music news Lorde is now fully an UMG artist, signs publishing deal before L4 takeover — Variety

[Kayseri Mantisi]

Since 2013 she was signed to UMG (Universal Music Group) but had a different publishing company (Songs Music Publishing) - now her publishing is controlled by UMPG too  Girl So Confusing Remix was their first release with her. 

 

 

Quote

"I signed Lorde earlier this year and that was our first release with her, which is obviously incredibly exciting," says Knoepfle. "That remix sort of kicked off 'Brat Summer' in earnest: It might have been the first time you saw two women airing their concerns and questions and doubts together in a song — I think it was quite revolutionary and a very real exploration of what was going on in their minds, and how they interpreted a situation. As a woman, I've been in that position with my friends over the years, and I think women do have a wonderful ability to have those conversations, sharing the thoughts instead of holding them in, like 'I have your side of story, I'm going to tell you my side, let's clear the air and set the record straight,' and it's kind of happening for all of us to see. I think that's why people really related to it — especially, maybe, from Ella, because we hadn't necessarily seen her be vulnerable like that. "Hopefully we'll see more of that — like, 'Let's work it out on the remix.'"

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/sabrina-carpenter-taylor-swift-universal-music-publishing-1236129200/

 

 

Edited September 9 by Kayseri Mantisi

[Nazareth]

Usually this not a good thing and is lowkey a conflict of interest to have your publishing and label under the same umbrella. But she's not a new artist so it probably doesn't matter. 

[Kayseri Mantisi]

5 minutes ago, Nazareth said:

Usually this not a good thing and is lowkey a conflict of interest to have your publishing and label under the same umbrella. But she's not a new artist so it probably doesn't matter. 

i don't think it's something that deep, her publishing deal probably expired because it has been 12 years since 2012 so she might have signed a new one that matches her label. (which is better imo because her previous publishing company was a khia even though she was signed to one of the biggest labels that is UMG+Republic).

[RideOrDie]

not Songs publishing, they are the reason we have meloD instrumentals

 

10 minutes ago, Nazareth said:

Usually this not a good thing and is lowkey a conflict of interest to have your publishing and label under the same umbrella. But she's not a new artist so it probably doesn't matter. 

songs pub don't even exist any more they were acquired by kobalt music publishing, she's better off at an actual powerhouse of a company

[HRHCOLLECTION]

disastrous merch and customer service incoming 

[Nazareth]

11 minutes ago, RideOrDie said:

not Songs publishing, they are the reason we have meloD instrumentals

 

songs pub don't even exist any more they were acquired by kobalt music publishing, she's better off at an actual powerhouse of a company

She should be at a powerhouse, although Kobalt already is, but a company away from her label (Sony/BMG) would be better. If she ever has disputes UMG in the future, then they have the power to stop her publishing bag. It probably won't happen to her but in general this wouldn't be the best course of action for any artist. 

[conquxror]

Well, Sabrina signed with them too and look what happened. Although I will never expect Lorde to go full mainstream again, I'm considering this good news

[RideOrDie]

1 minute ago, Nazareth said:

She should be at a powerhouse, although Kobalt already is, but a company away from her label (Sony/BMG) would be better. If she ever has disputes UMG in the future, then they have the power to stop her publishing bag. It probably won't happen to her but in general this wouldn't be the best course of action for any artist. 

UMG seems to be the most reliable and biggest, every gigantic artist is on there so I doubt she's gonna have any problems, it's usually record labels that cause problems not publishers, idk why you are worried, my fave Lanallah moved to Universal publishing last year too, Taylor whipped them in good shape when she moved from Big Khia Records. i never heard of this "conflict of interest" when having your publishing+record deal under the same umbrella, that seems to be the more common practice nowadays at least... 

 

20 minutes ago, HRHCOLLECTION said:

disastrous merch and customer service incoming 

this tea though... 

[Kayseri Mantisi]

Just now, conquxror said:

Well, Sabrina signed with them too and look what happened. Although I will never expect Lorde to go full mainstream again, I'm considering this good news

yup exactly, i didn't make this thread in a way to say she'll be mainstream again (she hates that & always wants to stay alt lol) but it's still really good news imo

[Bubble Tea]

Idk what this means but i assume she'll still only release every four or five years so

 

 

[Popboi.]

Sounds counterproductive to place all her eggs in the UMG basket as she just wants to release music digitally and not do a lot of physical variants, which is the label's forte.

 

Very much just shows she'll stay there when her record contract is up.

[conquxror]

5 minutes ago, Popboi. said:

Sounds counterproductive to place all her eggs in the UMG basket as she just wants to release music digitally and not do a lot of physical variants, which is the label's forte.

 

Very much just shows she'll stay there when her record contract is up.

I think she just has a good relationship with them. I mean, they kind of always let her do whatever she wants so it makes sense for her to stick around like that imo

[Letemtalk]

Lorde originally signed a $2.5 Million publishing contract with Songs Music Publishing in 2013.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lorde-signs-25-million-deal-with-songs-music-publishing-inside-the-lengthy-5785900/

 

Songs Music Publishing was sold to Kobalt Music Publishing in December 2017.
https://variety.com/2017/biz/news/songs-music-publishing-sells-to-kobalt-for-150-million-sources-say-1202633941/

 

Now she appears to have signed to Universal Music Publishing earlier this year.

 

Mixed feeling about this as I would also have said she would be better off having her publishing independent from her label, but I don't know if Kobalt did much for her while she was there. Having said that, I'm not sure what UMG has done for her in recent years either.

[Kayseri Mantisi]

16 minutes ago, Letemtalk said:

Lorde originally signed a $2.5 Million publishing contract with Songs Music Publishing in 2013.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lorde-signs-25-million-deal-with-songs-music-publishing-inside-the-lengthy-5785900/

 

Songs Music Publishing was sold to Kobalt Music Publishing in December 2017.
https://variety.com/2017/biz/news/songs-music-publishing-sells-to-kobalt-for-150-million-sources-say-1202633941/

 

Now she appears to have signed to Universal Music Publishing earlier this year.

 

Mixed feeling about this as I would also have said she would be better off having her publishing independent from her label, but I don't know if Kobalt did much for her while she was there. Having said that, I'm not sure what UMG has done for her in recent years either.

Songs Music Publishing basically like disbanded / they got sold and bought many times and they don't even have big name artists under their name anymore, while UMG has all the huge artists. I honestly don't think she would've accepted the UMG publishing deal if it had something against her beliefs, and we sadly can't say "what UMG has done for her" yet since she didn't even release anything solo since 2021 and Girl So Confusing Remix was her first release under the publishing deal  we'll probably see how everything turns out with L4 

[masochizm]

like others have said, not the best for an establishing artist, but she's years into her career so not really a cause for concern

[shyboi]

wish her the best 

[Letemtalk]

27 minutes ago, Kayseri Mantisi said:

Songs Music Publishing basically like disbanded / they got sold and bought many times and they don't even have big name artists under their name anymore

Songs were sold to Kobalt and haven't existed since December 2017.

 

27 minutes ago, Kayseri Mantisi said:

we sadly can't say "what UMG has done for her"

Her current recording contract is under UMG and we got just 2 music videos for Melodrama.

Not to mention, they didn't do a good job advocating for her in the 2017/2018 awards season for Melodrama.

[Kayseri Mantisi]

33 minutes ago, Letemtalk said:

Her current recording contract is under UMG and we got just 2 music videos for Melodrama.

Not to mention, they didn't do a good job advocating for her in the 2017/2018 awards season for Melodrama.

Oh you were talking about the label that is UMG, I thought you meant the UMPG that's what I was talking about. I blame UMG NZ for the things you said 

[Letemtalk]

1 minute ago, Kayseri Mantisi said:

Oh you were talking about the label that is UMG, I thought you meant the UMPG that's what I was talking about. I blame UMG NZ for the things you said 

In the US she is represented by Lava and Republic, since 2013.

[orange22]

I hope the payment was hefty 

 

[sway]

I see the concerns people have about consolidating all her contracts into one label, but Lorde definitely has enough leverage in her brand name to request changes or additions to her contracts with them that other establishing acts do not.

 

She has been with UMG since 2009 and SMP went through several changes since she signed with them. I think these contracts are renewed every 3 or so years. A new act she is not and I think her familiarity with the label opened up discussions about rights as a songwriter with them. They were one of several companies who were bidding for a publishing deal with her in 2013. Maybe they brought something that appealed to her this time around.

 

Plus, she was never signed to the primary label, it was always the New Zealand division. She is their biggest client there so she has more creative freedom and will not be at risk of getting dropped like other acts. If that was the case, she would be dropping material every 2 years but she does not.