Warner Chappell Music Nashville, Lewis Park Music Publishing, and Edgehill Music Publishing have signed a global publishing deal with Dave Villa. The Nashville-based songwriter/producer has worked on projects and sessions for artists across genres including, Dierks Bentley, Fletcher, Josie Dunne, Skizzy Mars, David Archuleta, Rozes, Natalie Imbruglia, Noah Kahan, and Daughtry, among others.

A Belmont University graduate, Villa spent three years studying and working with producer/writer Jamie Kenney. Some of Villa’s songs and productions have aired internationally on major streaming networks including ABC and NBC.

The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and TikTok have signed a multi-year agreement which accounts for TikTok’s past use of musical works and sets up a forward-looking partnership. This new partnership will give NMPA members the ability to opt-in to a licensing framework that allows them to benefit from their works included on TikTok and is effective retroactively as of May 1, 2020.

Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music at TikTok, said, “TikTok is proud to partner with music publishers and songwriters to enable artist and song discovery, and support revenue opportunities. We’re excited to partner with the NMPA to bring their member companies on to the platform and help hundreds of millions of people discover and enjoy their songs. We look forward to continuing to work with songwriters to help them use TikTok as a powerful and innovative channel to reach a global audience through a unique format of creation and engagement.”

David Israelite, President & CEO of NMPA, said, “We are pleased to find a way forward with TikTok which benefits songwriters and publishers and offers them critical compensation for their work. Music is an important part of apps like TikTok which merge songs with expression and popularize new music while also giving new life to classic songs. This agreement respects the work of creators and gives them a way to be paid for their essential contributions to the platform.”

Indie publishing and marketing company Mojo Music & Media has closed a series of publishing catalog acquisitions with artist/writers Terry McBride and Sawyer Brown’s Mark Miller, as well as writer/producers Jonathan Smith, Pat McManus and Matt McVaney, among others. These acquisitions added 80 chart singles, including 14 No. 1 hits and 29 Top 5 hits to Mojo’s catalog of six decades worth of country songs.

McBride began his career fronting McBride & The Ride in the early ’90s, releasing four albums and charting four Top 5 singles, before focusing on songwriting and landing cuts with artists including Garth Brooks, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr. and Gretchen Wilson. His most prolific collaboration, with Ronnie Dunn, yielded more than 25 cuts and 13 singles with Brooks & Dunn including such chart-toppers as “Play Something Country,” “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and “Proud Of The House We Built.” Among McBride’s other hits are Reba McEntire’s “I Keep On Loving You,”  Josh Gracin’s “Stay With Me (Brass Bed),” Casey James’ “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night” and Easton Corbin’s “Are You With Me,” which enjoyed a second life as a No. 1 UK hit after it was remixed by Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies. Mojo has acquired McBride’s complete post-2004 catalog.

Veteran songwriter and producer McManus, a 12-time BMI award winner, has enjoyed cuts with artists ranging from Conway Twitty and BJ Thomas to Carl Graves and The Fifth Dimension. A run of hits in the ’80s, many co-written with Woody Bomar and Bob DiPiero, yielded four No 1 singles and four Top 5 singles, including the Oak Ridge Boys’ “American Made, Charly McClain’s “Sentimental Ol You,” Jim Glaser’s “You’re Getting’ To Me Again” and “If I Could Only Dance With You,” Conway Twitty’s “We Did But Now You Don’t” and Jacky Ward’s “Something On The Radio.” Mojo has acquired a 50% interest in McManus’ back catalog and will partner on futures.

Mojo acquired a co-publishing interest in the catalog of Grammy-nominated writer/producer Smith, a fixture in the contemporary Christian field, who has landed cuts over the last decade with more than 150 of the genre’s top artists including Danny Gokey, We Are Messengers, Tenth Avenue North, Bryan & Katie Torwalt and the J J Weeks Band. The deal includes such CCM hits as Zach Williams’ Platinum debut single “Chain Breaker,” “We Are Messengers’ “Magnify,” Building 429’s “We Won’t Be Shaken,” Tauren Wells’ “Hills And Valleys” and Johnny Diaz’ “Breathe.”

Writer/producer McVaney is best known for his work with Kane Brown, penning and producing viral and radio hit “Used To Love You Sober” and “I Love That I Hate You” from Brown’s Closer EP, as well as “Excuses” and “There Goes My Everything” from Brown’s Chapter 1 EP. McVaney also co-wrote and produced “Thunder In The Rain,” the debut single from Brown’s 2016 Platinum debut, a project which, along with its singles, reached No. 1 simultaneously on all five main Billboard Country charts. Mojo has acquired McVaney’s publishing and producer interests.

Mojo has also signed a worldwide administration deal with Miller, the founder, lead singer and primary songwriter for Sawyer Brown. The deal covers the band’s entire 18-album output, including three No. 1 singles, “Step That Step,” “Some Girls Do” and “Thank God For You” and another nine Top 5’s including “This Time,” “All These Years” and “The Boys And Me.”

In addition, the company acquired an interest in seven hit singles written by Jimmy Yeary including Martina McBride’s Top 5 “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck,”  Jake Owen’s “Anywhere With You” and David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” and, separately, interests in a collection of songs owned by writer and publisher Jeff Tweel including such No. 1’s as Faith Hill’s “Wild One,” John Berry’s “Your Love Amazes Me,” Restless Heart’s “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” Pam Tillis’ “Mi Vida Loca,” Lee Greenwood’s “Dixie Road,” T.G. Sheppard’s “Only One You” and Conway Twitty’s “Desperado Love.”

Said McBride, “I’ve never sold any of my publishing before so parting with some of my favorite songs was tough for me to wrap my head around. Not only did Mojo come to the table with a strong offer, but it was clear they had a real connection and appreciation for me and my songs and that meant a lot to me.”

McManus said, “From my first conversations with Butch, Mark and everyone at Mojo, I loved their energy, experience and creative ideas, but the one key ingredient that set them apart from everyone else is that they feel like a family. My family and I couldn’t be more excited to be partnering on my songs and going on this journey with Team Mojo!”

Mark Fried, Mojo Music Co-Founder and CEO, added, “One of the best things about setting up our headquarters in Nashville has been the opportunity to reconnect with some of the town’s most beloved songwriters and to make solid plans with them to breathe new life into older hits and help inspire some new ones.”

Butch Baker, Mojo Music’s SVP Creative, said, “What an exciting time for all of us here at Mojo to partner with so many amazing and talented friends and represent such an incredible collection of songs. And we’re only getting started.”