Universal Publishing Tie Up Astral People Joint Venture

Wave Racer, Collarbones and Cosmo's Midnight are the inaugural signings of a new publishing joint venture between Sydney tastemakers Astral People and industry giant Universal Music Publishing.

Astral People founder Lee Danilewitz and Tom Huggett will manage the rights for the three acts under the Nite High Publishing banner, while Jonti will also move his rights across from Universal to the new imprint. It's a distinct move by Universal Publishing to land some of the country's most promising indie and electro-sphere acts onto their books before they hit their commercial peak.

Universal Publishing's Director of A&R Heath Johns, “We have long admired Lee and Tom's exceptional taste in new Australian music and also their entrepreneurial spirit.”

He said that the signings “will benefit immeasurably from UMP's creative ambition and global reach.”

All four of the acts signed to Nite High are managed by Astral People, with Wave Race signed to the Future Classic label, Collarbones to Two Bright Lakes and Jonti to Mistletone locally and Stones Throw for the rest of the world. Brother duo Cosmo's Midnight released their debut EP on Yes Please and are currently working on 2014 releases.

Cosmo Liney of Cosmo's Midnight said today that the deal “has put us in the position to collaborate on toplines, secure samples and score session time with a calibre of writer that would have been otherwise much harder to obtain.”

Thomas Purcell – aka Wave Racer – said that he expected the deal will give his space to work at his own pace, while Collarbone's Travis Cook joked, “Expanding our pool of resources and taking over the world is very important to me.”

Universal also have the likes of 360, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Rose, KLP, Passenger, Horrorshow and The Living End on the roster, amongst other local and international names.