Beggars Music’s leadership executives have spoken about their long-term support for artists and songwriters as an independent publisher.
The company, which is marking its 15th anniversary, has made a series of new signings including King Krule, Bar Italia and Mica Levi.
“It's grown massively,” said Molly O’Brien, head of creative, Beggars Music, who first joined as an intern around 13 years ago. “When I started, or shortly after, it felt like there were some really foundational signings for the company, people like Glass Animals, Sampha and Mica Levi. I feel like they have all been a really important part of the story.”
Beggars Music has also had a long-term relationship with Obongjayar (Steven Umoh), whose Top 5 Fred Again.. collaboration, Adore U, has sales of 733,213 (Official Charts Company). It follows the 2021 collaboration with Little Simz, Point And Kill, which is on 113,572 chart units in the UK.
“He's had this huge record with Little Simz and another huge record with Fred Again..,” said Beggars Music director Andy Heath, who acknowledged that the next step would be a solo hit for the artist.
Born in Lagos and raised in Nigeria, Obongjayar moved to the UK when he was 18. God’s Own Children earned him an Ivor Novello award in 2021 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2022 he released his debut album, Some Nights I Dream of Doors,
Fred Again.. sampled Obongjayar’s I Wish It Was Me for Adore U, which has amassed more than 185 million streams on Spotify alone.
Predicting continued success for Obongjayar, Heath said: “We’re probably five years in, he’s making a very good living out of the music. I think he probably is on the edge of taking on the world. They’re the kind of stories that modern music publishing is all about, frankly.”
Other recent additions include songwriting and production duo Georgie & Joe, Warpaint’s Emily Kokal as she embarks on a new solo career, and LA-based singer-songwriter Kacy Hill.
Beggars Music also represents one of the biggest global hits of recent years, Heat Waves by Glass Animals (3.23 billion Spotify streams).
“Our ethos is quite similar to what Beggars Group [recordings] is widely known for, which is working with the highest calibre of artists, where there is also potential for commercial success and which has some ambition about it,” said Molly O’Brien.
“When it comes to publishing, we’re always looking for the singular talents and the people who are the best at what they do, and the plan is definitely to keep it very diverse,” she added
When it comes to publishing, we’re always looking for the singular talent
Molly O’Brien
Heath contrasted the role of the independent publisher with some rights companies driven by acquisitions.
“We’ve never bought anything, we’ve just signed [songwriters] as an A&R discovery,” he said. “If you’re a proper music publisher, then you need to be helping in the creative process, the development of the art, and the care and attention you pay to the human being that is the writer.”
King Krule (real name Archy Marshall), who is signed to Beggars Group label XL Recordings outside of the US, is now part of the Beggars Music publishing roster. He joins fellow Crossfield Management client Obongjayar.
“I think Archy looked at the fact that we were working hard for a writer [Obongjayar], delivering opportunities and creating revenue,” said Heath.
The Bar Italia signing was made via Mattitude Music, the publishing JV with Matador Records.
“They have so much personality, and they have this three-way writing dynamic, which is just incredibly unique,” said O’Brien. “There’s not really another band that sounds like them. We do have very high hopes for them.”
Heath described Mica Levi, who has returned to the Beggars fold after a spell away from the publisher, as an “enormous talent”.
“We were thrilled that, having worked with Mica for a long time, then they signed to someone else and now they have come back,” said Heath. “Mica is very much their own person and they will go in the direction that they think is right for them. So, yeah, I like working with Mica very much.”
Although acclaimed as a composer for film with multiple award wins and nominations, Heath suggested that Levi is keen to “get back to the concert hall” as a performing artist.
A new track, Slob Air, was released in 2024 as Levi’s first single via the electronic label Hyperdub. Earlier this year, Beggars Music partnered with Hyperdub’s publishing operation, the roster of which includes Burial.
Alongside the signings of established names such as King Krule and Mica Levi, Heath stressed that the company’s focus has been on long-term development of talent such as Sampha, Obongjayar and Glass Animals, whose first three albums are represented by Beggars.
“The Glass Animals story is an exemplar of how I think music publishing should be conducted,” he said. “You get in on the ground floor, you work very closely with the creators, you give them space, you help them grow and make some of the right decisions. And you show a lot of patience, and you take a lot of time.”
Glass Animals’ songwriter Dave Bayley has since moved to UMPG, which Heath said “made sense” financially.
“I think we were five to seven years in before it really started going berserk [with Heat Waves] and we’ve probably got two or three other artists at the moment who are showing signs of doing similar things,” he added.
FOLLOW 
