DEALS
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MusicBird has acquired the songs catalogue of songwriter/producer Alexander 'Alex P' Papaconstantinou, who has worked with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Enrique Iglesias and Khaled. Says MusicBird CEO Paul Brown: “We continue to be laser-focused on bringing timeless hits from diverse artists and writers into the MusicBird collection and to be able to work with such an incredibly talented writer in Alex, who has written some major Latin music hits as well as broader pop hits, is very exciting for our team”.
APPOINTMENTS
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Warner Music has appointed former Disney exec Bryan Castellani as its new CFO, replacing Eric Levin, who is retiring at the end of the year. “I’m delighted to be joining WMG at such an exciting and pivotal time for the company and the music industry”, says Castellani. “Music is a powerful global force, unconstrained by any specific model or format, and has significant business upside”.
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Downtown-owned distributor FUGA has hired Desiree Vach, formerly at Ingrooves, as its General Manager for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. She reports into Liz Northeast, FUGA's SVP of EMEA, who says: "The GSA region is an increasingly strong market for FUGA and we are excited to be welcoming Desiree in her new role to lead our team and business development on the ground. Her vast experience, knowledge and understanding of both the independent distribution space and the GSA market is unparalleled".
LIVE BUSINESS
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Liberty Media - which owns Sirius XM and Pandora, and a big slice of Live Nation - has announced it has closed a new round of debt financing, specifically a “$1.15 billion offering of 2.375% exchangeable senior debentures due 2053". The debentures are secured against Live Nation stock owned by Liberty Media, and give debenture holders the right to convert their debentures to shares in Live Nation. The media firms says that "the offering allowed Liberty to repurchase nearly $858 million of its existing 0.5% debentures due 2050, at a cost of around $918 million. Remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to manage remaining 0.5% debentures".
💞
Booking agency Midnight Mango has established an Equality, Diversity And Inclusion group within the business to "to drive positive change, enact initiatives that promote diversity, address inequalities and promote a more inclusive workplace culture". It has also conducted an audit of its roster as part of efforts to "create a more level playing field for artists". Of the current roster, 34% are female-fronted and 45% have female members. The agency notes: "Whilst this is higher than many standard rates across the industry, there is still some work to do".
RELEASES
😱
Scream have announced that they will release their first album for 30 years, ‘DC Special’, on 10 Nov. Among the numerous guests set to appear is their former drummer Dave Grohl. Out now is first single ‘DC Special Sha La La’.
🗝️
Art Feynman has released new single ‘Early Signs Of Rhythm’. His new album ‘Be Good The Crazy Boys’ is out on 10 Nov.
