Jaybird 2025 Recap
As we cozy on up to the fireplace with our hot cocoa or other festive drinks in hand to enjoy the rest of the year, we wish you and yours a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year! We hope 2026 brings you happiness, joy, laughter, and all the good things. Cheers!
Before we celebrate the new year, at Jaybird, 2025 was a year for reinvention. We launched our new website, and along with it, multiple blog series. These include our Weekly Headline Roundup, Thoughts From The Flock, and Pass The Mic. These cover everything from the latest industry news, to our own personal thoughts on music and more, to interviews with reporters covering the music business. You can check out our most recent blog posts by clicking the links below!
Pass the Mic: A Conversation with Stuart Dredge of Music Ally
Zach Gulino: How Much Does An Unpaid Internship Cost Students? $15,000 and Counting
Ashley Friedman on How PR Helps Her Rule the Red Carpet
Bill Greenwood on Why Using the Oxford Comma Is Necessary, Accessible, and an Act of Rebellion
Bill Greenwood on Wet Leg’s ‘moisturizer’
2025 Client Highlights
Jaybird clients made a real impact in 2025, appearing in more than 600 articles across the music industry and beyond. This includes outlets such as Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Variety, Complete Music Update, and Music Ally, as well as more than 18 podcast episodes. Our clients also participated in more than 15 panels and webinars at major industry conferences and won multiple industry awards. The result? More than 4.3 billion impressions total!
- DDEX received the Music Biz 2025 Impact Award for Technological Excellence – read more in Creative Industries News
- Marc Caruso of Angry Mob Music guested on The New Music Business with Ari Herstand podcast to discuss how independent music publishing works (or doesn’t)
- Martin Clancy of AI:OK joined BBC World News to discuss the UK’s silent protest album “Is This What We Want?”
- LyricFind filed an antitrust lawsuit against Musixmatch, accusing them of using an exclusive deal with Warner Chappell Music to unlawfully freeze competitors out of the lyric-licensing business – read more in Complete Music Update (CMU)
- Deborah Mannis-Gardner was named to Billboard’s 2025 Women in Music and R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players lists
- The AYO Music Group team wrote an op-ed for Music Ally titled, “The UK’s AI vs copyright crossroads: where do we go now?”
- Symphonic Distribution’s Jorge Brea and Randall Foster were named to Billboard’s 2025 Indie Power Players list
- Jorge Brea of Symphonic also wrote an op-ed for Billboard titled, “To Fight Streaming Fraud Effectively, Distributors & DSPs Must Work Together. Here’s How”
- Angry Mob Music unveiled their “Bold New Brand Identity” – read more in Music Connection
- SourceAudio became the ‘preferred music licensing partner’ for ElevenLabs – read more in Music Ally
- Music Business Worldwide interviewed SourceAudio’s Andrew Harding to discuss how they are “building the market-making infrastructure for the music business”
- DDEX elected Dan Simpson as the new Chair of the DDEX Board – read more in Music Week
Vote For Our Client SXSW London Panels
Our clients have multiple panels in the running for SXSW London 2026! Check them all out at the links below and be sure to vote for them!
- Deborah Mannis-Gardner: Sampling: The Misunderstood Artform Powering Creativity and Revenue for Artists Old and New
- Deborah Mannis-Gardner: Revisioning Reversion Rights – What to do with your rights once you get them back
- Symphonic: The Modern Label Playbook: Data, Discovery & Demand in 2026
- Symphonic: Today YouTube, Tomorrow the World: Why You Need Videos to Grow Your Fanbase
- SourceAudio: Sync Readiness as Cultural Strategy: How Export Offices Can Unlock Global Music in Film, TV, and Streaming
Recent Client News
Angry Mob
On September 24th, Angry Mob announced the signing of Steve Stout and Jordan Sherman to worldwide admin deals, with Marc Caruso saying “Steve brings a unique blend of rock, folk, and indie experimentation that’s instantly recognizable, while Jordan’s versatility as a songwriter, artist, and producer lets him move from indie-pop to cinematic productions with ease. They represent two very different but equally exciting creative voices, and we’re proud to welcome both to the Angry Mob family.”
In November, Angry Mob’s Ralph Torrefranca and Marc Caruso were featured on the podcasts The New Music Business with Ari Herstand and the 3Q Podcast, respectively. Ralph joined Ari to offer a candid look at the realities of A&R and independent publishing and discuss signing and developing new talent, navigating the politics of song splits, the growing importance of diversity in writers’ rooms, and more. Marc joined Rachel Vogell on the 3Q Podcast to talk about the benefits of saying yes, networking tips, pivotal moments in his career, reputation, and the human side of the music publishing industry.
Angry Mob’s Jessie LaBelle was interviewed by Muse By Clios for their series ‘2 Minutes With’. The interview discusses her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired.
DDEX
From November 17th-19th, DDEX held their 45th Plenary in Toronto, Canada! They discussed many of the hottest topics in the industry and how to address them, including AI, ERN, MRT, MWDR, Party ID, and more through their working group meetings . They also held a 101 Seminar to close the week out in partnership with SOCAN, CMRRA, Music Publishers Canada, and RE:Sound.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner and AYO Music
The 2026 GRAMMY nominations were recently announced, and Deborah Mannis-Gardner and the DMG team are proud to have cleared samples for 13 of the nominees in nine categories including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Alternative Music Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Rap Album, and Best Latin Pop Album. Another amazing feat for our Queen of Sample Clearances!
LyricFind
LyricFind has teamed up with EmuBands, a trusted distribution partner of thousands of artists, labels, and managers across the world. This collaboration will bring Rotor Videos by LyricFind directly into the EmuBands dashboard, allowing artists and labels to generate animated Apple Music Album Motion and Spotify Canvas videos within minutes, supporting the next chapter of visual content creation for independent artists. Read the full announcement here.
LyricFind also launched the LyricFind Out Loud blog on their website to share insights on their favorite topic: lyrics! Check out their recent posts:
- The Calendar’s Quiet Influence On Lyrics
- LyricFind’s Favourite Halloween Lyrics
- A Year in Review with LyricFind HQ
SourceAudio
SourceAudio has had an eventful few months! On September 24th, they signed a deal with Music AI to provide them with access to millions of pre-cleared songs for ethical AI training, unlocking increased value for users of its continually enhanced Music AI platform and Moises app.
In October, SourceAudio launched their newest product, Mood Magic, a purpose-built music initiative designed to support and empower students with dynamic, emotionally attuned music for modern K–6 learning.
At the end of October, SourceAudio announced the promotion of Weston McGowen to Global Head of Catalog Services. As part of his promotion, McGowen will now oversee SourceAudio’s global catalog ecosystem, including client operations, metadata, and rights-management infrastructure for the company’s extensive network of rightsholders, publishers, broadcasters, and media partners.
Symphonic
Symphonic kept busy this fall with multiple announcements, interviews, and op-eds! On October 2nd, Symphonic signed Underdog Music Philippines, one of the country’s fastest-growing independent labels, marking the next chapter of their continued growth in the region, after making several key hires on the A&R Client Development Team in Asia earlier this year.
On November 11th, Symphonic celebrated 10 nominations for the 2026 GRAMMY Awards in categories including Best Jazz Performance, Best Recording Package, Best Music Video, Best Reggae Album, Best Classical Compendium, Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album, Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, and Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
Jorge Brea joined the Music Industry Insider Podcast to discuss the fight against streaming fraud, breaking down user-generated content scams, industry-wide collaboration through the Music Fights Fraud Alliance, and what artists and music entrepreneurs must know to protect their careers in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
Gui Morais wrote an op-ed in Hypebot discussing the importance of local culture to international success.
On November 18th, Symphonic announced their new partnership with EVEN, which will bring an instant, sell-before-streaming storefront to Symphonic creators, unlocking revenue from superfans before a single stream hits DSPs.
Lastly, Symphonic rounded out the year by launching Your Story 2025, a year-end recap tool that helps Symphonic clients celebrate their success by showcasing their top-performing tracks, videos, and playlists across platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and more.
In addition, Symphonic is wrapping up the year by sharing some of its own accomplishments as it prepares for its 20th anniversary in 2026. Chief among these is over $100 million in payments to independent artists in 2025, as well as over 2 million songs distributed and over 135,000 playlist pickups.