Sony/ATV Signs Acts Including Lady Gaga and Sting for Neighboring Rights

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has further expanded its Neighbouring Rights roster with the addition of Lady Gaga, Sting and a number of other artists.

Cream's legendary drummer Ginger Baker and contemporary stars French Montana, Grace, Kyla, Erick Morillo and Alan Walker are also newly signed to the UK-based operation, while deals have been extended with The Weeknd and Pharrell Williams.

The new names join a roster that additionally includes Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson, Slash and Snoop Dogg as well as the estates of Lou Reed and Amy Winehouse. The division is run by the world's leading music publishing company and provides a bespoke, hands-on service for a select number of clients.

Sony/ATV UK Managing Director and President of European Creative Guy Moot said: "Our Neighbouring Rights department has quickly grown into a major player in this sector, reflected by the calibre of artists we are signing. We have set out a clear goal of building up this business in a bespoke manner by signings artists we already have relationships with as well as other hitmakers. With us, it's not about plugging into a machine, but offering our clients a focused and highly personal service which draws from our creative, business and administrative strengths as the world's No. 1 music publisher."

The division is headed by George Powell, one of the industry's leading Neighbouring Rights experts, who previously oversaw Neighbouring Rights at UK-based music licensing and rights organisation PPL.

Powell said: "We are all hugely proud to welcome the aforementioned artists into our Neighbouring Rights family and to see this department continue to grow from strength to strength. I am ensuring we hold focus on keeping healthy personable relationships with our clients and their teams, something we value and feel is vital for this to work. Extending with Pharrell and The Weeknd was a natural and healthy progression for us, and to welcome artists such as Sting, Gaga and others is an honour."

The signings of both Lady Gaga and Sting to the division coincide with the release of long-awaited new studio albums from the two superstars.

Lady Gaga's fifth studio set Joanne includes the hit single "Perfect Illusion" and became her fourth consecutive album to reach No. 1 in the US following its release last month. The album further enhances her reputation as one of the most gifted and commercially successful recording artists of the 21st Century with a catalogue that includes such modern classics as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", Paparazzi", "Born This Way", "Bad Romance" and "Applause" alongside a chart-topping album with Tony Bennett.

Sting's own new studio album 57th & 9th will be released on November 11 and is his first rock set in 13 years. It also comes in the 40th year of a recording career that has established him as one of the greatest music artists of all time, initially with the group The Police with global hits including "Every Breath You Take", "Roxanne", "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" and then with a solo career whose many highlights include "Fields Of Gold", "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Englishman in New York". Last month he was given the BMI Icon award from the U.S. performing rights organisation at its annual London event, while he will follow the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson and Prince when he receives the American Music Award of Merit at the 2016 American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 20.

Ginger Baker's remarkable career includes performing alongside Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce as the rock supergroup Cream who during an existence of just three years established themselves as one of the 1960s' most enduring and influential bands with hits such as "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "White Room" and albums including Disraeli Gears and Wheels Of Fire. An inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was placed at No. 3 earlier this year on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Drummers Of All Time.

East Coast rapper French Montana broke through in 2007 with his first mixtape and has worked with many of the giants of R&B and hip hop, including Drake, The Weeknd and Nicki Minaj who all featured on his debut album Excuse My French. He reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic with the single "Loyal" with Chris Brown and Lil Wayne.

UK-based Norwegian DJ, artist and record producer Alan Walker scored one of the biggest global hits of the past 12 months with "Faded", which reached the UK Top 10 and topped the charts in a number of territories, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, while Kyla features on Drake's 2016 international hit "One Dance", which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in the UK and 10 weeks at No. 1 in the US and was named by Spotify last month as its most-played song of all time with more than 882 million plays worldwide.

Australian singer-songwriter Grace broke through at the beginning of this year with the single "You Don't Own Me", which peaked at No. 4 in the UK, while her debut album FMA was released in July. Meanwhile, Colombian-American DJ, artist and producer Erick Morillo first came to prominence in the early 1990s as part of Reel 2 Real with hits including "I Like To Move it", while his extensive output since has included remixes for acts such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, P Diddy and Snoop Dogg.

The extension of the deal with The Weeknd comes ahead of the November 25 release of the Canadian's third album Starboy whose title track featuring Daft Punk peaked at No. 2 in the UK and US. It follows his Grammy-winning album Beauty Behind The Madness, which includes the hits "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills".

Also extending his Neighbouring Rights deal with Sony/ATV is Pharrell Williams whose many global successes include not only his own solo singles such as "Happy" but more than two decades of hits with other acts, including Daft Punk ("Get Lucky"), Robin Thicke and T.I. ("Blurred Lines"), Nelly ("Hot In Herre"), Snoop Dogg ("Drop It Like It's Hot") and Justin Timberlake ("Rock Your Body").

What are Neighbouring Rights?
Neighbouring Rights are rights related to the sound recording of a musical work and are due to the artists and musicians featured whenever there is a commercial exploitation of it such as through radio or TV airplay.

ABOUT SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING: Sony/ATV Music Publishing, established in 1995 as a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson, is the world's leading music publisher. Together with EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV owns or administers around 3 million copyrights including those from such iconic music catalogs like Leiber & Stoller, Mijac Music, Motown and Famous Music. Sony/ATV also controls many of the best known songs ever written like "New York, New York", "Hallelujah", "All You Need Is Love", "You've Got a Friend", "Moon River", "Jailhouse Rock", "The Mission Impossible Theme", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Over the Rainbow", "Stand By Me", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Singin' in the Rain". In addition, Sony/ATV represents the copyrights of such legendary artists as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Kraftwerk, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Richie Sambora, Sting, The Supremes, Wyclef Jean, Hank Williams and Stevie Wonder, among others. Its ever-growing list of chart-topping artists, writers and producers includes Avicii, The Chainsmokers, Drake, Calvin Harris, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Shakira, Ed SHeeran, Sia, Sam Smith, Stargate, Taylor Swift, Walk The Moon, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.

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