Post 4th Catch-Up

Welcome back from the holiday weekend (we decided to delay our post for those who REALLY enjoyed themselves), we hope it was a good one.  Also, thanks to everyone who made it to last Thursday’s Rumble L.A. event, it turned out to be another great night with some amazing performances.  Here’s a little catch-up on what’s happening out there…

The usually steady landscape of performing rights organizations have seen some shakeups of late on the west coast, particularly with the open director position at ASCAP that had many throwing their hat in the ring.  A little birdie tells us that the field is narrowed to a short-list and the final selection is imminent. Speaking of chirping, inquires about a similar west coast opening at BMI have started coming in due to a recent departure in the creative/membership department. Will we see a similar parade of applicants? Or will there be an in-house hire of one of their own creative execs who’s a rising star?

On the signing front, one of our favorite artists of the last year, Audra Mae, has signed with uber-indie label SideOneDummy Records.  Kudos to Warner Chappell’s Blue Hamilton who signed Audra early on the publishing tip, and manager Marc Pollack, who recently returned to Hits joining The MGMT Co..  On the east coast, RCA Records A&R exec David Wolter, in tandem with Nick Burgess in the UK, has signed L.A.’s Funeral Party (formerly on Fearless Records). Meanwhile, the Ben McClane-repped Secret Secret Dino Club has signed with Drive Thru Records…

Currently in the mix is Marissa Renee, who is slated to appear on P-Diddy’s new MTV show, has performed with Kanye West and is currently writing for the Clique Girlz on Interscope. Quite impressive for the 19-year-old Phoenix native. We hear publishers are circling in…  Speaking of Arizona, which seems to be an artist hot spot of late, the Tempe-based This Century appears to be finalizing a one-off arrangement through a Warner Bros. Records imprint…  Finally, we recently mentioned that multiple labels were taking notice of the John Branca-repped AMD with label showcase requests piling up for the female-foursome.  At press time, we hear there are offers in from majors on both coasts, while calls are still coming in.  Stay tuned…