Ultra International Music Publishing rebrands after legal ruling

The decision follows a recent court ruling in a case brought by Sony Music, which challenged the company’s continued use of the Ultra name after Sony acquired the publishing firm’s recording division in 2021.

The newly renamed Payday Publishing will continue to oversee a catalogue of more than 70 000 copyrights, including shares in numerous Billboard No. 1 hits. The company publishes and co-publishes works by top artists such as Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Future, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Drake, Martin Garrix, Kygo, Steve Aoki, and Playboi Carti. Thirteen of its songwriters were nominated across seven categories, including Album of the Year, R&B Album of the Year, and Rap Album of the Year, at the most recent Grammy Awards.

The Payday name draws from Payday Records, the influential hip hop label founded by Patrick Moxey in 1992, known for early releases by Jay-Z, Jeru the Damaja, Antslive, and others.

“Throughout the entire legal process surrounding the ongoing usage of the Ultra brand, we have asserted our belief that for our entirely separate and unconnected publishing division, the rights should remain with us,” Payday Music Publishing founder and CEO Patrick Moxey said. “However, the judge in the case thought otherwise, even though no damages or legal costs were awarded against us, and we will move forward with a new name.

“But it’s important to emphasise that this is all it is — a new name. Nothing apart from the name changes. We will continue to represent our amazing songwriters and producers and we will continue serving as the custodians and protectors of the more than 70 000 copyrights we are privileged to represent. We have seen tremendous growth in recent years and will remain market leaders in independent global music publishing and we are proud to be working under our new Payday Publishing banner.”

The company has celebrated several recent entries into Spotify’s Billion Streams Club, including The Colour Violet by Tory Lanez, Wait For U by Drake, Future and TEMS, and Runaway by AURORA. In addition to strong performance across Urban, Rhythmic, and Dance radio charts, Payday’s songwriters have contributed to several recent US No. 1 albums by artists such as Future, Playboi Carti, and Lil Baby.

Looking ahead, Payday Publishing is launching a new series of international writing camps in 2025, building on the success of its 2024 collaborations with Atlantic Records in Ibiza, Virgin Records in Germany, and Warner Music in Paris.

This follows a successful South Korean writing camp in February, held in Seoul in partnership with Hybe Publishing, JYP, Warner Records, and SM Entertainment. Represented songwriters such as Neil Ormandy, Jenson Vaughn, Lizzy Land, and Kwon Close collaborated with acclaimed Korean writers including 1Zone, Slow Rabbit, Jinsol, Frants, Kass, CA$HCOW, Alex Karlsson, Gyubin, Tim Tan, Alawn, Wutan, no2zcat, MADDOX, Steven Castle, and Scon.

Additionally, Payday’s annual sync writing camp will return this May in Palm Springs. Focused on trailer music, the week-long event brings together top Payday songwriters and leading production companies. Previous placements include trailers for We Live In Time, Disney 100, Grey’s Anatomy, and content for Netflix, Hulu, ABC, and others.