Category: AYO Music Group
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Record of the Day: RZA Invests in AYO Music Group, the Copyright Administrator Built to Find the Royalties Music Creators Are Owed
Record of the Day covered the recent news of RZA’s investment in AYO. Wu-Tang Clan founder joins Disturbing Tha Peace co-founders Chaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon, family office CIH Group, and Ewing Athletics owner David Goldberg as an investor in the company founded by DMG Clearances’ Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Tracklib…
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Music Ally: Protect Ya Deck: Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA invests in AYO Music Group
Music Ally covered the recent news of RZA’s investment in AYO. It’s nearly two years since music-clearance veteran Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Tracklib boss Pär Almqvist co-founded their new venture AYO Music Group – an “active copyright administrator” helping rightsholders better exploit their catalogues. Now the company has backing from genuine hip-hop royalty in…
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Music Business Worldwide: RZA Invests in AYO Music Group, The Music Copyright Administrator Co-Founded by Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Pär Almqvist
Music Business Worldwide covered the recent news of RZA’s investment in AYO. RZA, the founder of Wu-Tang Clan, has invested in AYO Music Group, the copyright administrator co-founded by Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Pär Almqvist. He joins Disturbing Tha Peace Records co-founders Chaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon, Atlanta- and Johannesburg-based family…
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RZA Invests in AYO Music Group, the Copyright Administrator Built to Find the Royalties Music Creators Are Owed
Wu-Tang Clan founder joins Disturbing Tha Peace co-founders Chaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon, family office CIH Group, and Ewing Athletics owner David Goldberg as an investor in the company founded by DMG Clearances’ Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Tracklib founder Pär Almqvist. November 10, 2026 (Hockessin, DE) – AYO Music Group, the invitation-only…
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AYO Music Group Grows Roster and Catalog, Expands Gapfinder Tool, and Releases Reissue of Rare Joe Washington Vinyl
January 15, 2026 (Hockessin, DE) – Since its official launch in 2024, AYO Music Group, an active copyright administrator offering global administration of publishing, neighboring rights, and recordings, continued to grow throughout 2025 with new additions to their roster, further development of their Gapfinder tool, and upcoming releases in the…
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Billboard: Doechii’s ‘Anxiety’ Pays Off for Sampled Artists Gotye, Luis Bonfá
Billboard’s Elizabeth Dilts Marshall interviewed Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Pär Almqvist for this piece about the benefits of sampling. Mannis-Gardner says that sampled songs see twofold benefits: First, the publisher gets an ownership stake in the new song, thereby increasing the size of its catalog. Additionally, fans of Doechii’s “Anxiety” may…
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AYO Music Group Launches ‘Gapfinder’ Tool to Identify Massive Copyright Errors on a Global Scale
April 30, 2025 (Hockessin, DE) – AYO Music Group, an active copyright administrator offering global administration of publishing, neighboring rights, and recordings, has launched Gapfinder, a tool to identify errors and gaps in publishing work registrations with global PROs. Developed as a unique tool for AYO’s copyright admin team, Gapfinder…
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Billboard: ‘There Are No Rules’: Inside the Complicated World of Sample Credits
Deborah Mannis-Gardner sat down with Elias Leight to lend commentary to this Billboard piece on sampling credits. To prevail in clearance negotiations, the sampled artist needs leverage and a good lawyer. And negotiations can be charged. “All clearances are emotional,” explains Deborah Mannis-Gardner, president of DMG Clearances. “Someone either wrote this…
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Billboard Women In Music 2025: Deborah Mannis-Gardner
Deborah Mannis-Garnder was included on the Billboard Women in Music list in 2025 under the Multisector category! This year marks her third and most recent inclusion on the list (2020, 2024, and 2025). Beyoncé’s Billboard 200-topping Cowboy Carter — which took home the album of the year Grammy in February…
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Music Ally Guest Post: The UK’s AI vs copyright crossroads: where do we go now?
Music Ally published an op-ed from Deborah Mannis-Gardner, Pär Almqvist and Stacey Haber from AYO Music Group discussing AI and copyright. It appears we are at a crossroads in what has become a battle between AI and copyright.The UK government is currently in the midst of a consultation on whether…