2025 SESAC Awards
Ariana Grande was named SESAC’s 2025S Songwriter of the Year, with “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” named Song of the Year. UMPG was named Publisher of the Year, with The Legendary Traxster and Dez Wright voted Producer of the Year. More at sesac.com/2025-sesac-la-music-awards.
Primary Grandmaster
Primary Wave Music adds trailblazing deejay, hip-hop founding father, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) to their roster of managed artists, which already includes Cypress Hill, Bell Biv DeVoe, CeeLo Green, Jefferson Starship, Skid Row, etc.
Carla Patullo’s NOMADICA
Celebrating the follow up to 2024’s GRAMMY-winning So She Howls, Carla Patullo releases NOMADICA with mini-documentary, live performance, Q&A session in West Hollywood [L to R: Martha Mooke, Kim Dawson, Kion Heidari, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Carla Patullo, Cara Fesjian].
Ruby Dee Phillippa
Part three of musician-author-storyteller Ruby Dee’s (Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers) book trilogy Bag of Tricks is out this month, navigating music, identity, and rebellion through the lens of her journey through music and activism through early 1980s punk. More at rubydeephilippa.com.
Listening Room Retreats
Serving the songwriter community since 2002, and hosting over 2000 songwriters from over 30 countries, Brett Perkins’ Listening Room Songwriter Retreats and workshops support writers from all backgrounds and levels to explore their creative talents. With early registration discounts, paid referrals, interest-free monthly payment plans, and a supportive group of artists from around the world, alumni have gone on to record, co-write, and tour internationally, many with commercially-released music. Retreats have been held in Ireland, Denmark, Greenland, California, Scotland, and elsewhere. Registration and details at listeningroomretreats.com.
Touring and Mental Health
With endorsements from Nile Rogers and Philip Selway (Radiohead), feedback from Dua Lipa, and interviews with Charles Thomspon IV (Pixies), Justin Hawkins, Taylor Hanson and others, The Music Industry Therapist Collective (MTC) releases audiobook Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual, edited by psychotherapist Tamsin Embleton (also available in paperback). Including meditation exercises and narrated by voiceover artists Laura Howard (Midsomer Murders), with music from Edward Butler, this essential resource delivers a comprehensive manual with help for musicians, touring artists, and those working in live music to help identify and copy with the physical and psychological challenges of touring. Written by health and performance experts, it provides clinical advice, backed by the latest research, and offers practical strategies and resources.
Posthumous Hall of Fame
Songwriter-producer Bert Berns has been posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Passing in 1967 (age 38), his mark on music included hit songs “Twist and Shout,” “Piece of My Heart,” “Tell Him,” “Hang On, Sloopy,” “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” “I Want Candy,” “Cry to Me,” “I’ll be a Liar,” “Cry Baby,” and “Heart Be Still.”
His work has been recorded by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Melissa Etheridge, David Bowie, the Isley Brothers, the Moody Blues, Wilson Pickett, and many more. Replacing Leiber & Stoller at Atlantic Records in 1963, he was the first American producer in London during the British invasion, launching BANG records in 1965 with a roster that included Neil Diamond, Van Morrison and The McCoys. He launched Shout Records the following year. More at songhall.org.
Rates, Royalties, and Fees
AIMP presents their webinar on music rates, royalties and fees in 2025 and beyond, with panelists Jeff Brabec (Sr. VP of Legal at BMG, MLC Board Member), Todd Brabec (Entertainment Law Attorney, former ASCAP VP), and Serona Elton (interim Vice Dean at Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Head of Educational Partnerships for the MLC, Attorney in New York and Florida).
Covering topics including copyright royalty boards, rate courts, legislation and litigation, rates set by statutes (mechanical/sound), negotiated rates (film/tv/advertising/gaming), consent decrees, dispute resolution, and much more, this session promises to be incredibly informative for anyone looking to get more clarity around their royalty rights and options. Details and registration at aimp.org/event/music-rates-royalties-and-fees.
Limited/Warner’s Ellis
Limited Edition Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music have signed IBMA-nominated 16-year-old bluegrass phenom Wyatt Ellis in a deal covering his full catalog and including new releases, with a new solo album out soon.
ASCAP’s Monthly VERSED
Check out ASCAP’s monthly podcast VERSED and take a deep dive behind-the-scenes with songwriters and composers on their journey through the music industry. With interviews, tips, and insights to help you navigate your music career, recent episodes include GRAMMY-nominated indie pop quartet Lucius (led by Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe), featuring special guest singer-songwriter Alex Warren, and Jazz pianist-composer-bandleader Jahari Stampley. Visit ascap.com for more.
Landmark A.I. Partnerships
Rumors are swirling that Universal Music and Warner Music are working towards joint A.I. licensing agreements with multiple tech outlets (following discussions with ElevenLabs, Google, Spotify, Suno, and others), despite ongoing infringement complaints involving multiple tech platforms. Universal Music already has a ‘coordinated model’ in place with Klay Vision for A.I. generated music, Spotify recently renewed negotiations with majors (with no mention of gen A.I. training). Discussions have also circulated around artists being compensated for A.I. training models.
VMG To Vietnam
Virgin Music Group has partnered with digital creator organization The Metub Company and expends into Vietnam, forming Virgin Music Group Vietnam (VMG Vietnam), led by Nam Nhu Nguyen in Hoc Chi Minh City. Metub houses over 5,000 music-entertainment-gaming-commerce-merchandise creators and artists, with the new group focused on signing and servicing local artists and independent labels for domestic and global career growth. Newly appointed General Manager of Southeast Asian Operations, Cindy Giu is responsible for divisions in Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
The Vietnam venture builds on an existing relationship through Virgin’s parent company,
UMG, which has been in place since 2022, and follows new partnerships with Mom+Pop Music, and the unveiling of The Official Southeast Asia Charts which will feature weekly music charts from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (a first for the Philippines and Vietnam).
PROs Join Forces
Joining forces to encourage transparency, ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC are collaborating to provide a single source of public performance copyright information. Now including over 38 million pieces of musical work, the Songview data platform now includes information licensed by all four major performing rights organizations and offers the most authoritative collection of copyright ownership and administration.Incorporating data from GMR and SESAC in coming months, Songview is also looking to include publisher names on titles with split ownership percentages to provide even more clarity. Accessible information now includes songwriter, affiliate, publisher, performer, and alternative title, ISWC and IPI code details, with reconciled songs appearing with a green checkmark to indicate that all relevant PROs agree on the information provided. Free to the public and currently available on ASCAP and BMI websites, details can be found at songview.com.
Greatness Comes Together
Two-time Oscar-nominated, GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter Carol Connors (“Hey Little Cobra,” The Rip Chords) and 16-time Oscar-nominated, GRAMMY-winning songwriter Diane Warren join forces alongside Carroll Shelby’s famous Cobra at an industry event in Los Angeles.
Miles Davis’ Reservoir
Reservoir Media acquires 90 percent of Miles Davis’ publishing/recording rights (120+ albums), as well as use of name and likeness. The Hall of Fame inductee earned eight GRAMMYs, GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement, and Kind of Blue hit No. 12 on Rolling Stone’s list of Greatest Albums of All Time.
BMI Foundation Award
The BMI Foundation congratulates singer-songwriter Janette Mata on 2025’s peermusic Latin Music Award, with her original song “Triste Despedida.” Since 2003, the peermusic Award has recognized 21 young Latin songwriters, with recipients including Mane de la Parra, Daneiela Blau.
Music Mama Epps
Mamas in Music spotlights multi-hyphenate artist Stacy Epps, whose journey from attorney-educator-healer-artist, saw recent release Flowheart, following a collaboration with MF DOOM / Madlib on “Eye” that brought international fandom and performances. See stacyepps.com.
