January 2008
It’s been a while since the last update and a great deal has been happening at Notting Hill Music with the company enjoying a raft of hits around the World spearheaded by 2 UK number 1 singles and another number 1 in the US.
In the UK Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” was followed at number one by Kanye West’s “Stronger” with Mims’ “This Is Why I’m Hot” topping the Billboard Hot 100. Further hits on both sides of the Atlantic came from The Game, Fabolous, Tank, Gucci Mane, Funeral For A Friend, Fightstar, Bow Wow & Omarion, Huey, R.Kelly & Bow Wow, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Booty Luv, Groove Amada featuring Stush, Filo & Peri, DJ Khaled, 2Pac & Ashanti, Sunfreakz & DJ Felli Fel.
The year saw us receive 5 ASCAP awards and 4 from BMI in the US together with an Ivor Novello nomination in the UK for Bodyrox’s “Yeah Yeah”.
Album successes in 2007 came from Funeral For A Friend with a Top 3 placing in the UK, Machine Head’s first Top 20 album (also Kerrang’s Album Of The Year!), Hellogoodbye, Bow Wow, DJ Khaled, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Bow Wow & Omarion, Marques Houston, Fightstar, Carl Thomas and Kelly Rowland.
Other chart albums in the year featuring Notting Hill songs : Omarion, Mims, Timbaland, Kanye West, Booty Luv, Jay-Z, Mario, Gucci Mane, T.I., Beanie Sigel, 2Pac, Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Akon, Nas, Young Jeezy, Paul Wall, The Game, Jim Jones, JoJo, Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, Sugababes, Snoop Dogg, Cherish, Tank, Keyshia Cole, Luther Vandross, Groove Armada, David Guetta, Yung Joc, Ludacris, Simon Webbe, Fat Joe, Tim McGraw, P. Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Pussycat Dolls, Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera & Destiny’s Child.
April 2007
Usually, the most difficult part of writing the website news update is deciding where to start. Not this time. Number one in the US Hot 100 is a pretty good place to begin and that’s where we are for the second week with Akon’s “Don’t Matter” taken from his double platinum album “Konvicted”. This is, in fact, one of 6 Notting Hill singles in the Hot 100 this week with Young Jeezy & R. Kelly’s “Go Getta” and Omarion’s “Icebox” climbing into the Top 20 with Bone Thugs N Harmony featuring Akon, Tank’s “Please Don’t Go” and Marques Houston’s latest hit “Circle” making up the Notting Hill contingent in the US chart.
Marques also has a new entry for his album in the US at number 5 and we are delighted with such a strong start for this, his third album. This follows a recent run of three consecutive number 1 US albums featuring Notting Hill songs from Nas, Young Jeezy and Omarion.
Notting Dale Songs has just concluded a deal with Hellogoodbye including their recent US Top 20 smash “Here (In Your Arms)” and the album “Zombie, Aliens, Vampires, Dinosaurs” as well as future material. We are also thrilled to welcome Layzie Bone & WishBone of Bone Thugs N Harmony to the roster and eagerly anticipate their new album on Interscope in the coming weeks.
Also on the immediate horizon is the new album from Funeral For A Friend, “Tales Don’t Tell Themselves” on Atlantic worldwide which is by far their finest work to date and has to be heard to be believed. The first single “Into Oblivion” is already added to the Radio One playlist and should get the album off to a flying start.
Congratulations to Bodyrox for their nomination at the upcoming MTV Australia awards and thanks to Frank & all at Royalty Network for delivering three UK Top 20 singles in a row with P. Diddy. Congratulations also to Machine Head who scored their first Top 20 album in the UK (and all over Europe & Australia!) this week with their new release “The Blackening” which has also entered the US chart at 54.
Chart albums in the quarter featuring Notting Hill songs : Omarion, Hellogoodbye, Akon, Machine Head, Marques Houston, Nas, Young Jeezy, Paul Wall, The Game, Jim Jones, JoJo, Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, Sugababes, Snoop Dogg, Cherish, Tupac, Luther Vandross, Yung Joc, Ludacris, Simon Webbe, Fat Joe, Tim McGraw, P. Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Pussycat Dolls, Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera & Destiny’s Child.
November 2006
A number of hugely important signings have been made in this quarter in both the US and the UK. First off, producer Mike City joins us for all of his current and future projects including all releases on his Umbrella label through Universal. The first release under this agreement is Carl Thomas whose single is storming Urban AC radio in the States. Expect to see plenty more success from Mike and his projects in the near future. We are delighted to welcome production team The Runners who have rocketed to prominence through their recent work with Rick Ross (including the smash single “Hustlin”), Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled and Jim Jones to name a few. Further US hits in the quarter came from new signings Kochease (Yung Joc’s “I Know You See It”) and Jason Rome with the Luther Vandross single “Got U Home”. Webstar’s “Chicken Noodle Soup”, Omarion’s “Entourage” and The Game’s “It’s Okay” also delivered Hot 100 singles in the period.
Back in the UK, Jon Pearn & Nick Bridges joined the company on a long-term exclusive deal which includes their smash single “Yeah Yeah” recorded by Bodyrox featuring Luciana. The single peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart and is now exploding across Europe. Producer Jerry Meehan has also signed a long term deal via our JV agreement with NuSong. The first 4 songs from that deal are featured on Robbie Williams new number 1 album “Rudebox”.
We are also extremely proud to announce our exclusive publishing representation of eighties favourites Altered Images. The deal covers their entire catalogue including their biggest hits “Happy Birthday” and “I Could Be Happy”. Another wonderful addition to the catalogue comes from Phil Gould who has struck a deal for us to administer his shares of the Level 42 catalogue including “Running In The Family”, “Something About You” and “The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)”.
New chart albums in the quarter featuring Notting Hill songs : The Game, Jim Jones, Motorhead, JoJo, Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, Sugababes, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Cherish, Tupac, Norma Jean, Luther Vandross, Yung Joc, Ludacris, Simon Webbe, Lupe Fiasco, Brooke Hogan, Fat Joe, Paris Hilton, Letoya, Tim McGraw, Diddy,
We are delighted to report another simultaneous double in the US Top 10 singles for the second quarter running. This time the hits are from Field Mob featuring Ciara with their smash “So What” taken from the Top 10 US album “Light Poles & Pine Trees”.
The second is “Snap Yo Fingers”
by Lil Jon featuring E-40 & Sean Paul of The Youngbloodz. This comes
to us from new signing Sean Paul Joseph, who also has another US Top 20
single this week with the Cherish record “Do It To It”. Our
deal includes all of Sean’s material which in addition to three
Youngbloodz albums and numerous guest appearances will also encompass
his forthcoming album on Jive Records.
Further new signings during the quarter include an international deal
for Money Mack Music, the publishing arm of Cash Money Records which brings
an extensive catalogue of hugely successful rap music including Juvenile
& Lil Wayne.
The Danish producer Delgado (credits include
Sugababes, Liberty X) joins us via our joint venture with Nu-Song and
we certainly had a lot of fun (and another Top 10 hit single!) from this
year’s UK Eurovision entry “Teenage Life” by Daz Sampson
which came via our joint venture with 23rd Precinct Music. In the US new
writers joining the roster include Lonny Bereal (credits include Jamie
Foxx, Kelly Rowland & Snoop Dogg) and Francci (credits include Keyshia
Cole, JoJo & Patti Labelle).
We are also extremely proud to announce our exclusive representation of
the catalogue of the late Steve Marriott in the United States which includes
classic Small Faces hits like “Itchycoo Park”, “All
Or Nothing”, “Lazy Sunday” and “Tin Soldier.
Further big summer hits are expected from Supermode’s “Tell Me Why” in the UK and Omarion’s “Entourage” in the USA.
Finally, two more ASCAP awards and another BMI
award were collected by the US companies in the quarter – this time
for Pussycat Dolls “Don’t Cha”, Nelly & Tim McGraw’s
“Over & Over” and Destiny’s Child with “Cater
2 U”.
The first quarter of 2006 got off to a flying
start with 2 singles simultaneously in the US Top 10 with Pussycat Dolls
“Stickwitu” and Juelz Santana’s “There It Go (The
Whistle Song”). Swiftly followed by a UK number 1 with Notorious
B.I.G., Nelly & Avery Storm’s “Nasty Girl” and further
Top 40 hits from Lee Ryan, Freemasons, Funeral For A Friend and Fightstar
in the UK and 2006 looks like it will top 2005’s record-breaking
year at Notting Hill Music. In March, Music Week named Notting Hill as
the number one independent publisher for singles in the UK for the whole
year of 2005.
Top 30 album debuts in the US for From First to Last and Fightstar in
the UK show there is plenty of life in the rock market and we have also
new albums scheduled for release this year from Motorhead, Unearth, 36
Crazyfists and Norma Jean.
Field Mob have stormed back into the US charts with 2 singles, the first
being “Georgia” with Ludacris and now their own “So
What” which features a guest vocal from Ciara. Their new album is
due for release soon on Disturbing Tha Peace/Geffen and should be well
worth the wait. Georgia is also featured in the smash-hit film “ATL”
starring T.I.
Album cuts during the first quarter appear on US Top 30 albums by Jaheim,
Jamie Foxx, Ne-yo, Tim McGraw, Keyshia Cole, Destiny’s Child, Nelly,
Ludacris & DTP, Anthony Hamilton, Bow Wow, Trey Songz and Ciara.
December brings our third UK number one single of
2005 with the Pussycat Dolls “Stickwitu” which is also a huge
hit around the World and presently Top 5 in the Hot 100 in the US. Further
hits in this period have come from Liberty X with their Top 10 cover of
Shalamar’s “A Night To Remember”, which was the official
single for the BBC’s Children In Need extravaganza, Funeral For
A friend’s “History” and Will Smith’s “Party
Starter”. Notting Hill is yet again the number one independent publisher
for singles in Music Week’s UK market survey for the third quarter
of 2005.
Mike Hamilton and Deacon Smith are currently enjoying a hit single in
Japan with local star Double’s version of their song “Rock
The Party”. Mike has also co-written the next Lee Ryan single “When
I Think Of You” with fellow Notting Hill writers Leon Sylvers, Aaron
Gowdy and Bernard Biddle. The song is already featured on Lee’s
UK gold album and we are very hopeful of a big hit with the single in
the New Year.
Congratulations to all of our artists nominated in the Grammy’s
this year especially Robert “EST” Waller who picks up nominations
in three categories including Best R&B Song for Destiny’s Child’s
“Cater 2 U”. Our other nominees are Shadows Fall, Norma Jean
and a host of writers featured on 4 out of the 5 nominations for Best
Contemporary R&B Album. They are: LT Hutton, Marques Houston, Platinum
Status, Bryce Wilson, Bink, LaKiesha Miles & the ubiquitous EST.
Thank you to all who helped to make 2005 a landmark year for the Notting
Hill Music Group and we look forward to continuing at a breakneck pace
in 2006!
Notting Dale Songs Inc. finished May by scooping four “Most Performed Work” awards at the ASCAP Pop Awards in Beverly Hills. Three of the awards were for Notting Dale writer Robert EST Waller’s work on Beyonce’s “Baby Boy”, “Me, Myself & I” and “Naughty Girl”. The fourth honouree was J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” on behalf of Notting Dale’s production team the Trackboyz. A further award was made for the Notting Dale administered “Roses” recorded by Outkast.
This has capped a fantastic start to the year for all the group companies with international hit singles from Will Smith, Nelly, Destiny’s Child & Lemar and dozens of cuts on chart albums with Omarion, Marques Houston, Amerie, Ciara, Mario, T.I., 112, Bobby Valentino, Snoop Dogg, Trick Daddy, Brandy, Nivea and Usher.
New signing Brooke Valentine continues her ascent of the Hot 100 with her single “Girlfight” reaching number 23 this week. After a successful launch in Japan, Brooke begins her assault on Europe with a promotional visit in June in support of her album “Chain Letter” on Virgin Records. Look out also for the debut solo album from her producer, Deja Johnson, on Virgin later in the year.
Funeral For A Friend have their second album “Hours” released worldwide by Atlantic on June 13th and they follow a sold out 22 date UK tour with a month on the Warped Tour in the USA in July and August. The first single “Streetcar” looks set for a Top 20 debut in the UK and the second single “Monsters” follows on August 22nd.
Also on the Warped Tour are From First To Last and three Notting Hill bands are now confirmed for Ozzfest :- Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage & As I Lay Dying.
New deals with producer Red Spyda (50 Cent, Obie Trice, D-12, Fabolous) and The Ultimate Group’s publishing division, Lyric Music, keep the cream of urban music flowing and two new rock acts, 36 Crazyfists and Norma Jean have also joined the roster.
Joint Venture deals have been secured with Channelfly Music Limited, the publishing wing of the venue operator and artist management firm, and with Factory Records founder Anthony H. Wilson for a publishing arm of his new F4 record label. Dance music company Hookline & Singer Music have also entered into a joint venture arrangement with Notting Hill Music.
Finally, IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy
joins the board of the company as a non-executive director. We are delighted
to welcome John to the team.
The hottest summer on record at Notting Hill Music has brought us no fewer than 4 UK number one singles. Eamon’s “F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)” and Frankee’s “F.U.R.B.” answerback led the way to be followed by Britney Spears “Everytime” and Mario Winans “I Don’t Wanna Know”. Further Top 10’s have included J-Kwon’s “Tipsy”, Outkast with “Roses”, V’s cover of The Jackson’s “Can You Feel It” and The Pirates “You Should Really Know”. Hits from Marques Houston, Lloyd Banks, Cassius Henry and Mark Morrison have also helped keep the thermometer rising!
In August, Music Week named Notting Hill Music as the number 1 Independent Publisher for singles and number 2 Independent overall in its market share survey for the second quarter of 2004. The company is also well placed at number 6 in the entire market for singles and number 7 in the overall market standings.
The US office has collected 2 more ASCAP Awards and a BMI Award at their respective hip-hop events and has added new signings the Burrell Brothers with their 3 cuts on the JoJo album and Producer Bink (Freeway, Jay-Z, JoJo, Xzibit & Nate Dogg) to its urban roster.
It has also begun a real assault on the rock
market with a burst of new signings including Killswitch Engage, Motorhead,
Sepultura, & My Ruin.
President Peter Chalcraft said, "We only ever had a small roster
of rock bands at Notting Hill Music but with the continued growth in the
rock music world we thought it was about time we as a company ventured
back into this market. There are a number of great young bands that are
coming up via strong independent labels here in the USA and these bands
have strong international appeal - we want to be part of this." Killswitch
Engage have their song “End Of Heartache” featured in the
current number 1 US box office movie “Resident Evil – Apocalypse”
The Company’s recent run of chart success shows no sign of slowing down with four singles presently in the US Top 30. Leading the way is Beyonce’s “Naughty Girl” followed in the Top 10 by Outkast with Roses. J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” and Britney Spears “Everytime” complete the quartet. In the R&B chart, two new entries from Erick Sermon and Universal newcomer Young Rome take the total of Notting Hill songs on the current R&B Singles chart to seven. Both artists have albums coming over the summer on which we publish the bulk of the songs. The guest artist on the Young Rome single, Omarion of B2K, also has an album full of songs written by NHM producers Platinum Status due for a summer release on Sony.
Back in Europe, Britney’s “Everytime” single” is Top 10 in most countries and looks set to make an impressive debut in the UK later in the month. Also eagerly anticipated are the singles from Outkast, J-Kwon, Flash Brothers & Marques Houston.
We are delighted to have signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Bruce Elliott-Smith, winner of a Grammy this year for Best Dance Production for his work with Kylie Minogue. Bruce has a multitude of new releases coming with such artists as ATB, Armin van Buuren, Angel City, Lee Cabrera and Matt Darey.
In the US, recent deals include a worldwide
pact with hard rockers Machine Head and a long-term renewal of our agreement
with production team the Trackboyz. Following the gold album and number
2 US single with their discovery J-Kwon and successes with Nelly, Nappy
Roots & D12 the duo have now secured a label deal with Def Jam to
sign and develop new artists and produce Def Jam artists.
Notting Hill Music, Inc. is celebrating an astonishing chart run in America this month beginning with the company publishing 7 singles in the Hot 100 simultaneously and culminating in THREE singles landing in the Top 10 in the same week from Beyonce (“Me, Myself & I”), J-Kwon (“Tipsy”) and Ruben Studdard (“Sorry 2004”).
The company has not exactly been slouching in the albums chart either with cuts on current gold & platinum albums from Beyonce, Ludacris, Ruben Studdard, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Nelly, Ginuwine, Sean Paul, Kelis, Youngbloodz, DMX, Missy Elliott, Monica, Mya & Jennifer Lopez.
Notting Hill Music (UK) Limited is also pleased to announce the signing of long term deals with writer/producers Matt Darey and Sammy Jay. Matt has enjoyed numerous hit singles, most notably with the club anthems “Beautiful” and “Liberation” and is currently preparing material for his debut album on Incentive. Sammy is best known for her co-writes with Mis-Teeq and Terri Walker and is working on a range of major label projects.
Recent synchronisation activity includes 5 songs in the US number 1 box office hit “You Got Served” starring B2K who also perform the songs on the accompanying soundtrack album. The Oscar nominated film “Lost In Translation” features David Nichtern’s “Midnight At The Oasis” and Erick Sermon’s “React” is included in the soundtrack of the film “Honey”.
Writing and production team the Trackboyz are celebrating a hat-trick of movie synchs with J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” in “Soul Plane”, The Youngbloodz “Lean Low” in “Torque” and Nelly’s “Air Force Ones” featured in “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”.
