Publishing Briefs: Spirit Music Acquires Kara DioGuardi Catalog, Insomniac Awakens to CTM Partnership
Spirit Music Group has acquired the publishing catalog of songwriter Kara DioGuardi. The deal, which is for publishing rights only, covers a large portion of DioGuardi’s catalog but does not include future works.
Songs included in the deal include “Sober” by P!nk, “Heartbeat Song” by Kelly Clarkson and “Undo It” by Carrie Underwood. Over the course of her career, DioGuardi has also worked with artists including Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, Enrique Iglesias, Jason Derulo, Rascal Flatts and Celine Dion. The former American Idol judge has additionally won 21 BMI Awards, including the organization’s Songwriter of the Year award in 2007.
Insomniac Music Group, the record label umbrella started by Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) promoter Insomniac, has signed a long-term global publishing partnership with CTM Publishing that will operate under the name Sounds That Never Sleep Publishing.
Over the next 12 months, Insomniac has a number of major new releases planned, for which music publishing rights singings will be announced.
Since launching in 2014, Insomniac Records has released over 200 tracks from artists including Chris Lake, Dombresky, Habstrakt and Redlight and curated an annual EDM compilation series featuring four EDC Las Vegas master soundtracks and one EDC Mexico master soundtrack. The label’s success led to the creation of Insomniac Music Group, which includes both internal brand imprints and artist-centric labels including NGHTMRE and SLANDER’s Gud Vibrations, Fisher’s Catch & Release, Justin Martin’s What To Do and Will Clarke’s All We Have Is Now.
Reservoir has signed a global publishing deal with India-based rapper DIVINE that includes rights to his catalog and future works. The publisher has additionally struck a joint venture with DIVINE’s Gully Gang Entertainment — an umbrella company that includes the Gully Gang Records label — to sign and develop new songwriting talent.
Born Vivian Fernandes, DIVINE has played a major role in the rise of “gully rap” in India thanks to successful singles such as “Yeh Mera Bombay,” “Kohinoor,” “Jungli Sher,” “Kaam 25” and “Meri Gully Mein.” His debut album, Kohinoor, was released in 2019 through a partnership with Nas’ label Mass Appeal India, which also released his hip-hop compilation album Shutdown earlier this year.
Round Hill Music has reached a global co-publishing agreement with songwriting/publishing collective 4 Horsemen Music that covers all future releases.
The members of 4 Horsemen Music — Marti Frederiksen, Zac Maloy, Blair Daly and Scott Stevens — have collectively worked with artists including Mick Jagger, Aerosmith, Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts. Current successes include Shinedown’s “Atlas Falls” (co-written by Maloy) and and Daughtry’s “World on Fire” (co-written by Frederiksen and Stevens).
Previous hits for the collective include Aerosmith’s “Jaded” (Frederiksen), Skillet’s “American Noise” (Maloy) and Uncle Kracker’s “Smile” (Daly).
Sony/ATV Nashville has signed Grammy-winning composer/producer/songwriter Bernie Herms to a global publishing deal.
Herms has completed songwriting and production work for artists including Barbra Streisand, Selena Gomez and Brad Paisley. He has won a total of eight Dove awards, including Song of the Year for “East to West” by Casting Crowns, and took home a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for Hillary Scott’s “Thy Will.” He recently produced albums by Streisand, Josh Groban and Danny Gokey.
Songwriting and production team Red Triangle have signed a global publishing agreement with BMG that covers all future releases.
Comprised of Rick Parkhouse and George Tizzard, Red Triangle have been credited on over 100 major label tracks by artists such as Charlie Puth, David Guetta and Green Day. They are now working on projects with Alesso, Jared Leto and Jason Derulo, among others.
Sony/ATV U.K. has signed indie rock band Sea Girls to a worldwide publishing deal.
Comprised of Henry Camamile, Rory Young, Andrew Dawson and Oli Khan, the Polydor-signed group put out four EPs before releasing their debut album Open Up Your Head, which recently landed at No. 3 on the U.K. album charts. Their songs include “Violet,” “Ready For More,” “Do You Really Wanna Know,” “All I Want To Hear You Say” and “Forever.”