Welcome to the Flock!
Joining the Jaybird flock this month is music publishing and copyright law expert Liz Garner! She is well-known in the Atlanta scene for ensuring artists, producers, and co-writers register copyrights and splits in-studio, earning her the nickname “Studio Momma,” with additional expertise in termination rights and catalog valuation/acquisition.
Liz is the founder of Garner Group Music, alongside her twin sister and business partner, Elise, and has been instrumental in terminating rights for artists such as Isaac Hayes, Mint Condition, Montell Jordan, Brian Morgan, Shep Crawford, Kawan Prather, Jermaine Dupri, and many others. She also manages the Isaac Hayes Enterprises catalog alongside Isaac Hayes III and plays an instrumental role in their ongoing 2024 lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump for copyright infringement over his use of “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” which was written by Hayes and David Porter.
Welcome, Liz!
Recent Client News
Angry Mob
Angry Mob Music’s Ralph Torrefranca published an op-ed in Billboard titled “How to Make 2026 Your Breakout Year: Building Your Creative Conduit.” In the op-ed, Ralph speaks directly to creatives, using his personal experiences and professional achievements to illustrate the ease with which one can work their creative muscle to outperform and outlast those around them. Ralph provides three simple and easy-to-follow steps that readers can take to see near-immediate benefits – including new opportunities, new revenue streams, diversity of thought, new ideas, new experiences, collaborations, perspectives, and more – that will bring their projects to the next level.
DDEX
2026 marks the 20th anniversary of DDEX! The DDEX Board and Secretariat are busy putting together plans to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Stay tuned for more announcements about their Plenary in November, as well as other special events throughout the year.
DDEX will also host an Implementation Summit on April 17th in partnership with BMAT Music Innovators at their Barcelona office. Learn more here.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner and AYO Music
Deborah Mannis-Gardner has been nominated for a Guild of Music Supervisors Award in the Best Music Supervision in a Docuseries category for her work on Hip Hop Was Born Here, Season 1.
The awards will take place Saturday, February 28 in Los Angeles. Her nomination was also covered by Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, and more. Congratulations to the Queen of Sample Clearances!
Deborah was also recently interviewed by Billboard for the article, “Mickey’ Gives ‘Apt.’ A Hook – So Why Aren’t Interpolated Songwriters Grammy Eligible?” In the article, she discusses the rise of sampling and interpolating, and why she believes these artists should be acknowledged. Read the full piece at the link above.
AYO Music Group
AYO Music Group had a busy 2025 with new additions to their roster, further development of their Gapfinder tool, and upcoming releases in the works for 2026.
They recently welcomed hip-hop icons Pete Rock, Silkk the Shocker, and Drumma Boy to the AYO family, along with Junglepussy and SOCAN Breakthrough Songwriter Award finalist Kayla Diamond. AYO’s song catalog continues to expand as well, including evergreen hits like Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name,” Latin Grammy-winning works such as Residente’s “Estilo Libre,” and RIAA-certified tracks from Kacey Musgraves, JID, Ella Mai, Drake, Chris Brown, Davido, Kendrick Lamar, and more. The team also added several major titles from legendary hip-hop group De La Soul.
Finally, AYO worked with Silas Washington, son of Joe ”Bubba” Washington and representative of the Joe Washington Estate, for a reissue of his father’s rare 1976 release ”Church – How Long / Da Da Song” including both a digital version and a 7” vinyl limited to 500 copies, which launched on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Read the full AYO 2025 recap press release here.
LyricFind
LyricFind continues to add insightful lyric-focused content to their LyricFind Out Loud blog. This year, they’ve started with the Top Lyrics of 2025, highlighting the songs that dominated their searches throughout the year. From “Golden” to “Not Like Us,” these songs sparked searches, conversations, and emotional connections worldwide. Check it out!
SourceAudio
SourceAudio recently announced a new long-term AI dataset partnership with Native Instruments. Notably, SourceAudio’s fully rights-cleared audio dataset will support Native Instruments’ ongoing research and product innovation across their product portfolio, enabling new ways for musicians, producers, and composers to work more efficiently, stay in creative flow, and maintain full artistic control.
SourceAudio is also heading to SXSW on March 15th for their panel “Composing for Wellness: Music as a Cognitive Utility.” The panel will explore how composers, researchers, and platforms are creating purpose-built music that now outperforms major label artists, both financially and functionally, on DSPs and B2B services.
Symphonic
Symphonic has launched a brand-new tool, their AI Release Campaign Builder. This tool enables artists, labels, and managers to create a highly customized, actionable marketing plan for their releases in just a few clicks, empowering Symphonic clients who want high-quality guidance without the cost or complexity of hiring a marketing team.
These plans are built using Symphonic’s detailed artist data and with a blueprint crafted by a team of marketing experts, which is then pulled together using AI. The Release Campaign Builder is available now to all Symphonic Partner clients. This news was also covered by Music Ally and Record of the Day. Read the full announcement here.
Symphonic is also gearing up for SXSW in Austin next month, where representatives will be speaking on two panels. On March 17th, Michael Burrows will speak on the panel “How To Build A Career Without Going Viral,” and on March 18th, Guji Lorenzana will speak on the panel “Owning Your Narrative: Global Strategies for Indie Artists.” Make sure to check them out if you’re attending!
The Jaybird team joins the friends and family of Tracy Zamot in mourning her passing last week. As Laurie told Billboard, “Tracy and I met early in our careers, when I was a young publicist faxing her ticket requests at Atlantic for Everything but the Girl’s tour dates back in 1994. 25 years later, she joined me at Jaybird and was just a joy to work with.” We will miss her intelligence, humor, and fashion sense, as well as her excellent taste in music. Fly free, Tracy.