Hit UK songwriting and production duo Mojam have signed a new worldwide deal with Sony/ATV‘s Naughty Words joint venture with Naughty Boy.
James Murray and Mustafa Omer, aka Mojam, have worked with acts including Emeli Sande, Professor Green, Rizzle Kicks and Naughty Boy (Shahid Khan). Their new deal extends a relationship with Naughty Words that dates back to the joint venture’s launch with Sony/ATV.
Naughty Words founder and director Shahid Khan said: “They were the first signings to Naughty Words and they are now the first re-signings. It’s great as their publisher and their friend that our relationships continues. They’ve learnt a lot in the last few years and they are going to gain from that.”
Sony/ATV UK Director of A&R Janice Brock said: “We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Mus and James from Mojam. We have seen them grow into seasoned and highly professional songwriters and producers.”
Since Mojam’s initial deal with Naughty Words/Sony/ATV the duo have helped to helm some of the most successful releases of the decade, including Naughty Boy’s own UK chart-topping single La La La with Sam Smith.
Co-written and co-produced by the pair, it recently surpassed a million sales in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company, and has been a hit around the world, including in the US where this spring it made the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
They were also a leading part of the writing team for Emeli Sande’s seven-times platinum Our Version Of Events, the biggest album in the UK of 2012 and the second biggest artist seller of 2013. Their contributions included Daddy, which became a hit single in its own right.
Khan said: “I had known them for a couple of years before I signed them. They always had their own studio and I didn’t have a studio myself then so I used to borrow theirs. Once I had Naughty Words I knew they were the people I wanted to sign. They made me think that I should start my own publishing company.”
Murray and Omer are now working on Sande’s second album as well as contributing to the debut album from Jess Glynne, whose vocals have appeared on Clean Bandit’s Rather Be and Route 94’s My Love, which both topped the UK chart and are among the 10 biggest singles of 2014.
Khan said: “They’ve got a lot of cuts and are also working on their own artist project, which I’m really excited about and which labels in the UK and US are talking to them about. That will be an important next phase in their career when they become artist/producers.”
[Pictured L-R: Riki Bleau (manager), Mustafa Omer (Mojam), Naughty Boy, Chris Philips (lawyer), James Murray (Mojam) and Janice Brock (Sony/ATV Director of A&R)]Music Business Worldwide
