Glassnote Records’ Mumford & Sons performing live. Photo Credit: Stefan Schäfer
Warner Chappell Music has officially inked “a dynamic publishing partnership” with Connection Music Publishing, a newly formed company from Glassnote Records founder and CEO Daniel Glass.
Warner Music Group’s publishing division and Connection Music Publishing unveiled their just-finalized pact via a formal release today. Having arrived on the scene “in early 2021,” Connection Music has signed 21-year-old Edie Bens, whose debut project is slated to drop next year, as its first songwriter under the Warner Chappell agreement. The financial terms of the latter haven’t been publicly revealed.
Addressing the deal in a statement, Connection Music head of publishing Jackie Post appeared to indicate that the company’s partnership with Warner Chappell will prioritize signing additional UK acts moving forward. Glassnote Records itself is the professional home of artists such as Glasgow’s Chvrches, Hexham-born Jade Bird, and London-based Mumford & Sons.
“This is an incredibly exciting time in the music publishing world,” said the longtime Sony Music Publishing (SMP) and Kobalt Music higher-up Jackie Post. “We are building and investing in the next generation of songwriters, and are thrilled to partner with Warner Chappell Music in this endeavor. It is especially meaningful to kick off the relationship with UK-based songwriter Edie Bens.”
In a joint statement, Warner Chappell CEO Guy Moot and COO Carianne Marshall added: “Glassnote has created a world-renowned record label with Grammy Award winning artists like Mumford & Sons and Phoenix as part of its repertoire, and that strong legacy of serving as a home to some of the best in the music business is sure to continue with Glass’s latest venture, Connection Music Publishing.
“With Jackie Post at the helm, we couldn’t be more excited to be in business with this team,” the Warner Chappell execs concluded.
The second half of 2021 has brought several noteworthy developments in the music-publishing space.
SMP, having inked a deal in July to administer the entire catalog of AC/DC, finalized a global agreement with Olivia Rodrigo in August. Meanwhile, Universal Music Group in early November touted UMPG’s expansion into China – as well as its relationship with government officials in the nation of about 1.4 billion individuals.
Lastly, artist-development company Godmode last week launched a publishing joint venture with Hipgnosis, which has dropped massive sums on a number of high-profile catalogs in 2021. And on this front, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and the David Bowie estate are reportedly negotiating IP sales of their own, as billions continue to reach the space.
Since October’s end, for example, transactions involving the catalogs of “Never Too Much” creator Luther Vandross, songwriter-producer Dallas Austin, Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, and Mötley Crüe (solely covering the 40-year-old group’s recordings, however) have come to light. In another testament to the diverse nature of this continued interest in music IP, Primary Wave, Reservoir, and BMG (not solely the major labels’ publishing divisions) completed the listed deals.