Hyped hip-hop artiste Spaceghostpurrp proves a novel new addition to Bon Iver and Grimes’ label of choice, Beggar’s 4AD, who will oversee the release of the Florida rapper/producer’s new long player ‘The Chronicles Of Spaceghostpurrp’ on 12 Jun.

4AD are tendering album track ‘No Evidence’ as proof of the deal, so download it for free here:

Bloc Party have announced that they have signed a new worldwide deal with Frenchkiss Records, with marketing and distribution handled by Universal’s Cooperative Music. This means that the band’s forthcoming fourth studio album will be their first not released by Wichita.

Writing on the band’s website, frontman Kele Okereke said: “It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce to the universe that Bloc Party have now signed to Frenchkiss Records. This signing has made Bloc Party very happy because not only do we know and love the people at this label but we know and love this label’s output. Frenchkiss has released some mighty fine music over the years, music that has gone on to influence this very band. So here’s to some more mighty fine music”.

In other news, Bloc Party will be re-releasing their debut single on Transgressive Records, ‘She’s Hearing Voices’, for this year’s Record Store Day.

Oh, and in other other news, Bloc Party are officially back together and recording a new album. I’m not sure we’ve actually mentioned that here before.

The US bit of BMG Chrysalis announced it had signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with popular pop imp Bruno Mars this week. The rights company will administrate the singer’s self-penned hits and the songs he has written for other pop types as part of songwriting and production team The Smeezingtons.

Confirming the new deal, BMG boss man Hartwig Masuch told reporters: “We are thrilled that Bruno Mars – one of contemporary music’s most creative and prolific songwriters – has joined the BMG roster. His decision to sign with us reflects our commitment to make BMG a home for the best music talent in the world”.

While BMG North America’s Exec VP Richard Blackstone added: “In such a short time, Bruno Mars has created a tremendous footprint in the musical world. Whether he’s writing for himself or others, he creates magic and there is simply no limit to where his talent can take him”.

The View have been announced as the latest signing to Cooking Vinyl with a global services deal to release the band’s fourth album. Produced by Mike Crossey, that new long player is currently being recorded at the Motor Museum Studio in Liverpool.

The band’s manager Mike Bawden told CMU: “It’s great the band have signed with Cooking Vinyl – great people with a great label, and now with the addition of Britain’s most exciting pop-punk band, we cant wait to get going”.

Frontman Kyle Falconer added: “New label, new record being made in Liverpool with Mike Crossey. Gigs going in the diary – we’re looking forward to a great future with Cooking Vinyl”.

EMI Music Publishing announced this week that it had signed a global deal with former ‘X-Factor’ loser Rebecca Ferguson, who came second on the telly talent irritant in 2010, behind Matt Cardle and ahead of some bunch of delinquents called One Direction. Don’t know what happened to them. The deal includes Ferguson’s co-writing credits on all the tracks that appeared on her debut album, released by Sony last December.

Confirming the deal, EMI Publishing’s Guy Moot told CMU: “We are thrilled to have signed Rebecca. Her career is off to a flying start and her talent as a songwriter is undeniable. The whole team have been deeply impressed by Rebecca’s natural songwriting ability from the start. She writes honestly and from the heart, and that allows her to connect with people. We’re now looking forward to creating opportunities for her music to be heard on a worldwide stage”.

Ferguson herself added: “I’m so excited to be working with EMI Music Publishing, they have such a great history and so many fantastic songwriters have signed with them. I’m looking forward to a successful and creative relationship”.

Dexys Midnight Runners, who – if this press release is to be believed – we’re meant to just call Dexys these days, confirmed earlier this week that they will work with BMG on the release of their new album ‘One Day I’m Going To Soar’, the band’s first studio recording since 1985′s ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’.

Although the v2.0 BMG, launched in 2008, has focused in the main on music publishing, it’s always had ambitions in the sound recordings space too, and has acquired some master recording rights along the way. However, the new BMG has no intention of becoming a traditional record company, and in terms of new recordings is looking for partnership deals, managing and marketing releases in partnership with the artist and their management, who in turn have more control and earn a higher royalty.

Confirming this approach is what attracted Dexys and its driving force Kevin Rowland to BMG, the band’s manager Tim Vigon told CMU: “When you’re talking about one of the most legendary artists the UK has ever produced, it’s important to be able to hand-pick a team that has the necessary clout and passion. The BMG model has given us that freedom. BMG are very committed and we have worked out every detail of this release together. It’s a team effort and feels very exciting”.

Giving the BMG take on the deal, the firm’s SVP of UK Alexi Cory-Smith added: “Artists are increasingly demanding a say in the way their music is sold. They want transparency and an alternative to the old-style record deal. That is what the BMG masters deal is about”.

Meanwhile, focusing on the Dexys deal in particular, BMG’s Manager of Masters UK Danny Watson said: “It is a huge honour to work with Kevin Rowland and Dexys. The album is extraordinary and is set to be one of the musical highlights of 2012″.

Continuing its spate of new signings, BMG Chrysalis has announced that it has agreed a new publishing deal with indie-folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner. The contract was apparently signed after something of a biding war, as Turner prepares to play his biggest show to date, headlining Wembley Arena next month.

Says BMG Chrysalis UK VP of A&R Ben Bodie: “This is a significant signing of an artist who is clearly on the verge of a major breakthrough. If you look at what is happening in the album market, it’s all about proper artists with real songs. Frank is a real contemporary artist, an exceptional songwriter with a unique vision all his own”.

BMG Chrysalis UK Senior Vice-President Alexi Cory-Smith added: “There is lots more to come. The music business has changed. Writers want a new alternative. BMG Chrysalis is proving it has the resources, the technology and the creative vision to provide that alternative”.

Sony Music has signed the Moshi Monsters. Well, why not? The major will release an album of songs from characters that appear on the kid’s social networking site, although presumably not from Lady Goo Goo – Lady Gaga having been through the British courts to block her Moshi counterpart from releasing any tracks on trademark grounds last year.

However, Dr Strangeglove, Big Bad Bill and Sweettooth will all provide songs for the first twelve track record to be released via the Sony/Moshi partnership. Jason Perry, who is heading up Moshi Music, told the Telegraph: “Moshi Monsters has never released an album before so this is a big opportunity. The thinking behind it is that we don’t want the company to just be a computer brand. We want to turn it into the number one children’s brand”.

The Sex Pistols have signed a new deal with Universal Music’s catalogue division for the release of a 35th anniversary edition of their ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ album worldwide, excluding North America.

Says John Lydon, in typically modest fashion: “Music can be great, when done by the great. The Sex Pistols are the greatest. Universal now has a trophy room. Music is the imitation of nature. The Sex Pistols are nature”. Karen Simmonds, MD of UMC UK added: “To be given the opportunity to re-evaluate The Sex Pistols catalogue is every music lover’s dream. We’re looking forward to working with the band and celebrating their impact on worldwide culture”.

Details of the anniversary release are due to be announced shortly, with other events and Sex Pistols releases apparently also in the pipeline.

EMI has signed London-based pop outfit Rascals to its Virgin Records imprint, with their first release for the label expected later this year. Whether Virgin is still part of EMI when that happens remains to be seen. Fun.

Rascals’ co-manager Elias Bally told CMU: “We are very proud to have signed to EMI/Virgin. With experienced A&R players such as Jade Richardson, Glyn Aikins, Nick Burgess, Miles Leonard and EMI’s premiership marketing team, it made perfect sense. We believe and both hope we can justify their decision to sign us and look forward to forging a successful partnership”.

Virgin’s VP A&R Nick Burgess added: “The signing of Rascals is something everyone at Virgin is very excited about. We love that they are a unique band with four individual stars and great songs. Rascals are a breath of fresh air for the UK music scene and we have no doubt that fans of all kinds of music are going to connect with them”.

Abrasive hip hop outfit Death Grips have signed to Sony Music for their previously reported two album releases due this year. They will release through the Columbia imprint in the UK and Epic in the US.

The trio, consisting of rapper MC Ride (real name Stefan Burnett), producer Flatlander (real name Andy Morin) and drummer Zach Hill, will release the first of those two albums, ‘The Money Store’, on 23 Apr. A vinyl version of the record will be made available exclusively for this year’s Record Store Day on 21 Apr. The second album, ‘No Love’, is scheduled for release in the autumn.

BMG Chrysalis has signed a new publishing deal with Kevin Parker, songwriter for Australian band Tame Impala. The band are due to return with a follow-up to their 2010 album ‘Innerspeaker’ later this year.

BMG Chrysalis A&R Manager Craig Michie said of the signing: “Tame Impala are ace. I’m so excited we are working with Kevin. I can’t wait for them to be back on tour with a new record!”

The president of Universal subsidiary Cash Money Records, one Lil Wayne, revealed last week that he had brokered a record deal with nu metal troupe Limp Bizkit.

Rapper Wayne, whose penchant for all things rock-related is well documented in this Spin article appears to have signed Fred Durst et al to Cash Money’s hip hop and R&B dominated roster as part of an initiative to embrace alternative genres. Or, as he more succinctly phrased it, to “sign everybody”.

Phoning in to late night soul show ‘Kissing After Dark’, Weezy told radio host Lenny Green: “As far as Cash Money, we’re always listening and looking at acts so, it’s like every other day I hear about somebody new just signed to Cash Money. The other day I signed Limp Bizkit to Cash Money so, they’re signing everybody”. He even hinted that the label was in talks to recruit R&B singer Ashanti, who hasn’t released an album proper since 2008.

As for Fred Durst’s thoughts on his band’s new label deal, they ran thus: “The game is missing danger, electricity, and rock n roll! Cash Money Limp Bizkit”.

The Bizkit, of course, released their ‘comeback’ album ‘Gold Cobra’ last year, it achieving reasonable commercial success and charting at number sixteen in the US Billboard 200. No word from Wayne as to when the group will make their Cash Money debut, but Fred Durst is sure to tweet something silly about it any day now.

Producer and CMU favourite Wrongtom has, as the above headline goes some way to indicating, joined the Tru Thoughts roster for a series of ‘vintage dancehall collaborations’, the first of which will be a partnership with fellow Tru Thoughts signing Deemas J.

‘Wrongtom Meets Deemas J’, as the album is so aptly titled, will mark the second in a series of ‘Wrongtom Meets’ LPs, the first having been 2010′s Big Dada released ‘Wrongtom Meets Roots Manuva’.

Says Wrongtom of the new deal and project: “When I think of Tru Thoughts, I think of a grass roots business, which is what makes them the perfect label for this project. It’s an honour for us to join the TT gang”.

He adds: “This is a very special project for me as Deemas and I have been playing together since our teens, so an album is well overdue. We’ve covered a multitude of styles, taking in my love of dusty old dancehall and dub, and linking it with Deemas’ experience in the jungle arenas and his lineage in London’s soundsystem scene”.

Canadian singer-songwriter Cold Specks, real name Al Spx, has signed to Mute. The company will release her debut album ‘I Predict A Graceful Expulsion’ on 21 May, preceded by single ‘Blank Maps’ a week earlier. The album deal follows Spx’s move to London to work with producer and now manager Jim Anderson.

Says Anderson of discovering Spx: “My little brother, who was spending his summers with our mother in Toronto, had always told me of this girl he was friends with that had this amazing voice. As a producer I’d heard that so often that I didn’t take too much notice. Then I came in one night to find him and a few friends drinking in the flat and playing a CD of her demos. I was completely transfixed and just kept pressing repeat. I knew I had to work with her. I eventually persuaded her to come over. At that point she had never played with another musician and was completely self-taught with her own unique tuning and timings, which we had to decipher”.

Spx herself adds: “Jim convinced me to fly out and work on the record for a few months. That was a year and a half ago. I guess I’m permanently based here now. I didn’t know anyone when I moved here. We needed musicians and Jim knew a bunch. Rob Ellis [PJ Harvey's regular collaborator] has been helping out with some arrangements and percussion, and Jim’s old friends Pete Roberts [guitar], Thomas Greene [piano] and Tom Havelock [cello] also play on the record”.

If you’re curious and can’t wait until May, Cold Specks will undertake a UK tour later this month, dates as follows, and for the very impatient, a video of previous single release ‘Holland’ is below.

23 Feb: King Tut’s, Glasgow
24 Feb: Leaf, Liverpool
25 Feb: Deaf Institute, Manchester
27 Feb: Jericho Tavern, Oxford
28 Feb: Bush Hall, London
29 Feb: Louisiana, Bristol

Sunday Best Recordings has announced the signing of Skinny Lister, the up and coming band who, as previously reported, topped the PRS’s recent poll for number of festivals played in 2011, gracing the stages of no less than 30 festivals, including Sunday Best’s Bestival.

Confirming the signing, Sunday Best chief Rob da Bank told CMU: “Skinny Lister are a hot new band with a growing fanbase. I’m really excited about them becoming part of the Sunday Best family. They are destined for big things”.

Meanwhile Skinny Lister manager Paul Carey added: “Skinny Lister we’re rightly heralded as ‘the hardest working band in Britain’ by the London Evening Standard and crowned the busiest band of 2011 earning the PRS for Music’s Most Festival Appearances accolade. With Sunday Best’s backing and the release of their debut album in the summer, this is going to be the year of Skinny Lister”.

Detroit-based electro type Jimmy Edgar has announced that he has signed to producer Scuba’s Hotflush Recordings label for the release of his third album.

His debut, ‘Color strip’, was released through Warp, while the follow-up, ‘XXX’, came out through !K7 in 2010.

His first release for his new label will be a single called ‘This One’s For The Children’ on 17 Mar, followed by the as-yet-untitled album later in the year.

Universal Music Publishing’s Nashville office yesterday announced it had signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Grammy winning songwriter and producer Nathan Chapman, who is probably best known for his production work with Taylor Swift.

Also noting recent executive appointments at the company’s Nashville division, says Universal exec Evan Lamberg: “We are incredibly excited to have such a special songwriting talent as Nathan join our Universal Music Publishing family. With Kent Earls now leading UMPG Nashville and great creative executives such as Ron Stuve signing Nathan, we look forward to partnering with him in all of his creative and songwriter endeavours”.

Music publishing firm Kobalt yesterday announced a new deal with Gotye, which will see the Kobalt team represent the Aussie multi-instrumentalist outside his home country.

The deal, via Kobalt’s Sydney office, is part of Gotye’s plan to expand his profile outside Australia and New Zealand. His co-manager, Danny Rogers, recently told The Music Network: “We’re now fixing our attention on America and UK and the rest of Europe. It’s really connecting in so many markets. The feeling around the UK is really strong”.

CMU approved pop type Foxes, aka Louisa Rose Allen, yesterday signed a record deal with Simon Fuller’s Sony imprint Sign Of The Times.

As previously reported, Fuller’s XIX Entertainment and Sony Music UK formed the company, which is led by former Universal Music Publishing A&R Dougie Bruce, in November last year. Foxes joins the company’s first signing The Milk.

Allen tweeted yesterday: “Literally all I’ve wanted since I was a little girl to have this as my official job… it now is! Just signed my record deal with Sony!”