BMG, the label that owns the catalogue for the original Trojan Records UK which has a roster of Jamaican artists who ruled U.K. music in the 60s just signed a deal with the biggest British dancehall star Stefflon Don.
The partnership has delayed Stefflon Don’s “Island 54” album originally scheduled for release last August, then pushed to September, and is now scheduled for release early 2023. BMG will oversee the release of the album.
Stefflon Don said: “I’m excited about partnering with BMG because they trust my creativity. They have an amazing support team across the globe, and I am super excited to expand my fan base alongside my new family BMG.”
Tim Reid, BMG’s SVP, repertoire & marketing, said: “Stefflon Don is a unique artist who has already accomplished so much on a global scale, collaborating with some of the biggest names in music while gaining equal acclaim on her solo projects. We are incredibly excited to partner with her on the next chapter of her musical career.”
Thomas Scherer, BMG’s president, repertoire & marketing, Los Angeles and New York, said: “Stefflon Don is an artist who knows exactly what she wants to achieve, and we are happy to be part of her journey towards this. Our partnership expands on a string of recent BMG signings with artists who desire more control of their music with our global team fully supporting them in exceeding their goals.”
The upcoming full-length debut studio album follows her critically acclaimed and U.K. Official Charting mixtapes “Real Ting” and “Secure.”
Although signed out of BMG’s LA office, Stefflon Don’s home territory of the UK will be a key priority.
London-based VP, international Terry Felgate said: “Building on the breakthrough success we had with KSI in the UK – also signed out of BMG LA – we are very excited about working with Stefflon Don and supporting her in delivering her creative vision.”
BMG & Jamaican Artists
Over the years artist have complained that they were deprived of their fair share of royalties earned from music acquired by BMG through Trojan Records UK.
Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr of The Beatles fame told World Music Views that, “I can’t say if everyone got paid or not, but we have no connection with Trojan UK except the word ‘Trojan’,” Zak says.
Zak previously had a license from BMG to run a label named Trojan Jamaica where he relapsed several singles. He and his wife Sshh set up a studio in Ocho Rios, Jamaica funded by his wages from the The Who.
They started out with three records which they shopped for a label deal with BMG Rights Management Group. With that deal came the licensing agreement to call themselves Trojan Jamaica, not to be confused with Trojan Records UK.
The story of how BMG came into possession of the original Trojan catalogue is simply artists’ exploitation while their music filled the bottom line of several record companies.
Trojan Records went into liquidation in 1975, without paying royalties to its artists. In the same year it became Trojan Recordings, which was then purchased 10 years later by Colin Newman, an accountant and businessman.
In 2001, Newman sold the Trojan catalogue to the London label Sanctuary Records for £10.25m; six years later, Sanctuary itself was purchased by Universal Music Group, which in turn sold Sanctuary’s catalogue, including Trojan’s songs, to the Berlin-based record label BMG in 2013.
With over 10,000 songs including early cuts from Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, and Desmond Decker, Trojan, previously a division of Chris Blackwell’s Island Records, made profits of £1.1m on £3.1m sales for the year to December 2000.
“It took 2 years to convince Jimmy Cliff that we weren’t those guys,” Zak says of the skepticism he nd his wife experienced in Jamaica at first.
