Sony Music Publishing has signed multi-genre songwriter and producer Julian Bunetta to a global publishing agreement.
October 4th 2024
by Andre Paine
Sony Music Publishing has signed multi-genre songwriter and producer Julian Bunetta to a global publishing agreement.
With an expansive body of work that has exceeded 30 billion streams, Bunetta is a key collaborator with top talent including Sabrina Carpenter, Teddy Swims, Thomas Rhett, One Direction, Niall Horan, Rudimental and many others.
“In terms of One Direction, it’s often easy to stereotype these big evil managers or big evil label heads who demanded that we did this [or that]. It wasn’t really like that, I will say that everyone did their best by us, and I’m talking specifically about our mental health. However, being an artist is very individual and the pressures that you have day-to-day, no manager or record boss understands that. Until you experience it, you don’t understand it. Sometimes words are powerful, it can be a little throwaway phrase that comes from this suited label boss and you think about that for the next couple of months.” - Louis Tomlinson, for MusicWeek, in 2022.
MusicWeek: ICYMI @Louis_Tomlinson on his solo career, Syco, new BMG deal, album collaborators, One Direction and fair prices for fans #FaithinTheFuture
On Friday, Louis Tomlinson scored his first No.1 album as a solo artist when Faith In The Future beat Bruce Springsteen to top spot. Here, i
MUSICWEEK
21 November 2022
Louis Tomlinson is revelling in the feeling of hitting No.1 as a solo artist for the first time.
As the Doncaster singer and his team told Music Week in our cover feature, Faith In The Future was a painstaking process, with Tomlinson poring over every detail. He was obsessed with the physical product and the connection he hoped it would have with his devoted fanbase.
Faith In The Future, the star's first album for BMG, debuted at No.1 on consumption of 35,239 units (14,944 CDs, 9,577 vinyl albums, 1,501 cassettes, 6,790 digital downloads and 2,427 sales-equivalent streams).
Tomlinson’s debut solo album, Walls, debuted and peaked at No.4 on first week sales of 14,729 in February 2020, and has since gone on to achieve consumption of 72,329 units. Faith In The Future, then, sold more than double its week one total.
“I like anything that's tied to a physical release because that's what I grew up with,” Tomlinson told Music Week. “It's nice to have something to hold and we put cool little inserts [into the records].”
Here, in a previously unseen extract from our interview, we look into the future with Tomlinson and talk, success, perception and his Away From Home Festival…
What are your biggest dreams and ambitions that Faith In The Future is out in the world?
“To keep growing the festival would be great. The next target will be next year, maybe the year after. I'd love to do it over two days. And I'd love to play on the Sunday, because that will give me a really clear indication of whether it can live outside of the context of myself. Because in an ideal world, if I can keep growing this festival, one day, I won't play it and we could still put it on and that will be really cool.”
Are there any artists you look to in terms of careers you'd want to emulate?
“It's hard to think like that... I don't really compare myself to others. Look, the most important thing for me is that I can keep making the music I love and touring it to the extent I have been. So, in terms of what a dream might be, if I can still be touring in 10 years, I'll be buzzing.”
Faith In The Future sounds in parts like a record made by a band rather than a solo act. Have you ever thought about doing something like that, rather than under your own name?
“Definitely, yeah, and it's a good point. Around halfway through making Walls, I had a conversation with my manager at the time, because I [was thinking about] a number of things, the sessions I was going into and the natural perception and judgement around coming out of a band like One Direction... I had this plan in my mind that was, not quite like a Gorillaz kind of vibe, but something where I could hide who I am, and maybe people like the song first, and then be surprised that it's me. I definitely went through that process in my head. I mean, I might still do it one day, I do like the idea.”
Where did that idea come from?
“From the fact that I felt frustrated about the perception and the judgement I'm always going to be up against. I understand that I've lived long enough now, that's why I have to play the long game, but it’s about chipping away at this idea of me as a solo artist and someone coming out of a band.”
How do you feel about where you’re at in life now?
“Where I'm quite lucky in my life is that my job keeps me feeling forever like I'm 18, it just has that way about it. We're always moving about. But when I go and spend my personal time with my son in LA, it gives me... That's when I feel, you know, like a responsible 30-year-old. I put my Dad hat on and I'm almost taking on a slightly different version of myself, because that's what's required as a parent.”
The BMG boss has praised music creators signed to the company for “publicly supporting the #BrokenRecord campaign for justice for artists an
BMG has been further establishing its artist-friendly credentials recently, including the speeding up of royalty payments during the pandemic.
Now CEO Hartwig Masuch has sent a message to the artists signed to the company who are calling on the UK government to “fix streaming”.
The campaign has been coordinated by three UK trade bodies (Musicians’ Union, Ivors Academy and Music Producers Guild) along with the #BrokenRecord campaign headed by Tom Gray.
Masuch’s intervention, which Music Week has seen, is particularly interesting for two reasons, especially given BMG’s position as the No.4 global company behind the majors. The DCMS Committee into the economics of streaming is set to be published later in the summer.
The letter calls for an “an immediate government referral to the Competition and Markets Authority” because of “evidence of multinational corporations wielding extraordinary power” over the marketplace and the creation of an industry regulator. Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage suggested this was an option during her evidence to the Committee.
The 234 signatories also want streaming to pay royalties on the same basis as radio with a system of “equitable remuneration” with an equal split between labels and artists, such as PPL oversees for broadcast.
While Masuch has not come out and explicitly backed both of those reforms, in his letter he does offer congratulations to those BMG-signed music creators for “publicly supporting the #BrokenRecord campaign for justice for artists and songwriters”.
"We are not perfect but we are determined to make a difference" - Hartwig Masuch
BMG-signed artists who have added their names to the letter include Joan Armatrading, Van Morrison, Guy Chambers, Gabrielle, Richard Hawley, Fran Healy of Travis, Mick Hucknall and Sharleen Spiteri. The Rolling Stones, one of the most high-profile signatories calling for streaming reforms to help the next generation of artists, are signed to BMG for publishing and neighbouring rights.
In his letter, Masuch describes BMG as “pro-songwriter and pro-artist”.
He added: “When we started the new BMG in 2008, we did so with a conviction that the old music business had lost faith with artists and songwriters and it was time for a change… We are not perfect, but we are determined to make a difference.”
So far the BPI, AIM and major players have come out against any move towards equitable remuneration for performers on streaming services. BMG has remained neutral on this issue, though its evidence to the DCMS Committee does include support for further investigation into user-centric royalties as well as contract reform.
“We argue for a radical re-slicing of the streaming pie in favour of artists and songwriters to take account of the new realities of the streaming market,” wrote Masuch in his latest message to BMG-signed talent. “It’s not complicated, but it’s a logic which seems to evade much of the industry. I want you to know that we are on your side.”
BMG has already removed historic deductions for packaging for streams and removed the controlled composition deduction on US songwriter royalties.
Earlier this month, Sony Music followed BMG and other indies by writing off legacy artists’ debts to enable them to benefit financially from the streaming revolution.
“I’m excited for the tour. The show he put on last time was a full blown arena tour with 10 songs. The tour is a big part to set him up for long term. I’m excited for this next tour, having seen what he has planned, it’s going to be special again.”
