— In separate deals, Primary Wave Music is partnering with artist/radio personality/online marketing exec Scott “DJ Skee” Keeney, and pop/urban producers Ryan & Smitty. Primary Wave has signed DJ Skee to a management contract and is signing the production duo to a co-publishing deal.Beyond his role as DJ on Sirius/XM radio and on KIIS-FM, and his business venture, Skee plays host to countless mixtape artists and consults record label, and other consumer brands. Ryan & Smitty have produced such tracks as Chris Brown’s “Go Away” and Jaicko Lawrence’s single “Fast Forward.”
— Kobalt Music Group has signed Roxette to a North American administration deal that includes representing the duo for synchronization in motion pictures, TV, games, ringtones and other media. Roxette, which consists of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, will have their first release,”Charm School,” in nearly a decade in the form of a worldwide release from EMI, excluding the U.S. The new album, produced in Sweden by Clarence Öfwerman and Christoffer Lundqvist (together with Roxette), arrives on the heels of a comeback tour in 2010 attended by 600,000 people in Holland, Belgium and Germany, according to the announcement.
— The Harry Fox Agency will continue to provide administration services to Napster in a deal renewal. Napster senior VP of product marketting Alejandro Borgia said in a statement, “In working with HFA, we are confident our back office operations are being capably handled, allowing us to focus our resources on providing the ultimate music experience to our customers during this exciting time for our company.”
— The New Music Seminar, to be held in Los Angeles Feb. 15-16, will feature a producers and songwriter workshop featuring Rodney Jerkins, Gavin Lurssen and Scott Jacoby. SESAC’s Linda Lawrence will host a songwriter panel featuring the songwriters of Empire State of Mind and others.