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Sony Music Publishing has inked a “global agreement” with Sour creator Olivia Rodrigo, the parties have announced.
Sony Music Publishing – which now owns or administers over five million songs, Sony Group Corporation specified in its earnings report yesterday – unveiled the deal with Murrieta, California-born Olivia Rodrigo via a formal release. The majority of the announcement message highlights the commercial success of the 18-year-old’s Sour effort, which became available to fans on May 21st.
10 weeks removed from the 11-track, 35-minute project’s release, “Good 4 U” still occupies the number-five position on Spotify’s Global Top 200 chart (for Wednesday, August 4th), with “Traitor,” “Deja Vu,” and “Drivers License” ranked 17th, 22nd, and 26th, respectively. In total, Rodrigo boasts approximately 58 million monthly listeners on the Stockholm-based service, with “Good 4 U” having racked up a staggering 680.15 million streams thus far.
Olivia Rodrigo addressed her Sony Music Publishing agreement in a brief statement, relaying: “There’s nothing I love more than songwriting; it’s my favorite thing in the world, and I’m excited to be working with the team at Sony Music Publishing.”
Additionally, SMP director of A&R Thomas Krottinger, SVP of creative Jennifer Knoepfle, and chairman and CEO Jon Platt heaped praise upon Rodrigo in statements of their own, with Platt referring to the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actress as “a once-in-a-generation talent.”
“Olivia is a once-in-a-generation talent with the heart of a true songwriter – there is no limit to what she can accomplish,” Platt said in full. “Along with the entire Sony Music Publishing team, we look forward to supporting Olivia’s incredible artistry and creating the best opportunities for her songs as she begins this exciting new chapter.”
Knoepfle, for her part, stated: “What strikes me most about Olivia is her incredible storytelling ability. Every song on SOUR spins a narrative that is both unique to her and relatable to so many. She has a gift with words, and we are so lucky to support her from the beginning of what will surely be a long and fruitful career.”
Notwithstanding these remarks and Rodrigo’s breakout success, Sour hasn’t been without controversy, for some fans accused the artist of plagiarizing Elvis Costello on “Brutal” – ultimately prompting Costello himself to weigh in on the matter. Plus, Rodrigo about one month ago quietly added Taylor Swift as a co-writer on “Deja Vu.”
More broadly, this deal represents the latest in a recent series of noteworthy plays from Sony Music Publishing, which expanded its BeatStars partnership and finalized a major administration agreement with Alberts last month.