Four Tet’s albums return to streaming following new publishing deal with Universal Music

Four Tet‘s publishing deals are back in the news again, but this time for the best of reasons. Four Tet, real name Kieran Hebden, has signed a new global publishing deal with Universal Music Group. This move puts streaming of his works back on offer, which at the end of last year had been suspended following his legal battle against his former label Domino.

In 2001 Four Tet signed with Domino for the release of his second album ‘Pause‘. The deal extended to the DJ and music producer’s following releases such as ‘Rounds‘ in 2003, and ‘Everything Ecstatic‘ in 2005. The contract was made before the technological revolution that would take off in the industry and the great boom of streamings. Feeling aggrieved, Four Tet sued Domino in a London court in late 2020, claiming that the contract was no longer suitable and that Domino’s digital royalties were unfair. The case became public knowledge last year when citing the litigation the label removed ‘Pause’, ‘Rounds’ and ‘Everything Ecstatic’ from streaming platforms. The blow was well felt by the author of these beautiful works and his fans.

Now, these three albums by Four Tet are once again available on services such as Spotify or Apple Music thanks to a new publishing deal signed with music giant Universal Music Group, as reported by Music Week. On the signing, Pete Simmons, director of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group, said that:

‘Four Tet has soundtracked my life from GCSE revision to dancefloors at university and now I get the pleasure to work with him. I’m honoured to represent a catalogue that means so much to not just me but the whole of UMPG. (…) Looking forward to working with Kieran, Carol and the wider Solar team (…) Special thanks to Amy Samson for making the initial introduction.’

Image Credit: Press