Here's all the headlines you might have missed overnight:
Bucks Music Group launches management company
Bucks Music Group has launched a brand new management division, headed by former Big Life and Spilt Milk Management employee Anthony Hippsley (pictured). Hippsley has joined the company as talent manager and is tasked with the day to day running of Bucks Music Management, which will look to sign artists, producers, songwriters and mix engineers to the company. He brings with him producer and writer Jordan Riley, who has been working with some of the UK’s top up and coming artists including Leo Standard, Callum Scott, Dakota and Keir as well as working with renowned songwriters such as Guy Chambers, James Newman, Martin Brammer and Jenn Decilveo. The independent music publisher’s current roster includes Brian Eno, Peggy Seeger, Pete Doherty, Danny Brown, Honeyblood and many more. It also represents distinguished composers such as David Arnold, Rachel Portman, Michael Price and Richard G Mitchell. Bucks has a number of joint ventures with leading independent labels including Heavenly Recordings, Nude, Full Time Hobby, Arts & Crafts, Passenger, D Style and Shifty Disco. The company is also involved in master recordings and producing music, with a production music library (Standard Music Library) and record labels including Cube Records, Cube Soundtracks, Fly Records and Qnote Records.
Pins sign publishing deal with Ninja Tune’s Just Isn’t Music
Manchester’s Pins have signed a three-album publishing deal with Just Isn’t Music, the publishing arm of Ninja Tune. After self-releasing debut album Girls Like Us, the all-female five-piece signed to Bella Union for follow-up Wild Nights, which was recorded at the legendary Rancho de la Luna. Since then, Pins have supported Sleater Kinney on the UK leg of their tour, taken the US live market by storm, and begun work on their next album. The band will play Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, broadcast live on BBC 6 Music’s Radcliffe and Maconie show today (from 1pm), in celebration of the Sex Pistols’ legendary show at the venue.
Donna Caseine joins Reservoir creative team
New York-based independent music publisher Reservoir – which counts Reverb/Reservoir Music in the UK as part of its global operations – has hired A&R executive Donna Caseine for its creative team. As senior vice president of creative and A&R, the Los Angeles-based Caseine will develop and oversee Reservoir’s west coast creative operation, working closely with fellow executives in New York, the UK, and Europe. Caseine joins Reservoir following a 20-year tenure at Universal Music Publishing Group, where her roster included prominent songwriters, producers, and performers of varied musical genre, such as Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Ariana Grande, Ice Cube, Jill Scott, Raphael Saadiq, Julian Bunetta, Mike Elizondo, James Fauntleroy, and Prince, to name only a few. Her new role sees Caseine reunited with Reservoir/Reverb Music managing director Annette Barrett, with whom she collaborated during the years that UMPG represented Reverb Music as a sub-publisher in the United States. From this prior partnership, Caseine is already well acquainted with several of Reservoir/Reverb Music’s internationally active songwriters, including Jamie Hartman (James Bay, Christina Aguilera) and Peter Gordeno (Il Divo, Clay Aiken).
Tencent invests in South Korea’s YG Entertainment
Chinese internet giant Tencent (whose services currently capture 45% of China’s average time spent on mobile devices) is moving deeper into the music business. The company is investing $30 million into South Korean company YG Entertainment, the home of Psy, in exchange for a 4.5% stake. Chinese ticket service provider Weiying Technology has also sunk $55m into the company for a 8.2% stake, making it the third largest shareholder, and Tencent fourth. Tencent’s QQ Music streaming service has previously struck licensing deals with Warner, Universal and Sony – and back in 2014, reached an exclusive agreement with YG Entertainment for music copyrights in the mainland. (Ecns.cn)
Prince autopsy confirms drug overdose
Legendary singer Prince died from an accidental painkiller overdose, according to medical examiners. The autopsy report from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Minnesota states that Prince self-administered an opioid called fentanyl, which is often considered to be more powerful than heroin. A police warrant also revealed that Dr Michael Schulenberg prescribed the singer the day before he died, although it does not say what was prescribed, or whether Prince took the drugs. Prince was cremated in a private ceremony on April 24, three days after he died. The singer's family are said to be planning a public memorial later in August. (BBC)
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