RESERVOIR ANNOUNCES PUBLISHING DEAL WITH AWARD-WINNING, MULTI-PLATINUM AND #1 HIT WRITER-PRODUCER OAK FELDER, EXPANDING ON EXISTING JOINT VENTURE
Date:
Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today announced a worldwide publishing deal with #1 hit writer-producer Warren “Oak” Felder. The deal includes all of Felder’s future works and expands on a joint venture established with Felder in 2017, through which Reservoir signed his accomplished songwriting and producing collective The Orphanage, initially comprised of Trevor Brown and Zaire Koalo, and later including Keith “Ten4” Sorrells.
Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Felder, a two-time BMI Top Producer, rose to prominence as part of production duo Pop & Oak, formed in 2009 with Philadelphia-based producer Andrew “Pop” Wansel. Together, the duo helped pen Platinum-selling single “Your Love” by Nicki Minaj in 2010 and multiple songs for Alessia Cara’s 2015 debut album Know-It-All, including hit singles “Here” and “Scars to Your Beautiful.” Both went to #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart and earned Felder BMI Pop Awards in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
In addition to these wins, Felder took home another BMI Pop Award in 2019 for co-writing and co-producing the massively successful, 5x-Platinum “Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato. Most recently, Felder collaborated on seven tracks off Lovato’s 2021 album Dancing With The Devil…The Art of Starting Over, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200.
Felder co-wrote and produced songs on John Legend’s Grammy-winning album Bigger Love and also co-wrote and produced songs on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for The United States vs. Billie Holiday (“The Devil & I Got Up To Dance” and “Break Your Fall”). As a tech-savvy producer, he recently created the latest “Apple Update Custom Producer Sound Pack by Oak Felder” and shared his knowledge and love of mentorship by lecturing to students at Harvard.
Rolling Stone has called Felder “one of R&B’s most important producers.” Throughout his career, Felder has crafted hits for countless top-tier artists, including Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, The Chainsmokers, Lizzo, Kehlani, Miguel, Trey Songz, and more. He has also earned Grammy recognition, winning Best R&B Album for his collaborations on Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Rihanna’s Unapologetic, as well as receiving a Best R&B Song nomination for co-writing Usher’s single “Good Kisser.” He is managed by Milk & Honey’s Lucas Keller, Peter Coquillard, and Dustin Aquino.
Of the deal, Felder said, “I am so glad to continue this journey in a new way with an amazing team of dedicated, hardworking, creative, and impressive people. Reservoir has already been a fantastic partner for helping to grow my publishing company, and I’m looking forward to putting even more awards on the walls with them.”
Reservoir Executive Vice President, Global Creative Director Donna Caseine added, “Oak has been a member of the Reservoir family for several years now, through our joint venture, and we could not be happier to deepen that relationship and officially bring him into the fold as a talent on the roster. As we expand our business, one of our goals is to represent creative talents who are at the top of their game and the very best at what they do, and that is Oak.”
Lucas Keller, President and Founder of Milk & Honey Management + Sports + Ventures added, “Reservoir signing Oak is the result of a real multi-year investment in relationship, something you don’t often see in an industry rife with attention deficit. I can’t think of a better home for Oak than with the great people at Reservoir, and I’m absolutely confident this partnership will lead to many prosperous years ahead. There’s no better team we would rather see Oak with than Reservoir.”
Peter Coquillard, Senior Manager and Head of International at Milk & Honey Management + Sports + Ventures commented, “Reservoir has been a tremendous partner to Oak, and we’re thrilled that he can now have both his own compositions and that of his team in such good hands.”