News

Timmy Trumpet’s ‘Narco’ tops US Spotify viral chart

Timmy Trumpet’s 2017 track with Blasterjaxx ‘Narco’ has gone viral in the US, hitting No. 1 on the US Spotify Viral chart. ‘Narco’ was already gaining in popularity after becoming the walkout theme for New York Mets baseball pitcher Edwin Diaz. However, it became a viral sensation after Timmy Trumpet (UMPG writer Timothy Jude Smith) attended the Mets game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and performed the trumpet melody to 'Narco' live as Diaz took to the pitch – to the delight of the crowd and fans watching around the word.

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Universal Music Group becomes the permanent home of Frank Zappa estate

Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced an agreement between Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva Zappa (the Zappa Trust) to acquire Frank Zappa’s estate, including his expansive recordings, publishing catalog of iconic songs, film archive, and the complete contents of The Vault, the near mythic storage facility that houses the late Zappa’s life’s work. The content spans the prolific four-decade career of the legendary, boundary-pushing musician, acclaimed composer, virtuoso guitarist, and prominent activist.

With the acquisition, which additionally includes Frank Zappa’s name and likeness, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), UMG’s global catalog company, and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), the company’s leading music publisher, will build on the company’s already successful track record of working with the Zappa Trust to amplify Frank Zappa’s career as a trailblazer, iconoclast, brilliant musician and fearless artist who challenged music and culture with his unconventional and uncompromising vision and advocacy.

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The Weeknd expands global partnership with Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced an expansive, long-term partnership with global music icon The Weeknd, one of the most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed recording artists and songwriters of the last decade. The agreement further builds upon the relationship between Abel Tesfaye p/k/a The Weeknd, and UMG’s Republic Records, which has been his label home and partner since 2012 and will remain his label partner for future recorded music releases.

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Universal Music Publishing Group, Authentic Brands Group enter an exclusive, global publishing agreement to represent Elvis Presley’s catalog

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), a leading, global music publisher, and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), a global brand owner, marketing and entertainment company and owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, today announced an exclusive global publishing deal to represent the historic song catalog of the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Elvis Presley.

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Universal Music Group acquires Neil Diamond’s complete song catalog and all master recordings

Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced the acquisition of the entirety of Neil Diamond’s historic song catalog through Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), its leading global publishing division, as well as the rights to all recordings from his career, including 110 unreleased tracks, an unreleased album and archival long form videos.

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Universal Music Publishing Group acquires Sting’s song catalog

Today, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), Universal Music Group’s leading global music publishing division, announced the acquisition of 17-time GRAMMY Award winner Sting’s career catalog of music. This historic, comprehensive worldwide agreement for the catalog of one of the most commercially successful and critically-acclaimed songwriters of the last half-century encompasses the entirety of both Sting’s solo works as well as those with The Police, including “Roxanne,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Shape Of My Heart,” “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You,” “Fields Of Gold,” “Desert Rose,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Englishman in New York” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” among countless other global hits.

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UMP Australia signs DMA'S to exclusive ANZ Deal

Universal Music Publishing Australia today announced that internationally acclaimed, 9x ARIA nominated DMA’S have been signed to an exclusive Australia/New Zealand publishing deal. The announcement comes on the heels of the group’s brand-new EP ‘I love you unconditionally, sure am going to miss you.’
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Universal Music Publishing Group signs global superstar Lionel Richie to exclusive, worldwide publishing agreement

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), a leading, global music publisher, today announced that Grammy Award-winning recording artist and songwriter Lionel Richie has signed an exclusive, global publishing agreement. The deal includes songs written throughout Richie’s solo career including super hits "Hello,” “Lady,” "Dancing on the Ceiling," "All Night Long,” and numerous others.

With more than 125 million albums sold worldwide, six Grammy Awards, an Oscar and a Golden Globe, Richie (Capitol Records) is an international icon whose discography is a defining part of pop music. He is one of the only songwriters in history to have #1 records for eleven consecutive years, as well as one of only two songwriters to solely write eight #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to Richie’s extensive catalog of mega-hits like “Penny Lover,” Truly,” “Say You, Say Me” and “Ballerina Girl," he co-wrote “We Are the World,” one of the most important and timeless pop songs in history.

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