In a time where music labels are fighting against piracy and streaming services, it hasn’t stopped Sony making a deal of the century. It’s between Sony and you-know-who. That’s right, Adele will sign a $130 million contract with Sony.

This tops Whitney Houston’s $100 million contract with Arista Records in 2001. In fact, Adele will also be signing the biggest record deal by any female singer.

This now gives Sony the exclusive rights to release her music. This is certainly great for Adele. She has an amazing voice and presence and has earned her keep. She is deservingly the wealthiest female musician in Britain.

Smith & Thell are buzzing with their latest single Statue. Now, after signing a publishing deal with SonyATV, the Stockholm folk pop duo have been courted by the music industry titans.

Quickly making a splash on the scene, the duo grabbed the 2015 Illustrious Denniz Pop Awards New Artist of the Year, as Tove Lo won the same word in 2014. Their debut single Statue which was released in Scandinavia has already surpassed over 1 million Spotify streams.

Following in the footsteps of The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons this folk act is set to take off. There is one space left for another “Ho Hey” and now it’s occupied.
jon@buddyallenmgmt.com

I typically don’t talk about new remixes of a track, but this indie pop track is to good to pass up. I’m referring to the LA-based Catey Shaw that just released The Ransom, a Tommy Walker remix, a popular DJ from the Netherlands.

The indie songstress just released her brand new EP on June 10th and it’s already blowing up the blogosphere winning over the likes of PopCrush, The Huffington Post, and Perez Hilton.

Discussing the new remix Catey Shaw notes, “It’s always great to hear other people’s interpretation of my music. It’s so interesting to get that outside perspective,” Shaw told Myspace. “I especially love the way Tommy Walker screwed with the vocals – that’s something we don’t really explore as much so it’s cool to hear it another way.”

Catey Shaw got her start playing a ukulele in the NYC subways, working herself to the top of the indie scene.
jay@lefthookent.com, candace@bigpicturemediaonline.com

Brother and sister duo Tracy Irve are back with a new haunting track To Mind. Written over year ago, the track went through variations, but finally was stripped down to the core. Still in their infancy stage, the Gothenburg indie act are quickly finding a place in the indie market.

The last track Town made the Swedish iTunes Chart. Still lurking in the shadows and with no big accolades yet, I see Tracy Irve breaking out this year.
irvetracy@gmail.com

Emanuela Drei caught my attention with her latest offering released via Factory Flaws. She goes by Guingla and is showing off her indie chops. The Italy based songstress released her 4 song EP and her tracks have made a way across the blogosphere.

The track Sand which is my personal favorite made Spotify’s New Music Friday and she’s been featured in NYLON and NOISEY. To get inside Emanuela’s creative mind you can read the interview with The 405.
giulia@elliefantpress.com, info@giunglamusic.com