Global superstar Drake is making moves to expand his influence. His label OVO Sound has announced a new partnership with Santa Anna Label Group, an artist and label services company launched by Sony Music last year.
Through the partnership, OVO will remain a separate label with its own roster, but will benefit from distribution, marketing and promotion, A&R services, finance and accounting and more from the American company.
Santa Anna is a new venture, launched in January 2023 by the CEO of Sony Music and Alamo Records Todd Moscowitz, aiming to help artists and entrepreneurs grow their businesses within the industry. This isn't Moscowitz's first run-in with the Toronto label: the industry executive was CEO of Warner Records in 2012, when OVO was originally founded under the Warner label.
“After 10 years, it's exciting to reunite with the OVO Sound team to collaborate on new ways to support their impressive roster of artists,” Moscowitz said of the new partnership. “Together, I look forward to working with a best-in-class management team to develop opportunities to help scale their business and take their craft to new heights.”
OVO was founded by Drake, a producer Noah “40” Shebib and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The roster includes popular Toronto talent such as Majid Jordan, DVSN and PARTYNEXDOOR, and is managed by a former Warner A&R executive mr morgan. This new announcement comes on the heels of Majid Jordan's fall 2023 release of the duo's latest LP, Good peopleand before PARTYNEXTDOOR's P4expected soon.
The OVO brand — October's Very Own, named after Drake's birth month — includes live music at OVO Fest and a brick-and-mortar clothing store in Toronto, as well as the label. In the decade-plus since OVO launched, the label has largely focused on Canadian acts, though they also represent Dutch artist (and their first female signing) Naomi Sharon.
The partnership shows that Drake's business ambitions are only growing. Will OVO expand its focus beyond Canada? Or will the new investment go towards discovering new artists like they recently did with 6ixBuzz partner Smiley? –Rosie Long Decter
Vancouver-based Beatdapp is working with Universal Music Group to detect fraud
based in Vancouver Beatdapp has become the leading streaming fraud detection company in the music industry today after successfully raising C22M in development funding and recently announced partnerships with SoundExchange, Napster and a “strategic partnership” with Universal Music Group.
Last year, the company analyzed more than two trillion streams and 20 trillion data points for its five core customer categories: DSPs, music labels, compilation companies, creator tool services and music distributors.
Beatdapp claims that up to 10% of global streams are fraudulent, resulting in up to $1 billion in royalties ending up in the pockets of fraudsters. The latest statistics show that more than 100,000 tracks are uploaded every day. That's over 100 million tracks hosted on Spotify in 2023, with over 30 million added annually at the current upload rate.
The company claims to detect fraud with greater than 99% accuracy. This has become especially important as Spotify has removed rights for songs with fewer than 1,000 songs in a claimed effort to combat fraud. Fraud is also a major topic of discussion when it comes to artificial intelligence, a point of existential angst for many in the music industry.
Recently, Universal Music Group has also been upfront about fair rights sharing, pulling its entire song catalog from TikTok in late January. In a widely distributed open letter, the major label accused the platform of “trying to build a music-based business without paying fair value for music,” according to a new open letter.
Meanwhile, companies that offer fraud detection or protection could be of great value to the music industry. –David Farrell & Richard Trapunski
The Tokyo Police Club is saying goodbye
Tokyo Police Club, one of the most successful Canadian indie rock bands of the past two decades, is calling it quits — but not before four more hometown farewell shows in Toronto from Nov. 27-29 at History.
Although they started out in Ontario, a press release announcing the band's breakup says the band members are now spread from Los Angeles to Toronto to Prince Edward Island.
In a joint statement signed by 'Dave, Graham, Josh and Greg', the team explains that, 'It's time to say goodbye! This band has meant so much to us for so many years, but all magical things must come to an end. The Tokyo Police Club will always support the connection we've shared since we were teenagers and has brought so many amazing people and moments into our lives.”
Tokyo Police Club was formed by four high school friends in Newmarket, Ontario and consists of singer and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook and drummer Greg Alsop. The group broke through with an acclaimed debut EP, A lesson in crimein 2006, he would release two more EPs and five full-length albums and tour internationally, from Coachella to The Late Show with David Letterman.
Among other nominations, the band was a two-time Juno Award nominee for Alternative Album of the Year, in 2011 for Champ and in 2019 for TPC, their last full-length release.
After the band's first farewell show was announced, there was overwhelming demand for more. Now, it's a four-night stand in Toronto. Additional live dates could also be in the works, they hint. –Kerry Dull
Last week in Canada: Cold response to Pitchfork changes
