The Weeknd Closes Catalog Partnership

The Weeknd
Jason Tate

Variety is reporting The Weeknd has closed a catalog partnership with Lyric said to be valued at one billion dollars:

The rep notes that the joint venture is not a conventional catalog sale: “From the beginning of the meeting, it was clear to all at Lyric that Abel would not sell his catalog. He wanted to be more innovative and creative in the way we established a partnership. To that end, through this venture, we constructed and launched a new business model with Abel and his iconic catalog whereby Abel and his team have the freedom to execute their creative vision with the entirety of his rights, both publishing and masters. This unique catalog deal sets a new standard for artist equity and control.”

Imogen Heap’s Auracles Signs SoundCloud Partnership Deal

Imogen Heap
Jason Tate

 Dylan Smith, writing for Digital Music News:

The involved companies just recently confirmed their deal in a formal release, after SoundCloud head Eliah Seton and Heap discussed the integration during last month’s Web Summit event. Coinciding with the official disclosure, the November sit down’s audio has become available on SoundCloud.

Billed as a “comprehensive and forward-thinking suite of tools,” Auracles is said to afford artists one-stop control over metadata, stems, press materials, contact info, and a whole lot else via its “sovereign digital ID.”

President Aren’t Industry Plants

President
Jason Tate

President talk about their rapid accession and why they’re not an industry plant.

“When you blow up really quickly, it’s assumed you’re backed by a huge corporate machine,” he tells us. “People find it hard to accept that something can just explode organically. But if something’s getting a lot of attention, you’re gonna draw equal measures of hate as you are love. I’d rather people felt something than nothing at all.”

In fact, Mr President insists that he “couldn’t have planned a harder way to introduce President to the world”.

I can’t see that mask and not hear “I am not a plant” in the Richard Nixon voice/cadence of “I am not a crook.”

Nine Inch Nails Working on New Music

Trent Reznor
Jason Tate

Nine Inch Nails are working on new music:

”We are working on new stuff and we’re excited to work on it, and we are prioritizing working on Nine Inch Nails over just taking on every single thing that comes up in the other category,” reveals Reznor. “So, beyond that, I can’t say much, but the difference between now and a year ago is the fuse has been lit and the desire is there.”