Strange Bones, Calva Louise and LibraLibra.

The UK's leading physical distributor, Proper Music Group, has signed a three year sales and distribution deal for the UK & ROI with Independent Venue Week.

Following on from multiple number one singles and albums, alongside a growing list of platinum sales and awards across New Zealand and Australia, L.A.B return with the new single, ‘Mr Reggae’, inspired by jam sessions at their hometown beaches, the track captures the feeling of summertime in New Zealand.

London based independent music company Distiller Music Group has announced a number of staff changes within its UK team.

Absolute Label Services has signed a services deal with Reef for the British rock band’s next album.

The app aims to pull open the gates to the music industry, providing artists with the tools to securely back up (with double WeTransfer’s upload speeds), sync and collaborate on music files, while providing access to invaluable music industry contacts and data via the hand-curated Aux Guide. The beta launch aims to shape the future of the app via Aux community feedback, contributing to an existing road map which includes AI-driven recommendations.

"We now pilot the service across Finland, but we want to be an international player. This service has tremendous potential from the perspective of performers, event producers, gig sellers as well as consumers. In our view, consumers will be even less interested in physical products in the future, so more time and money are likely to be spent on events and culture"

UK Music and UK Music's Diversity Taskforce is calling for greater transparency in the battle to boost diversity and inclusion across the music business and creative industries.

Leon joins on 1st December 2021 and will take over from Chris Green, who retires at the end of the year as Director of Research after 31 years with the BPI, having joined from HMV in 1990 as Research Manager.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour will return in January 2022.  A new round of live shows will take place across the UK in the new year, following the overwhelming success of the tour during the summer.

Johnny Clegg may no longer be with us, but his legacy lives on through his music. With a catalogue that spans more than four decades of groundbreaking music, Clegg still stands tall on the world stage. After months of trying to find the right people to administer this significant body of work, the Clegg family have finally entrusted the task to Sheer Publishing, the largest independent Music Publisher in Africa and a division of Downtown Music Services (DMS).

Aleighcia Scott celebrates her second consecutive release day number one on Apple's UK Reggae single chart with her new single, "Cry".  It was a thrilling race to the top of the chart, Aleighcia's Release Day Reasonings live from Jamaica via her social platforms providing the impetus to catapult her to the number one chart position ahead of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" and Koffee's "West Indies."

Levantine Music – an independent publisher focused on music from the Middle East and North Africa – has joined IMPEL.

From West London to West Coast US, composer and rising star Emily Rice is now at the forefront of new wave of female European composers taking on Hollywood. Usually known for her Film and TV scoring talent, Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner marks Emily’s debut artist album, released on 19th November on First Artists Recordings / MNRK Records.

BDi Music has signed Roo Panes to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal for future works.

Exceleration Music has struck a long-term agreement with the estate of the late celebrated singer and songwriter Justin Townes Earle. 

Logcast launches their highly-anticipated app globally, which will reconstruct the way audio creators create, monetize and distribute their content — offering one-tap audio creation, unlockable fan experiences, and next-gen monetization tools like spoken audio NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced a number of new patrons across the artist community and wider music industry.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced the acquisition of hit songs by Platinum-selling songwriter and producer Dallas Austin.

Independent & major labels trade association the BPI today announces details of its 20th round of Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) funding, with a total of £300,000 awarded in support of 20 independent UK artists as they look to grow their international profile in music markets around the world.

Downtown Music Services, which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a global music publishing agreement with legendary French artists AIR.

Curve Royalty Systems, the London-based music technology company, has announced ambitious plans for an increased presence in the US with the launch of a new office in Los Angeles, which will serve as a base for its growing roster of clients.

Midgar have just released a ‘Behind The Music’ feature which explains the creative process behind their new EP ‘Warrens’

Pioneering and award-winning talent development organization and charity Tomorrow’s Warriors has today announced ‘A Great Day In London – Celebrating 30 Years – A Jazz Happening’ on Saturday 4th December at Queen Elizabeth Hall at The Southbank Centre.

The Association of Independent Festivals announced six new additions to its Board of Directors at its 2021 AGM today, as well as confirming membership growth of 34% year-on-year and announcing the return of its flagship Festival Congress event in February 2022.

The report titled ‘Growth from Transparency: Reframing the Value of Music through Creator Rights’ identifies non-music activity in the digital world including social posts, live Q&As, and virtual meet and greets, as part of an ecosystem that could lead to a $61.7 billion Music Industry by 2028. Current music royalty structures struggle to keep pace with opportunities in the digital landscape, which is often because licensing frameworks are not structured to maximise the return for music rights.

Downtown Music Services, which offers bespoke distribution, publishing administration, creative marketing and finance solutions to entrepreneurial creators and their partners, has announced a number of senior executive promotions within its US marketing, A&R and operations divisions.

Polish death metal veterans Trauma will re-release their second full-length album “Suffocated in Slumber” on 17 November via Pagan Records.

A2IM is excited to announce Let’s Get Digital, a two-day online summit taking place December 9-10 and aimed at creating opportunities between independent record labels, digital service providers, technology solutions, and other music industry professionals. Returning for its second year, Let’s Get Digital will connect the independent music community through a series of online workshops, executive one-on-one networking sessions, and lively discussions on trending music-tech topics, new technologies, and licensing solutions.

Rachel Kelly joins Music fintech, Utopia Music, to lead the firm’s efforts in Australasia. Kelly has more than 20 years’ worth of experience in music publishing having held executive roles at both independent and major publishers including Downtown, BMG Rights Management, J Albert & Son among others. Kelly was named as a Billboard International Power Player alongside Roberto Neri and Michael Gudinski

“Free your Mind” is an acoustic remake of the Joe Higgs' classic “Let Us Do Something/Journey To Freedom”.  The sound evokes the spirit of Stairway To Heaven mixed with Simon and Garfunkel. Macka B always delivers music with a message.

The 22-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex has already appeared on the chart-topping label, Perfect Havoc as a feature with Pink Panda on ‘Only Love’. Now, collaborations crossing the lines between pop and dance alongside super producer James Hurr and the label’s A&R, Adam Griffin, will be the first to see official release in early 2022.

The Drake YolanDa Award has announced the winners of its 2021 prize, to be celebrated at an award ceremony taking place at North London’s Roundhouse Studio Theatre on 6th November, where all recipients of the prize will perform. Welcoming artists from all backgrounds and musical genres ranging between ages 16-30, the music prize was founded in 2019 by the two time MOBO winner and broadcaster YolanDa Brown and the philanthropist James JP Drake, to support the careers of young artists by providing financial support to spend on touring, marketing, recording or other ways to further their careers. 

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) has announced the first sessions and speakers of the UK's leading global sync conference and marketplace, AIM Sync, which is returning for 2022 on 10 February.

Vitalic has revealed a special ‘20 Years Of Vitalic’ live show at London’s Electric Brixton on 1 April 2022. The all-night event runs from 21:00 to 05:00, and will see the French electronic music artist perform a “best of” live set drawing on his substantial discography; the unique live show will feature exclusive tracks, and nod to past concerts and tours.

A letter has been sent to PM Boris Johnson on behalf of cross-party MPs demanding "urgent action" over the crisis facing musicians and crew touring the EU.

John, whose appointment is effective immediately, will be based in London and will work closely with David Bianchi, Group CEO.  As a partner at the company for five years he has helped oversee the careers of Charli XCX, The Enemy, Shed Seven and others.

A2IM (The American Association of Independent Music, Inc,) was pleased this year at the election of three new members to its Board of Directors, and is excited to announce the selection of its new Executive Committee.

Four new US-based publishers have joined IMPEL – Fonico, LLC, Tompkins Farm Music and James Auspitz’s Auspitz and HaLevi Music.

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a long-term agreement to administer 100% of the neighbouring rights income, generated from the master recordings, of three long-standing members of the highly successful British rock group, Supertramp (the “Catalogue”).

FUGA, the world's leading full-service B2B music distributor owned by Downtown Music Holdings, today announced a global delivery platform services deal with Beggars Group, the legendary independent label group home to 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade Records, XL Recordings and Young. The partnership sees extensive technical integration between Beggars' newly developed, innovative technology platform and FUGA's proprietary digital supply chain technology, to service all of Beggars' global DSP partners with the group's entire catalogue and new releases across all five labels.

Tempo Music has acquired a majority stake in the master recordings and compositions of albums See You On The Other Side and Untitled by alternative metal legends Korn.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues and Ticketmaster, who partner with independent promoters, venues, labels and artist management teams to work with the best emerging talent, have agreed a number of changes to their existing agreement that will result in more revenues being directed back into the grassroots music venue sector.

In its latest acquisition this year, Swiss Music fintech company Utopia Music, acquired Lyric Financial today, the industry-leading music financial services company, paving the way to becoming the de-facto global music industry growth partner.

The Portuguese-based music distribution and services company, SINFONIASUBLIME, founded by Maria Da Silva at the beginning of 2021, has announced a membership with MERLIN Network, a member-led, music-focused organization providing digital music licensing for independent record labels, distributors, and other music rights holders worldwide.

The Muscle Shoals Songwriters Festival presented by Marriott Shoals is excited to announce that music royalty financing firm Sound Royalties has joined the weekend as the Premier Partner. The 2nd annual songwriters event will take place November 5-6 at the Marriott Shoals.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, has announced a deal with TREBEL, the maker of a licensed music app with on-demand and offline play sponsored by brand advertisers.

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF) are delighted to reveal that Mogwai and Karma Artists have been added to the winners roll call at the 2021 Artist & Manager Awards.

Midgar release their new EP 'Warrens' which features a new single, and 3 re-imagined tracks from the album Unity.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the Government to “strike the right note” by helping drive jobs and growth in the UK’s world-leading music industry. 

AIM CEO Paul Pacifico has responded to the Chancellor's Budget and Spending Review, welcoming positive new measures for venues and hospitality, but stressing the importance of a tax relief scheme for music.

There are just under two weeks to the BPI's third and final Insight Session of the year – which for this latest edition will look at the intersection of music and professional sports.

Exceleration Music, the global music venture founded by leading indie sector executives Glen Barros, John Burk, Charles Caldas, Amy Dietz, and Dave Hansen for the purpose of investing in independent labels and developing their legacies, has struck an agreement with Bloodshot Records founders Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw to acquire the label.

Today the Association of Independent Music announced a raft of new initiatives to support the independent music community's business and personal development, and the election of its new Board members at its Annual General Meeting.

Reservoir today announced the signing of singer-songwriter Madison McFerrin to a worldwide publishing deal that includes her entire catalog and future works.

 Yvan Boudillet, who has over 15 years’ experience in digital entertainment, has joined fast-growing music tech company Utopia Music as Head of Policy.

"The BPI welcomes the CMA's study into the music streaming market. We look forward to seeing the scope of the project in due course and engaging with the CMA to inform its work."

"AIM stands for an inclusive and open market that offers genuine opportunity for all. Concerns around hyperconcentration of power by the majors who control 75% of the market and the dynamic between music and technology companies are some of the topics that could well benefit from this CMA market study, which could help build understanding and confidence for all stakeholders in music, from creators to consumers."

UK Music, the collective voice of the UK music industry, unveiled its This Is Music 2021 annual report. It reveals the devastating impact of Covid-19, which wiped out 69,000 jobs - one in three of the total workforce.

The BPI Classical Committee announced the Annual BPI Classical Committee / PPL Quiz in aid of Nordoff Robbins on Wednesday, 24th of November from 6pm in The Flamingo Room, upstairs at O'Neill's, 33-37 Wardour St, London W1D 6PU.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a new publishing deal with Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé. The deal includes her upcoming album, plus future works.

“You’re afraid big dreams are embarrassing, you’re afraid your best work is behind you, you’re afraid you have no best work to begin with. You’re afraid of being a one-hit wonder, you’re afraid of being a no-hit wonder. There is a bottomless pit from which we can be afraid. Everything is scary, do it anyway.”

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, announces an investment in audio entertainment company and podcast content production studio Audio Up. As one of the key contributions in Audio Up’s $12 million Series B close, Reservoir’s investment will help Audio Up further build their ecosystem of premium entertainment content within the music and audio space. In addition, Reservoir and Audio Up are working together on collaborative audio entertainment projects using Reservoir’s catalog of copyrights.

Celebrating achievements in the artist and manager community, the ceremony returns to London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday 18th November. We are also delighted to announce SoundCloud as our headline sponsor. The show will be hosted by Capital FM’s Roman Kemp. 

Bucks Music Group has signed Baby Strange frontman, producer and songwriter Johnny Madden to an exclusive, worldwide publishing deal.

Ghanaian-British artist Eugy, alongside Marathon Music Group, has partnered with Serenade to release an NFT in relation to his hit single My Touch. The single has racked up over 11 million streams to date.

Building on the success of last year’s project, Small Pond’s ‘Emerging’ artist development project once again gives eight talented young acts (aged 16-25) from Brighton and the South of England the opportunity to rehearse, record, and release their music via Small Pond’s professional studio, label and PR set-up.

The inaugural edition of IPx will go live on August 11th and 12th 2022 in Zurich, Switzerland.

UK Music has called on the Government to help remove the barriers that stand in the way of closing the gender pay gap.

Nuhikun – Directions to Servants is Terayama Shūji’s most representative piece, which has been performed over 100 times in over 30 cities in the world. The work has been staged in huge theatres such as the Globe in Tokyo in 1989, the playhouse in the New National Theatre in 2003, Theatre 1010.

UK independent and major record labels association the BPI is delighted to announce that the latest in its series of BPI Equality Sessions will take place on Wednesday, 20th October (4pm– 6pm) and will honour Black History Month.

‘Kijo’ is the final single the band will release on the 8th October, ahead of the EP release ‘ONI//KIJO’ on the 12th November 2021.

Opulous, the blockchain platform from the founders of award-winning distribution and record label services company Ditto Music, has teamed up with rap royalty Lil Pump and powerhouse DJ and producer KSHMR to unlock music royalty offerings for the masses through investment platform Republic.

Bucks Music Group has signed legendary house DJ Lenny Fontana to a worldwide exclusive songwriting agreement.

Alcopop! Records are delighted to announce that they have signed Leeds-based rock quartet PULLED APART BY HORSES and will release their long-awaited fifth studio album in Spring 2022, with further details to be revealed over the coming months.

Celebrating a lifetime of achievements, the unique accolade will highlight Elton and David’s remarkable shared successes and their incredible ongoing impact on an upcoming generation of artists and audiences. 

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, has announced the hire of Caitie Sarnie as Technical Operations Manager. Sarnie brings extensive experience in the digital and independent music realms, having served in various roles at Redeye Worldwide, a leading worldwide distribution and music services company.

SyncVault, a music promotion platform which offers influencers the first means to monetise YouTube Shorts, is launching this weekend at Liverpool Sound City.

Tomorrow’s Warriors have great pleasure in announcing that former label boss and music industry consultant Nicky O’Donnell will be joining the Tomorrow’s Warriors board of Trustees.

The BPI is pleased to announce the next edition in its regular series of BPI Insight Sessions – Match of the Day: The Intersection of Music & Professional Sport, which will take place on Thursday, 4th November from 4.00pm.

Utopia Music has acquired industry-leading emotional data enrichment company, Musimap. The acquisition, which brings Utopia's workforce to nearly 150 employees, will strengthen Utopia in building the next-generation infrastructure that will advance creator rights and enable new opportunities for the recordings business. 

London based music company GigRealm has announced the launch of a groundbreaking new online platform that provides an end-to-end solution for organising gigs. Artists will have direct access to venues, independent promoters and one-off event organisers across the UK.

Manchester based Voly has announced the soft launch of a ground-breaking, integrated financial management software & payment platform for the music industry, aimed at simplifying and streamlining budgeting, accounting processes and reporting for artists, managers and business managers.

Utopia Music has announced the appointment of Paul Stuart as Chief Legal Officer. Located in Stockholm, he reports to Utopia Chief Executive Officer Markku Mäkeläinen.

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired 100% of the master royalty income of 532 original recordings from the iconic American classic R&B group, The O’Jays.

Whilst touring in Bogota, Colombia with El Gran Latido, Kibir La Amlak recorded Iber Jose Gomez, a renowned Marimba player from the Colombian Pacific Coast. Together they created this genre bending piece of music 'Mother of Song (Queen Marimba)'. A blend of Afro-Colombian melody with a UK style digi-dub drum and bassline.

Music royalty financing firm Sound Royalties continues its unprecedented growth by engaging well-known producer, engineer, and songwriter Elisha Hoffman to support the company as an industry relations ambassador based in Nashville. Hoffman is one of the newest music industry alums to team up with Sound Royalties to help represent the company through direct community outreach and exclusively curated events in Music City.

Cherry Red are delighted to announce they are the stadium sponsors of AFC Wimbledon’s new ground at Plough Lane. One of the longest-running ground partnerships in British football, Cherry Red sponsored the team’s old ground at Kingsmeadow and are delighted be taking the partnership to another level.

IMPF has backed the Credits Due campaign and pledges to actively promote the initiative among its global membership of some 100 independent music publishers.

On September 24, self-described “Afrofuturist” Yuni Wa unveils Shimmer, his inspirational new electronic EP. The Little Rock, Arkansas-based artist is known for breaking boundaries with his high-end concepts and experimental sounds, and Shimmer finds him exploring how to ‘be the light’ even when surrounded by darkness.

Bucks Music Group has signed prolific songwriter and producer Ash Howes to an exclusive worldwide songwriting agreement, alongside an administration agreement for his back catalogue.

IMPF is very pleased to confirm that music publishers will now be included in the membership of the Polish Society of Authors and Composers – ZAiKS.

Following hot on the heels of their critically-acclaimed debut album Emphatically No. released in January 2021 on New Professor Records, the new EP is a collection of extra previously-unreleased material from the album writing sessions.

Produced by John Congelton (Wallows, St. Vincent, Angel Olsen), the 4-track collection is packed with killer riffs and air-tight songwriting that suggest a band well beyond their years, while also possessing an unmistakable youthful exuberance.

Produced by Caleb Hinz (Hippo Campus, Samia) and Jake Luppen of Minnesota indie rock outfit Hippo Campus, Look Alive! looks ahead to a post-genre future where emo, post-hardcore, Japanese city pop, and musical theater can coexist peacefully on one album.

First Artists Management (FAM)—the international talent agency representing composers and music supervisors—has announced the launch of its interdisciplinary record label First Artists Recordings (FAR). Its debut releases this autumn, by FAM agency clients Joe Wilson and Emily Rice, mark the expansion of the US-based agency with the label spearheaded by its UK based office. Alongside global distribution partner eOne Music, FAR will release soundtracks and other album projects with a focus on composers working in visual media. The first FAR release is the soundtrack by Joe Wilson to the second season of Emmy-nominated television series Back To Life.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents over 900 UK grassroots music venues, has announced details of two major events during the next month, Venues Day Live and Venues Day Online, which will see the largest gathering of grassroots music venue operators and staff teams in the world.

Social audio network Logcast today announces that it has received new investment from American entertainment stars and music executives ahead of its launch into the US market next month. 

Today Ditto X: Meet The Industry, the music conference from global independent distributor and label service provider Ditto Music, completed its biggest day yet to a sold-out crowd at the Indigo in The O2 Arena. With an unrivalled line up of music industry experts and live music from the most exciting new talent, Ditto X provided attendees a chance to learn more about the latest developments and trends in music.

Independent female artist Angelina Luzi launches a haunting new project ‘Beast’ drawing her listener in with captivating and emotive vocals in this striking alt-pop ballad.

FUGA has announced comprehensive spatial audio support and automated delivery to Apple Music – the first B2B distributor to do so.  Acquired by Downtown Music Holdings in 2020, FUGA works with more than 800 music businesses across fifty countries.

Former O2 Newcastle Academy joins Electric Group venues including Electric Brixton in London, and SWX in Bristol.

Utopia Music has announced the appointment of Åsa Carild as Head of Platform. Located in Stockholm, she reports to Utopia Chief Data Officer Paul Gathercole.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship, in conjunction with the University of Westminster, announced today that it has partnered with Universal Music UK to make an additional award for 2021, increasing its scope in supporting diverse future industry leaders with a second award that will go to Idris Green-Holder.

Merlin, the independent’s digital music licensing partner, has extended and enhanced its existing music licensing partnership with JioSaavn, a leading music and audio streaming service for South Asians. 

Sonicly, a music-only project funding and fan engagement platform that puts the creator in complete control, has launched in invitation-only beta. The solution is uniquely designed for the music creator looking to build a sustainable career by creating a series of projects of varying sizes on their own schedule, thereby generating steady revenue and identifying and cultivating super fans. Sonicly provides a completely frictionless experience for the creator and the supporter in a safe and trusted environment.

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired recorded music income and publishing rights to 30 songs from Tim Palmer, an English record producer, guitarist and songwriter of rock and alternative music.

The first deal to be announced under Sentric Music Group and Tileyard Music’s recently formed JV is the signing of Ross Hamilton to an exclusive songwriting agreement.

London punks signed to Gallows' label Venn Records team up with director Paul Blue at True Media for new music video in an homage to John Carpenter’s 1988 sci-fi action film They Live, starring Rowdy Roddy Piper.

On September 13, 2021, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) kicks off the Libera Awards season by opening the submissions process for the annual event. The A2IM Libera Awards bring together the music community each summer to honor the extraordinary talent of independent artists, labels, and music industry leaders. People will be able to submit nominees for each awards category until submissions close on December 6. 

Reservoir Media announces a new deal with music icon Joni Mitchell, which sees the company become the worldwide administrator of her illustrious publishing catalog.

The new Scottish government policy announcement on the requirement for double vaccination for entry to some premises is unclear, lacking in detail and liable to provoke confusion among both the public and venue operators. 

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired the master royalty income of Dennis Elliott, a British musician and artist, who was the original drummer of the rock group Foreigner.

UK alt-metal band Memorist have announced they will release their debut EP entitled 'ONI//KIJO' via Year Of The Rat Records on the 12th November 2021.

The Tileyard Group joins The Association of Independent Music (AIM) as a Friend of AIM in a move to bring together the two communities of independent businesses and support the UK's independent music sector.

Pioneering talent development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors is proud to announce the return of #IAMWARRIOR on Friday 15th October at London’s Jazz Café.

The aim of the document is to provide artists and managers with a condensed yet comprehensive overview of the key discussion points of the Committee’s work, and to outline the FAC and MMF’s shared positions on three key areas.

London-based artist management company, Perfect Havoc has signed breakout Manchester singer-songwriter, Lusaint to its talent roster. It's founders are clear that the company is not switching direction from its work with producers Joel Corry and PS1, but instead, growing its services to work with the type of artists who already complement the scene where it's had much success to date.

Gathercole is a proven data leader with a strong background at the intersection of technology, media and analytics. He has vast experience building multi-functional teams in both blue-chip companies and start-ups.

Music tech company Serenade, which launched its groundbreaking new artist/fan-centric NFT platform earlier this month has announced its first senior executive hire in the UK.

SPACE SHOWER FUGA – the joint venture between FUGA and Japanese music and media company Space Shower Networks – has opened for business.

AIM (the Association of Independent Music) today announced a far reaching partnership to enable independent music companies to use the latest SonicKey digital watermark technology, with realtime monitoring, live broadcast and data collection across 500 broadcasters for all new music.

The Richard Antwi Scholarship, in conjunction with the University of Westminster, is proud to announce that its 2021 recipient will be Shanice Edwards, who will be awarded a full scholarship for a place on the university’s prestigious Music Business Management MA course.

A ‘pop-up’ SFA TV television station will celebrate the reissue of Super Furry Animals’ ‘maximalist’ classic album, Rings Around The World for one night only in a bumper, fan-focused week, which also brings the band’s first NFT collection release. Four, limited-edition, digital artworks, reimagining the album’s original sleeve design will be delivered via a new, fan-centric and eco-friendly platform.

The aim of the compilation is to shine a spotlight on bands with members of colour, and aims to raise funds for  Black Minds Matter Charity (UK) and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (US) to help battle racism and inequality.

FUGA, the world's largest full service B2B distributor, has continued its international expansion with a label and distribution partnership with German hip-hop label and distribution business ONE Sights Music. It has also appointed Curt Keplin as Business Development & Marketing Manager, Germany.

Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir”), an award-winning independent music company, has struck a deal with country supergroup Alabama for the group’s interest in its recorded music rights catalog. The prolific group is among the world’s best-selling bands of all time and is the most awarded band in the history of Country music, with over 200 honors from the entertainment industry’s top organizations. Alabama also set and holds an incredible streak of 21 straight #1s, a record they have held for over 30 years.

Bringing together an array of music legends and rapidly rising new talent, the AIM Awards 2021 saw yet another brilliant display of the independent community's remarkable strength and ingenuity.

Applications for the next round (20) of Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) funding will open at 10.00am on 24th August and close at midnight on 27th September 2021.

Today, genre bending duo Nova Twins have announced their partnership with Marshall Records.  In a forward-thinking deal that favours the artist and includes opportunities with Marshall Amplification,  Marshall intends to drive positive change within the music industry, helping to break the mould of expectations when it comes to artist-label relationships.

Music Venue Trust has conducted a series of surveys and data collection exercises during the first month of the full capacity reopening of grassroots music venues.

Orbit has sold 200 million recordings worldwide across his own catalogue of work, and his production and songwriting career.

Serenade Launches with NFT Offerings from: Jungle, ArrDee, Kaiser Chiefs, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, The Game, Strawberries & Creem festival, Young MA, Ride, Gary Powell of The Libertines, Scouting For Girls, Super Furry Animals, Ash, Ladyhawke, State Champs, S1mba, Muki and more.

Newly independent lo-fi indie-folk quartet announce triumphant return with new album, single and winter 2021 UK tour dates.

Exceleration Music, the global music venture founded by leading indie sector executives Glen Barros, John Burk, Charles Caldas, Amy Dietz, and Dave Hansen for the purpose of investing in independent labels and developing their legacies, today announced the appointment of Darin Soler as its Head of Global Marketing & Commercial Partnerships.

The Association of Independent Promoters has published 'The AIP Promoter Jargon Buster' - a list of commonly used promoting terms to help support new and emerging promoters into the sector.

Jason Bowld (Bullet For My Valentine, Pitchshifter, Killing Joke), began writing songs with Colin Doran (Hundred Reasons). The pair brought producer and guitarist into the fold before completing the lineup with Lee Erinmez (Snuff) and Oly Edkins.

Skarbek is a two-time Ivor Novello Award winner and a Grammy nominated songwriter, producer, film scorer and multi-instrumentalist.

Abu Dhabi-based independent music company PopArabia announces the launch of ESMAA, a new UAE-based music Rights Management Entity (“RME”) to facilitate music licensing in the Gulf region. ESMAA works broadly with both global rights holders and regional businesses to provide Gulf markets with the ability to license music domestically for the first time.

Today, ascendant electro pop singer songwriter and producer Laura Dre drops a brand-new single “Beautiful Summer”. It follows the phenomenal Bandcamp success of her debut album Moving Spaces released just over a month ago.

The Board of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited is pleased to announce that the Company has acquired an interest in a music publishing catalogue from Yes guitarist and prolific film score composer, Trevor Rabin.

London-based artist and music business development company, Killing Moon Group, are proud to launch The Music Federation in partnership with Believe, as well as a number of domestic and international music companies due to come on board as members in the coming year. 

Berklee College of Music alumnus and Berklee trustee Josh Gruss B.M. ‘97 gifted the College $1 million dollars to establish the Josh Gruss/Round Hill Music Endowed Scholarship Fund. This scholarship will support financially and academically deserving students majoring in Music Business and Management.

“AIF has campaigned for a Government-backed insurance scheme for festivals for over a year, from raising it as a headline issue with the DCMS Select Committee to working with DCMS colleagues and presenting detailed evidence and data to support the case."

#loverecordstores, the campaign originally launched in 2020 to raise awareness of the challenges faced by record stores during the COVID-19 pandemic has announced details of its second Love Record Stores event, supported by AIM, which will take place on Saturday 4th September.

Memorist have released a new single with visualiser via Dreambound and Metal Injection and the track will be out on all streaming platforms on the 6th August.

Feed Media Group, the leading B2B music licensing subscription service, announced today that it has signed a music licensing deal with Merlin, the independent's digital music licensing partner, for its Adaptr product. Adaptr is a subscription-based platform that makes it easy for startups to use music, and this deal provides access to an enormous catalog of licensed music from Merlin member labels, distributors, and their artists.

IMPF has launched a new ‘Friends and Supporters’ category for companies wishing to work with independent music publishers – with LyricFind and Musixmatch the first to join.

Hotly-tipped Liverpool indie/alt-pop band The Peach Fuzz sign to Modern Sky UK and release their new single ‘Never Wanna See The Light’, building on the success of their early run of singles through The Coral's Skeleton Key Records.

Music industry leaders have joined forces with a host of organisations to boost the sector’s work on equality, diversity and inclusion. UK Music, the collective voice of the music industry, and its members are spearheading the move following the call from the UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce.

Metropolis Studios, Europe’s leading independent recording studio, has opened a brand-new, state-of-the-art 3D audio recording facility at the heart of its sprawling West London complex. Coinciding with the launch, Amazon Music has agreed a content deal with the studio, which will become the streaming services’ UK-based HQ for immersive mixing, strengthening their offering to artists.

Effective immediately, the partnership will give ATC’s award-winning composers, including Alex Epton, Aska Matsumiya, Christian Balvig, Ben Frost, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Keaton Henson, PJ Harvey and Tim Hecker unparalleled access to Spitfire’s state-of-the-art studios, software, tools and services, as well as the opportunity to collaborate on new products and initiatives with Spitfire’s team of developers

Reservoir has announced the expansion of its relationship with Outdustry, China’s leading music rights and marketing services company. The deal sees Reservoir investing as a minority partner in Outdustry to build on its successes in China and India and extend its strategy to other emerging music markets. The companies have also formed a joint venture to sign and develop Chinese artists and songwriters, plus acquire local music catalogs.

In the last few years, Atkinson has achieved great success in the world of musical theatre, with roles in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, Legally Blonde and the blockbusting SIX, to name a few.

With the Bloomsbury Big Top providing a fully-ventilated and secure environment, the FAC and MMF look forward once again to welcoming guests from across the industry

IMPF and IMPEL are set to jointly publish a Digital Licensing Handbook, which will be available exclusively for the independent publisher members of the two organisations.

Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, has announced a new campaign to encourage live music fans to take a voluntary lateral flow test ahead of attending gigs.

Lastelle perform live at St Mary's Church and announce new tour dates. The live video was premiered with the Youtube channel Dreambound and is now available to watch back.

"The Select Committee has impressively zeroed-in on some of the key issues in music and many of the report's findings endorse and vindicate the ethical practices of the independent music community."

"We welcome today’s landmark report from Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee calling for artists, composers and musicians to benefit more equally from the boom in online streaming."

UK Music, the collective voice of the music industry, today (Wednesday 14th July) publishes a major new survey that reveals the crucial role music played in helping people through Covid-19 lockdowns - and how the public are craving the return of live music.

This Alternative R&B catchy tune is sure to lift us all out of our lockdown blues and get our summer groove on the dance floor!

Reservoir has announced the signing of artist, songwriter, and producer Rufio Hooks to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes Rufio’s current global hit co-write “Butter” by the hugely successful K-Pop group BTS, plus future works.

Artist First, the leading Italian record label, event manager and music distributor, is pleased to announce it is partnering with ANote Music, one of Europe’s leading marketplaces for investing in music royalties, to list what will be the first public offering of an image rights catalogue.

Sentric Music Group’s rapidly expanding electronic division has today announced the signing of PBH & JACK in partnership with Nick Halkes.

Sentric Music Group’s rapidly expanding electronic division has today announced the signing of PBH & JACK in partnership with Nick Halkes. Sentric announced a long-term joint venture with pioneering music executive Nick Halkes to bolster its electronic offering earlier this year. 

"We welcome the Health Secretary’s confirmation of progressing to Step 4 of the lockdown roadmap. Government has repeatedly stated that once we are at this stage, it will examine if insurance is still an issue for events and intervene if necessary. We are now one week away from this date and the sector needs a long overdue resolution to this problem."

Co-produced by Robert Harder (Brian Eno, David Byrne, Neneh Cherry, Sohodolls, Babyshambles), ‘Moving Spaces’ is the exquisite, upcoming 10-track album from LGBTQ+ icon Laura Dre. Hitting over 50,000 views on YouTube in a week, this songstress is destined to have her name in lights.

The BRITs Apprentice Scheme is back for a third round and is now recruiting for ten apprentices to take up fifteen-month paid placements with independent record labels and music companies.

In an unprecedented collaboration, The National Lottery – one of the biggest funders of culture in the UK - will contribute £1M to directly underwrite the touring and production costs of over 300 live performances this summer, enabling the grassroots live music industry to start promoting shows again in the knowledge that the upfront costs associated with touring are covered.

This year, Key Production has been busy creating an evocative online magazine (hosted on ISSUU) which features historical highlights, nostalgic images and filmed interviews with current and past employees, some of whom will be familiar to the music industry community. The content is proof of the firm’s dedication to nurturing relationships - with both clients and its own team. In fact, most of Key’s staff of around 60 have worked there for over 20 years! 

Black Rock has finalised a co-publishing partnership with Electric Ibiza – one of Ibiza’s biggest events, label and artist management companies.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has warned that a Government-backed insurance scheme is the "final piece of the jigsaw" needed to help save live music events.