Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed a worldwide deal with Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock from the multi-chart-topping group Little Mix through its new joint venture TwentySeven Music Publishing with seasoned industry executive Barry Weiss and songwriter Jenna Andrews.
The BRIT award-winning Little Mix are one of the most successful British girl bands of all time having achieved 14 U.K. Top 10 singles, including five No. 1 hits, and scored five top five albums. They have also enjoyed considerable chart success around the world, including in the U.S. where their album DNA became the first debut release by a British girl band to enter the Billboard 200’s top five.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Co-President, U.S. Danny Strick said: “We are very excited to have launched this new joint venture with TwentySeven Music Publishing. Barry’s long and distinguished record in the industry speaks for itself and he has a first-rate partner in Jenna whose talents as a Sony/ATV songwriter are coupled with her gifts for discovering and nurturing talent. The JV is off to an incredible start with Little Mix and embodies the high expectations we have for this partnership.”
TwentySeven Music Publishing co-founders Barry Weiss and Jenna Andrews said: “We’re an unlikely pairing of business and creative but the alchemy really works. We’re ready to kill it in the world of music publishing and are excited about Little Mix, our other new signings and the opportunity to partner with everyone at Sony/ATV.”
The Little Mix girls are one of several initial signings to TwentySeven Music Publishing, which has been set up as a joint venture between the world’s leading music publisher Sony/ATV and Barry Weiss and Jenna Andrews. Weiss, formerly an executive at Jive/RCA/Sony and Universal/Island Def Jam/Republic/Motown, is co-founder/partner of the Sony Music-distributed RECORDS label where Sony/ATV songwriter Andrews is an A&R consultant. The new venture’s operations include a studio setup in Los Angeles where A&R consultant Randi Razzano is based and there are plans to appoint an A&R consultant focusing on urban.
Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock said, “We’re so excited to be a part of the Sony/ATV and TwentySeven team! It feels amazing after eight years in the industry to be recognized as songwriters! We can’t wait to begin our journey with Jenna Andrews and Barry Weiss.”
Also signed to TwentySeven are LA-based singer-songwriter and Asylum Records recording artist Anna Clendening and New Jersey songwriter, producer, engineer and DJ Rob Grimaldi who has worked extensively with Capitol Records act Queen Naija. The JV additionally has an administration deal with Wide Open Music whose roster includes songwriters Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell and Ash Bowers and which co-published Brett Young’s Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hit and RIAA triple-platinum certified “In Case You Didn’t Know.”
Little Mix made history in 2011 when they became the first ever group to win The X Factor UK and have since established themselves as one of the most successful British girl bands of all time. Comprising Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall, they topped the Official U.K. singles chart with their debut release, a cover of Damien Rice’s “Cannonball,” and went on to reach No. 1 with “Wings,” “Black Magic” and “Shout Out To My Ex,” which won Best British Single at the 2017 BRIT Awards. They also scored a No. 1 hit with “Wishing On A Star” as part of The X Factor 2011 finalists, while 11 of their singles have been certified platinum or above in the U.K., more than any other British female group.
All five of the group’s studio albums have also been hugely successful, including their first release DNA which not only reached No. 3 in the U.K. but took them into the record books in the U.S. when it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart. This beat a record previously set by the Spice Girls by giving them the highest debut U.S. chart position by a British girl group in the States.
Little Mix’s sophomore album Salute followed DNA into the U.S. Top 10 and debuted at No. 4 back home, while Get Weird reached No. 2 and Glory Days No. 1 in the U.K. where it went on to achieve the most weeks in the Top 40 of any album by a female group.
Little Mix’s latest album LM5 was released last November and debuted at No. 3 in the U.K. It includes the Nicki Minaj-assisted hit “Woman Like Me,” which was co-written by Ed Sheeran and climbed to No. 2. The song won British Video of the Year at the 2019 BRIT Awards where the band were also nominated for British Group. The album additionally features the group’s latest hit “Think About Us” with Ty Dolla $ign.
