Swedish label X5 Music Group has made a name for itself with digital compilations, finding new (streaming) income for catalogue tracks. Now Universal Music Group is tapping into that knowledge with a partnership to launch U5, an imprint that will release more than 50 digital compilations a month culled from the archives of its Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Verve and Blue Note Records labels. “The deal they were interested in when we started was classical,” X5’s Scott Reilly tells Billboard. “Moving into jazz is where we hope to expand internationally.” Earlier this year at Midem, X5’s CEO Johan Lagerlof talked about his company’s success in other genres, explaining how it ran a test with 500 tracks on Spotify that were averaging 7k streams a week each, packaging them in new compilations and playlists that spiked streams by 3,400%. UMG will be hoping for similar uplift from the new U5 deal.
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In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…