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Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Sony/ATV deals with Krept and Konan and Lenka
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 26 May 2015
In one of two new deals confirmed last week, Sony/ATV announced it had signed still buzzing urban duo Krept and Konan, who continue to resist using an ampersand (despite surely realising that their current moniker would result in a confusing headline on this story). The worldwide publishing deal comes ahead of the release of the duo’s debut album, due out via Universal’s Virgin Records on 6 Jul with cameos and guest spots from Ed Sheeran, Wiz Khalifa, Emeli Sande, Rick Ross and Jeremih.
Confirming the deal, Sony/ATV’s Janice Brock told reporters: “We are really happy Krept and Konan wanted to join our roster. They are immensely talented songwriters, really versatile and they work day and night to please their fans. The advance response to their album has been amazing and reflects how committed their fanbase are to them”.
Elsewhere at Sony/ATV HQ, the publisher announced it was extending its partnership with singer-songwriter Lenka, so that it will not only publish her upcoming fourth studio album ‘The Bright Side’, but it will also co-release it. The new deal means the Sony publisher will also manage the sound recording rights in the new record, though the label services division of sister company Sony Music – ie RED Distribution – will actually get the new long player to market (officially it is being released by Lenka’s label Skipalong Records and Sony/ATV’s Hickory Records).
Sony/ATV keeping control of both publishing and recording rights is seemingly a result of the high interest in Lenka’s output within the sync market, where combined rights deals are always popular with licensees. Indeed, BMG and some indies commonly advocate combined rights deals with artists mainly because of the benefits in the sync space. Whether this is an approach Sony/ATV will seek to take with other highly synced singer songwriters remains to be seen.
Confirming the Lenka deal, Sony/ATV Co-President for the US Danny Strick said: “Sony/ATV is excited to be taking this innovative approach with Lenka whose music has long been hugely popular with brands, TV shows and filmmakers. The new partnership perfectly illustrates how the company’s A&R and sync teams can effectively combine to create new opportunities for our songwriters”.
