Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.

This week, the world’s biggest music publishing company, Sony/ATV, revealed that it is rebranding as Sony Music Publishing, marking the return of the latter name for the first time in over 20 years.

Meanwhile, after announcing deals with Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, TikTok revealed on Monday (February 8) that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group.

Elsewhere, MBW has learned that Richard Rowe, co-founder of Round Hill Music, has left the US-headquartered company after 10 years.

Also, Troy Carter has joined SoundCloud‘s Board of Directors and will serve as a strategic advisor to the company’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Weissman.

And Universal Music Group has teamed with Big Hit Entertainment and YG Entertainment to invest in a global live-streaming platform.

1) SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING RETURNS WITH A ‘MODERN VISION’ – VIA A RE-BRAND OF SONY/ATV

The world’s biggest music publishing company is no longer called Sony/ATV. It’s now Sony Music Publishing.

The re-brand of the US-headquartered pubco sees the Sony Music Publishing name return for the first time in over two decades, complete with a new logo.

The move marks 25 years since Sony/ATV was first established through a joint venture with Michael Jackson.

2) TIKTOK AND UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP SIGN GLOBAL LICENSING DEAL

TikTok now has fresh worldwide licensing deals in place with all three major record companies.

After announcing deals with Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, the ByteDance-owned video app revealed on Monday (February 8) that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group.

Coincidentally, the timing of the announcement comes just days after UMG pulled its catalog from TikTok’s biggest rival, Triller.

3) round Hill co-founder Richard Rowe exits company after 10 years

Richard Rowe, the respected music publishing veteran, is leaving Round Hill Music, MBW has learned.

Confirming Rowe’s departure from Round Hill, the firm’s CEO Josh Gruss told us: “Richard Rowe was the third person to join Round Hill during its infancy back in 2010 and his contribution over ten years was very important to the firm. We will miss him and wish him the best of luck on his future endeavors.”

Rowe is understood to be on his way to another significant company in the music industry.

4) TROY CARTER JOINS SOUNDCLOUD BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SoundCloud has added music industry executive Troy Carter to its Board of Directors.

Carter will serve as a strategic advisor to SoundCloud Chief Executive Officer Michael Weissman and the company’s Board of Directors on all topics across the music industry including new business models, artist development, and artist services.

Carter will continue to separately lead Q&A, his music and technology company……

5) UNIVERSAL TEAMS WITH BIG HIT AND YG ENTERTAINMENT TO INVEST IN GLOBAL LIVE-STREAMING PLATFORM

Universal Music Group is joining forces with two K-Pop titans – Big Hit Entertainment and YG Entertainment – to invest in a new digital live-streaming platform with ambitions “on a global scale”.

Big Hit has announced that both YG and UMG have acquired an equity stake in KBYK Live, a joint venture that was established between Big Hit and Kiswe last year.

KBYK Live subsequently launched VenewLive in September, a live-streaming content platform.

MBW’s weekly round-up is exclusively supported by Centtrip, leading provider of smart treasury, foreign exchange and payment solutions for the music industry. Find out more here. Music Business Worldwide