Rihanna just signed a major music publishing deal with Sony/ATV, so is new music finally coming soon?
Barbados superstar Rihanna has made plenty of business moves this year that have mostly involved her Fenty Beauty cosmetic line or her Savage x Fenty lingerie collection. These ventures have had fans questioning whether the singer was even focused on music anymore while the follow up to 2016’s Anti still hangs in the balance. But Monday news broke that may give the Navy some new hope after Rihanna signed a new worldwide deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing company.
The deal covers her entire catalog plus any future projects, according to Billboard. Rihanna followed music executive Jon Platt — who worked at her former publishing company Warner Chappell up until this past April — over to Sony/ATV where he is the current chairman/CEO. Platt was the head of Warner Chappell from 2015 to 2018.
Platt said when announcing the news that he is “proud to have known Rihanna since the beginning of her career … Music, fashion, philanthropy and a heart of gold have solidified Rihanna’s position as one of the biggest icons in the world. It is an honor to be reunited with her at Sony/ATV.”
Sony/ATV is home to more than three million copyrights including hits by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and Taylor Swift, according to Variety. The company has also worked closely with both Beyonce and Jay-Z.
The news comes just days after Rihanna’s major presence at New York Fashion Week, which included her Savage x Fenty runway show and her fifth annual Diamond Ball. The 31-year-old pop star has been teasing her fans about dropping new music some time in 2019, possibly December, and during a red carpet interview last week, RiRi said she “still had to finish” her album. Rumors have been floating around over her registering new songs with publishers, so things may finally be falling into place that that album after all.
