The Deals: Anderson .Paak Signs with PPL for Neighboring Rights, Víctor Cárdenas Pacts with WCM

Anderson .Paak, the rapper, singer, producer and drummer who recently released the album An Evening With Silk Sonic alongside Bruno Mars, has signed with music licensing company PPL for the administration of his international neighboring rights collections. The deal will help .Paak collect performance royalties for the use of his sound recordings around the world. He joins a roster that includes George Ezra, Rita Ora and ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus.

.Paak established himself as a prominent artist before forming Silk Sonic with Mars earlier in 2021. The duo’s first collaboration, “Leave The Door Open,” resulted in .Paak’s first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 18 consecutive weeks in the top 10.

PPL CEO Peter Leathem said of the signing, “We are extremely pleased that Anderson .Paak, one of the most talented and exciting US recording artists today, has chosen PPL to collect his international neighboring rights royalties. We have collected over £500m internationally in the last decade thanks to the efforts of our expert team, who use our cutting-edge technology and data to maximize collections from more than 100 other Collective Management Organizations. We look forward to supporting Anderson .Paak with our industry-leading operation as he continues to take the musical world by storm as a member of Silk Sonic and with his highly successful solo career.”

On Tuesday Nov. 23, .Paak and Mars each received four Grammy nominations for their hit single “Leave the Door Open.”

Warner Chappell Music’s U.S. Latin division has entered into a worldwide exclusive administration agreement with Colombian DJ and producer Víctor Cárdenas. Most recently, Cárdenas collaborated with Farruko on the single “Pepas,” which reached No. 1 in more than 20 countries and on nine different Billboard song charts, including Latin Airplay, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales. The song has garnered over 325 million streams worldwide, according to a press release.

Of the signing, Cárdenas said, “I am excited to have signed with Warner Chappell. I know we will accomplish great things and take electronic music to another level.”

Lazaro Hernandez, vp A&R U.S. & Latin America, said of the deal, “It’s been incredible to see the explosive success that Víctor has had so early on in his career. He’s a trendsetter whose sound and style are infectious and have taken the world by storm. This is just the beginning and we’re excited to go on this journey with him.”

Hailing from Tuluá, Colombia, Cárdenas first made his impact as a producer when he teamed up with Dayvi and Kelly Ruíz in 2018 for their single “Baila Conmigo.” The song was later recorded by Jennifer López in 2019; that version landed on the Latin Digital Song Sales, Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales and Latin Pop Songs Airplay charts and eventually ruled Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, becoming López’s 18th No. 1 single on the chart.

Since then, Cárdenas has established himself as one of the pioneers of modern Guaracha music, a Colombian electronic subgenre that is taking center stage in the Latin market. Other notable credits for Cárdenas include “Volar” (Lele Pons), “El Incomprendido” (Farruko) and “Qué Chimba” (Maluma).

Pierre Hachar, Jr., Esq. and Cody Pellicer, Esq. of The Hachar Law Group, P.A., negotiated and closed the deal.

Quality Ventures, the parent company of QC Sports, Quality Films, Solid Foundation Management and QC Music — the company behind artists such as Migos, Lil’ Yachty, Lil Baby has entered into a strategic partnership with leading talent and venture advisory company The Network Advisory to launch VOCAL, a multi-platform podcast and audio streaming network combining music, sports, fashion and culture. The announcement was made jointly by Quality Control Media Holdings founders Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas, Quality Films president Brian Sher and The Network Advisory founder and CEO Justin J. Giangrande.

“Quality Control has reached, and continues to succeed at, the highest levels in the new media space,” said Coach K, who co-founded the company in 2013. “With the tremendous growth of podcasting listenership, this was a clear next step for us, and we are thrilled to be collaborating with like-minded partners.”

VOCAL will be an exclusive network streaming platform that aims to meet the podcast programming needs of the diverse and youth-focused audience categories in podcast listenership. It will serve as a platform for talent outside of the vast array of personalities that QC and The Network Advisory work with. The companies will aim to build and expand a new wave of podcast content targeting an underserved population of podcast listeners.

“Having worked in the film, television, and music mediums over the last 20 years, producing content on the biggest platforms, we recognize that podcasting is the organic next space to be in,” said Giangrande. “Quality Control’s phenomenal track record of working with the greatest creators in the world like Migos, City Girls, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, and others made them an ideal partner for us.”

“Although the podcasting space is vast, with VOCAL we aim to fill a void in this arena by building a network that really gives the listeners authenticity when it comes to top talent and culture,” added Sher. “With the rise of podcasts, it’s natural that brands will want to find a way to integrate with this type of content and, with our pool of talent, we are excited to provide this space for both under one umbrella.”

PIXELYNX, the new gaming venture created by musicians and technologists Joel Zimmerman — a.k.a. deadmau5 — and Richie Hawtin and music and gaming industry veterans Ben Turner, Dean Wilson and Inder Phull, have signed a deal with Niantic, the company behind the popular mobile game Pokémon GO. Under the agreement, PIXELYNX will use Niantic’s Lightship Platform and Augmented Reality Developer Kit — which allows developers to create engaging AR experiences based on movement, exploration and connection at a global scale — to develop a mobile app version of their new gaming platform.

PIXELYNX is focused on creating a new virtual world ecosystem that makes it easy for music artists to launch their own interactive environments and monetize them through NFT, playable experiences and virtual performances. Players will be able to collect new songs, prizes and in-game assets through gameplay. Through the partnership with Niantic, fans will have the ability to collect NFTs while attending real-world concerts and other physical locations. They can then use those NFTs in-game to unlock rewards and new music.