5 Seconds of Summer have signed a global recording deal with BMG, making it the pop/rock chart-toppers’ first pact since parting with Interscope earlier this year, Billboard can exclusively announce.
The Australian quartet expects to release new music in early 2022 with a full album coming later in the year.
“We partnered with BMG as they shared the band’s vision for the future and showed an incredible passion to be part of it,” says 5SOS’s manager Benjamin Evans of 17 Artists. “They have an exceptional team [and] are very much a collaborative partner where they not only support but encourage the band’s independence and creative control.”
Evans did not reveal the length of the deal.
Formed in 2011, 5SOS is the only band to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their first three full-length studio albums and the first Australian act with three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. The quartet’s 2014 self-titled album, 2015’s Sounds Good Feels Good and 2018’s Youngblood, all issued via One Mode/Capitol Records bowed in the top spot. Its last studio set (and only one for Interscope), 2020’s Calm, reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
In its 10 years, the group — Luke Hemmings (vocals/guitar), Michael Clifford (vocals/guitar), Calum Hood (vocals/bass), and Ashton Irwin (vocals/drums) — has amassed 10 European Music Awards, five ARIA Awards, an American Music Award and several other accolades, as well as racked up more than 8 billion streams, including joining Spotify’s Billions Club for “Youngblood,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“The values that BMG has and our unique selling proposition is something that is very appealing to artists of their caliber,” says Thomas Scherer, BMG’s president, repertoire & marketing, Los Angeles & New York. “It is becoming increasingly evident that there are more and more artists who want to have control over their music, their careers and the opportunity to build equity and own their assets. We work in close collaboration delivering first-class service around the world, just as we’ve always done in the past and continue to with all our recording artists.”
Scherer adds that “attracting a band of 5 Seconds of Summer’s magnitude is evidence that we are successful at what we do and can offer what artists truly desire.”
BMG, which has been expanding its frontline division, generally allows artists to retain ownership of their masters and license the music to to the label for a specific amount of time.
Dan Gill, BMG executive vp of recorded music, Los Angeles, who deals primarily with frontline recordings, added in a statement, “After an extraordinary decade of creating music together, 5SOS continue to grow and evolve, producing new and invigorating music that is just as effervescent as ever. Their dedication to the fans drives them creatively to reach new levels of sophistication in their music and their passion is unrivaled. We look forward to a very bright future together introducing their new music to the world.”