Sony/ATV Music Publishing has renewed its worldwide deal with multi-Grammy-winning songwriter, artist and producer Pharrell Williams.
The agreement will take the company’s relationship with Williams into a third decade and includes worldwide No. 1 hits written by him such as “Happy,” “Get Lucky,” “Blurred Lines,” “Rock Your Body,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” “Hot In Herre,” “Money Maker” and “Havana” as well as future compositions.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier said: “Pharrell has been part of my extended music business family for two decades and his talent, creativity and songwriting abilities are only exceeded by his humanity. We are delighted and proud to continue to work with him and his team.”
Pharrell Williams said: “It’s incredible to think that it’s now 20 years since I first signed a publishing deal with these guys. I look forward to continued success with Marty, Brian Monaco and Sony/ATV.”
Williams is one of the most prolific and successful songwriters, artists and producers in contemporary music, having worked on a number of the biggest and most celebrated global hits of the past two decades.
These include songs released under his own name, with his group N*E*R.D and as a featured artist and songwriter/producer with some of the world’s leading music stars.
With Chad Hugo he formed The Neptunes, which quickly established itself as one of the most in-demand and successful songwriting and production teams thanks to R&B and hip-hop crossover hits including Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Got Your Money,” Jay Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and Usher’s “U Don’t Have To Call.”
“Pharrell has been part of my extended music business family for two decades and his talent, creativity and songwriting abilities are only exceeded by his humanity.”
Martin Bandier, Sony/ATV
Their reputation soon spread to crafting pop gems such as “I’m A Slave 4 U” for Britney Spears, “Girlfriend” for ‘N Sync and “Rock Your Body” for Justin Timberlake, while Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits followed with “Hot In Herre” (Nelly), “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (Snoop Dogg), “Hollaback Girl” (Gwen Stefani) and the Grammy-winning “Money Maker” (Ludacris).
In 2009 Billboard named The Neptunes as the top producers of the decade.
Alongside their work with other artists, the duo additionally scored a series of hits under the Neptunes name and as part of the band N*E*R*D, while Pharrell’s solo career launched with the Neptunes-produced Hot 100 top five single “Frontin’” featuring Jay Z.
As he stepped further into the spotlight, three songs released within the space of a year cemented Williams’s place in music history.
This sequence began with “Blurred Lines,” which was recorded with Robin Thicke and T.I. and which was named by IFPI as the biggest-selling single worldwide of 2013.
It was followed by “Get Lucky” with Daft Punk and the solo hit “Happy.”
“Get Lucky” topped charts around the world and won Record of the Year at the Grammys.
“Happy” followed with two Grammys, an Oscar nomination and being named the top-selling single globally of 2014, while it featured on Pharrell’s Grammy-recognized chart-topping album GIRL.
He has since worked with artists including Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone and Ed Sheeran, co-wrote and featured on Calvin Harris’s 2017 worldwide No. 1 hit “Feels” and scored another No. 1 last year as the co-writer of Camila Cabello’s “Havana.”
He also received a Golden Globes Best Original Score nomination and two Grammy nominations for his work on the soundtrack to the movie Hidden Figures.
A busy start to 2018 has included the release of long-time collaborator Justin Timberlake’s album Man Of The Woods, which features nine Pharrell songs and which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Around the same time N*E*R*D scored their first ever Top 40 entry on the Hot 100 with the Rihanna-fronted “Lemon,” which is included on the group’s album No One Ever Really Dies.
Pharrell also co-wrote Migos’s “Stir Fry,” which in February become a U.S. Top 10 hit.
[Pictured L-R: Sony/ATV President, Global Chief Marketing Officer Brian Monaco, Pharrell Williams and Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier]Music Business Worldwide
