UMPG U.K. has inked electronic music producer/songwriter/DJ duo Bicep to an exclusive, global publishing deal.

Consisting of Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar, Bicep earned two BRIT noms in 2021 and released Isles (Ninja Tune), the follow-up to their 2017 self-titled debut. The sophomore album debuted at #2 on the U.K. Albums chart, plus made the Top 3 in Ireland and Belgium, the Top 10 in Germany and Top 20 in Australia.

“Getting the chance to work alongside Andy, Matt and the crew at This Is Music means a lot to me and our UMPG team can’t wait to support their development here in the coming years,” said Pete Simmons, Head of A&R, UMPG U.K.

“Pete Simmons and Mike McCormack know our back catalogue inside out already, so it’s great to work with people who understand what we’ve done in past and where we want to go in the future,” added Bicep. 

Since headlining their first major British festival at Field Day last year, Bicep’s headline slots have included Wide Awake, Love Saves the Day, AVA, Forbidden Fruit and Creamfields. They’ve also performed at Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera, Pitchfork Paris, Sonar and Reading & Leeds, among other festivals.

Seen above before celebrating with their favorite shuffle moves are (l-r) McBriar, Simmons and Ferguson. 

Feed Media Group's (FMG) subscription-based platform Adapter has inked a publishing deal with Downtown Music Services, making the more than 23m songs Downtown administers available to growth stage startup companies.  

Adaptr boasts the largest pre-cleared popular music catalog for early-stage startups in the U.S. and is able to clear both publishing and performance rights for its clients, provide rights holders in-depth information on song use while managing all royalty payments. Under the new deal, Downtown joins a growing group of companies in music that have opened their catalogs to Adaptr, including WMG, Beggars Group, Merlin and Songtrust.

Meanwhile, Downtown has over 1.7 million clients in over 145 countries comprised of global brands such as CD Baby, FUGA, and Songtrust. Downtown’s service offerings span distribution, music publishing administration and video monetization. 

UMPG UK’s Pete Simmons, center, convinces Bicep’s Matthew McBriar, left, and Andrew Ferguson that it’s a cheat day and there’s no need to do another set of curls.

Producer/songwriter duo Bicep—Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar—has signed an exclusive, global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group.

“When I joined UMPG eight years ago, I would listen to everything on the Feel My Bicep blog in the search of something special,” UMPG UK Head of A&R Pete Simmons said. “At the time, I had no idea the guys behind it would become that very thing I was looking for and watching their music grow into what it is today has been really something. Getting the chance to work alongside Andy, Matt and the crew at This Is Music means a lot to me and our UMPG team can’t wait to support their development here in the coming years.”

Bicep has received BRIT Awards nominations, gone Top 10 on the U.K. and Irish Official Album charts and had their music featured in ads for BMW and Cupra.

Bicep management company This Is Music were recently recognized by the Music Managers’ Forum with the Innovation Award.