Looking back over 2014, it’s hard to believe all that Reservoir’s incredible team and talent accomplished.  Join us in reliving some highlights:

GRAMMY NODS

December wouldn’t be complete without the announcement of next year’s Grammy nominees. For the 2015 57th annual awards, Reservoir is celebrating these catalog contenders:

Best Rap Album – Schoolboy Q, Oxymoron. Reservoir writer/rapper 2 Chainz makes an appearance on “What They Want” from this widely praised major label debut.

Best Urban Contemporary Album – Chris Brown, X. Long-time hit-maker Nate “Danja” Hills produces “Add Me In” and “Stereotype” from Brown’s latest. Additionally, Aaliyah’s vocals can be heard on the single “Don’t Think They Know.”

Best Traditional Pop Album – Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek. Gaga pays homage to Billy Strayhorn, recording his “Lush Life” for this #1 jazz album.

Best World Music Album – Anoushka Shankar, Traces of You. Reservoir composer Nitin Sawhney produced and co-wrote several of the tracks on this celebrated release.

NEW TALENT

Reservoir welcomed several additions to the roster this year. Re-acquaint yourself with our latest additions:

Reservoir added 26,000 tracks from FS Media, including hits from Billy Strayhornt, John Denver, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Evanescence, and more. 

Critically acclaimed contemporary composer-producer Nitin Sawhney joined the Reservoir roster this year.  Sawhney’s diverse credits include original compositions for Cirque Du Soleil, the London Symphony Orchestra, and over sixty titles placed in film and television.

Reservoir and South African alternative metal band Seether joined forces just as the global rockers’ 2014 album Isolate and Medicate debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 and lead single “Words As Weapons” hit #1 at Active and Mainstream Rock.

Reservoir acquired the catalog of The Hold Steady.  This year, the group released a sixth indie-rock album, Teeth Dreams.

Internationally accomplished songwriter and performer Jamie Hartman made a jump from Reverb Music to Reservoir this year.  Hartman’s credits include the European Summer smash “When the Beat Drops Out”, which he co-wrote with performer Marlon Roudette.

WRITER NEWS

A handful on Reservoir’s roster saw big changes this year.  A look back on some notable news:

Reservoir’s Multiple BMI Pop Award-winning writer Ina Wroldsen launched her career as a solo artist with the release of “Aliens (Her Er Jeg)”, which quickly became the #1 iTunes download in Wroldsen’s native Norway.

Super producer Scott Storch branched out of his urban-pop and R&B stomping grounds and into the world of EDM, releasing “The Calvary” with DJ Steven Lee.

Philly Groove Records‘ classic soul trio The Delfonics were inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame alongside Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, and Chubby Checker.

Rob Skipper, guitarist and founding member of the British rock group The Holloways, passed away in October.  Fans and industry executives alike emerged to pay respect and remember Skipper’s music.

PLACEMENTS

he Ontario Tourism Board promoted the 2015 Pan Am Games with a commercial featuring Mischa “Book” Chillak and Esthero’s cover of The Delfonics classic “Ready or Not, Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)”.

Beats by Dre promoted their Powerbeats2 Wireless headphones by airing a spot showcasing 2014 U.S. Open champion Serena Williams.  The Reservoir track “Black Unicorn” from 2 Chainz’ B.O.A.T.S. II is featured in the piece.

Spotify chose Cazzette and Terri B!’s “Blind Heart” to introduce the platform’s new Uber partnership.

Reservoir catalog track “Rocky Mountain High” was featured in a commercial by Wonderful Pistachios, the company best known for its advertisements that play on viral topics like PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and the YouTube sensation Mystery Guitar Man.

Gamers were enchanted with the NBA Live ’15 visuals trailer from EA Sports, which featured the 2 Chainz track “I’m Different” synched to beautiful visuals of hyper-realistic gameplay.

Netflix featured the BoB and 2 Chainz track “Headband” in a trailer supporting their wildly successful original series Orange is The New Black.

Vodafone ran a hilarious spot featuring elderly people jamming to “Bad Girls” by M.I.A. and Danja.

Little Hurricane’s rendition of the ’70’s classic “Afternoon Delight” was featured in a spot by Taco Bell, a usage later commended in an article by AdWeek.

RELEASES

Just about every corner of the catalog enjoyed notable releases this year, including these jazz, pop, hip-hop, R&B, and country standouts:

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga released a full-length collaboration of standards, Cheek to Cheek.  Gaga puts her spin on the Reservoir catalog track “Lush Life”, composed by Billy Strayhorn.

Reservoir released several new albums from the historic Philly Groove Records catalog this year, including songs from Sound Experience, First Choice, and The Delfonics. SVP of Creative & Business Development Faith Newman curated the six-release set.

International alt-pop it-girl MØ released her debut album No Mythologies To Follow,spawning the hit singles “Walk This Way” and “Don’t Wanna Dance”.

Brooklyn duo Phantogram released their raved-about new album, Voices, which debuted at #11 on the Billboard Top 200.

Pop-R&B crooner Jason Derulo released Talk Dirty, with album namesake “Talk Dirty” featuring 2 Chainz selling over 4 million units RTD.

2 Chainz went rogue this year, releasing his Freebase mixtape independently of label Def Jam. Praised for being “sonically adventurous”, Freebase highlights include title track “Freebase” and “Trap Back”.

Reservoir writer Ina Wroldsen penned the stadium anthem “Olé“, released on the 2014 World Cup Official Album One Love One Rhythm.

Shakira released her tenth studio album Shakira., featuring the global smash “Empire”, written with Ina Wroldsen.  “Empire” was featured in a national television spot by Target, who partnered with the Columbian pop behemoth on an exclusive deluxe version of the album.

Reservoir tracks appeared on two country music best-of releases this year, with Carrie Underwood’s Greatest Hits: Decade #1 featuring Reservoir catalog track “Jesus, Take The Wheel” and Big & Rich’s ten-track greatest hits compilation including the classics “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”, “Fake I.D.”, and more.

Acclaimed performing producer Slakah the Beatchild saw his Soul Movement Vol. 2 recognized as one of the Top 10 Soul and R&B albums of 2014 by Exclaim!, a respected Canadian music magazine.

Reservoir artist Terri Bjerre collaborated with Swedish EDM duo Cazzette on the global dance track “Blind Heart”.  The track, which has been streamed over 15 million times, was featured on Spotify’s home page and reached the top 25 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Electronic chart.

MØ and Swedish singer Elliphant joined forces on the electro-indie pop single “One More”. The track was supported with an edgy visual premiere by Pitchfork.

Pop powerhouse Jessie J got a feature verse from 2 Chainz on the high energy track “Burnin’ Up”, which charted on the Hot 100.

**To hear all of Reservoir’s 2014 release highlights, cue up our Reservoir Recap 2014 Playlist on Spotify.