Signed: Nelly Pacts with WME, Nightwish Re-Ups With Nuclear Blast

Nelly signed with WME for global representation. The rapper and singer's latest album, Heartlandwas released in 2021 and reached No. 7 on Advertising signon the top Country Albums chart, while the single “Lil Bit” featuring Florida Georgia Line remained at No. 1 on Advertising signCountry Digital Song sales chart for three weeks. Signed to RECORDS (Sony Music), Nelly also recently released MoShine, a brand of moonshine.

Symphonic metal band Nightwish renewed her contract with Nuclear explosion, landing a new worldwide multi-album deal with the label he first signed with 20 years ago. The label also announced that they have signed an American death metal band Gatecreeperwho will release her third album, Dark superstitionat Nuclear Blast on May 17th. Gatecreeper is represented by directors James Vitalo and James Grotola at Gold Theory Artists and booking agent Merrick Jarmulowicz in Ground Control Touring.

Play it again Samhis imprint [PIAS] tag team, will be released Nick Cave & the Bad SeedsThe next worldwide licensed album, in collaboration with Cave's label, Bad Seed. Titled wild Godthe album is expected to be released on August 30.

Artist activist management signed folk pop singer-songwriter Weyes Blood for management. It will be represented by Activist founding partners Bernie Cahill and Matt Maheralong with Activist senior director of A&R/creative Anna Collender and head of global marketing Chris Ruff. Weyes Blood's latest album, And in the dark, hearts shinereached No. 1 on Advertising signHeatseekers album chart. He has performed at festivals such as Coachella and Pitchfork and toured throughout the United States, Europe and Australia.

Indie-electronic pop group Metronomy signed with Ninja Tune, which released the band's latest single, “Nice Town.” It marks the first release from the up and coming band Posse EP Volume 1 I follow.

UTA signed country band Ole 60 for global representation in all sectors. The team will continue to be represented by Davis Danziger, Wales Toney and Ty Little at Whale Tale Management and a lawyer Matt Cottingham. Coming up, Ole 60 is set to support Dylan Gossett and Charles Wesley Godwin on their upcoming tours and play the Grind City Music festival in Memphis.

New York band Wild Pink signed with Fire speech recordingswho released the group's debut single “Air Drumming Fix You” on March 7. The group has been reserved by Ryan Farlow at Arrival Artists (North America) and Joren Heuvels at Hometown Talent (UK, EU and Asia) and managed by Joseph Marro in Smaller Matters. The band has a publishing deal with Downtown.

Nashville based singer-songwriter Abbey Cone signed with Downtown Artist & Label Services for distribution. Her first release under the Downtown banner is a live cover of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah.” Cone's team also includes Amanda Quinton by Quinton Digital for management, Wasserman Group for bookings and Warner Chappell Music/TRUTH for publishing.

Veteran British singer and songwriter Dave Mason signed an exclusive management agreement with Red light in Atlanta. His team at the company consists of Charlie Brusock and Nick Mannarino, who will be collaborating with Mason on his upcoming music releases as well as the release of his memoir, which is due out this summer. Booked by Alec Widmar and Darius Sabet at UTA.

Philadelphia artist Julia Pratt signed to ARCHIVES (Sony Music), who released her latest single, “Carolina,” last week ahead of a new EP. Pratt is managed by Doug Neumann and Josh Roth on Standards Music and was booked by Seth Rapaport at Paladin Artists.

Singer-songwriter Ali Walker signed with RECORD Nashville. To celebrate the collaboration, Walker released the track “I Like Big Trucks,” adding a country flavor to Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1990s hit “Baby Got Back.” Josh Isler, executive vice president of promotion and commercial strategy for RECORDS Nashville, says, “The RECORDS Nashville team is always looking for artistry that stands out, and Alli Walker does just that. We're excited to start building on what he's already been successful with.” – Jessica Nicholson

Nashville punk band Winona Fighterfronted by Chloe Kinnon, sign me Rise Records and shared a new single and music video, “I'm in the Market to Please No One.” More new music is slated for release this year. The band has been booked by Justin Edwardis at WME and manages Michael Iurato at In De Goot Entertainment.

Country artist Dusty Black signed with Brown Sellers Brown and Stone Country Records for label management and representation, respectively. Black was previously the CEO of Black Tie Moving before making the transition to artist.

ADA Japan signed an agreement to distribute, promote and market Japanese-language songs by the Korean boy band A Pact through South Korean company and entertainment agency Armada Entertainment. The partnership began with ADA's release of One Pact's debut local single, “Must Be Nice”. The group rose to fame after appearing on the Korean TV audition series Boys Planet and the battle rap show High School Rapper 4.

MacKenzie signed with Warner Records, who released her new single, “Maybe” featuring TA Thomas, on Friday (March 15). The R&B artist is managed by Tarek “Terk” Stevens at Terk Entertainment Group and a lawyer Donald Woodard at Carter + Woodard. Also on Warner Records, alt-rocker Willie Cobb signed with label War Buddha Records imprint, which released its debut single, “Cigarette Smell,” on Friday (March 15). Cobb is run by Neil Mason at the red light.

How to dress well (aka Tom Krell) signed me Sargent House for the release of his upcoming album, I'm Against Youwhich is set to drop on May 10th. Directed by Shaun MacDonald in Codex Management.

BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville undersigned Alison Nichols, who gained a viral hit on TikTok with her first release, 'are you just me?', followed by her latest release, 'HOOPS'. Nichols, who is of Asian descent, grew up in Georgia and is influenced by the Texas country music scene. – Jessica Nicholson

British-Chinese fraternal duo Esme Emerson (Esme and Emerson Lee-Scott) signed with Society Archives and released his new single, “Please,” on the label, with an EP due later this year. The duo have been booked by rowan@infinitefuture.co.uk.

Musician and social media influencer Pete Monchingo signed a management deal with Do Less. The signing coincides with the release of HARV's debut single, “Party With a Weirdo,” on Friday (March 15) via Vydia.

Punk band Gloom Girl MFG signed with R+D artist team for pre-release management of Cage the Elephant's production EP, POLY CRITICISM. In addition, the team recently signed with Reliant Talent Agency for reservation. Gloom Girl MFG is signed to Los Angeles based label Signs From the Universe.