LOS ANGELES,CA. (Top40 Charts/ Universal
Music Publishing Group) - Internationally renowned recording artist, songwriter and musician
Juanes has signed with Universal
Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for a long term music publishing agreement, which commences upon the expiration of his current publishing deal one album from now.
"Juanes has broken bounderies, both musical and geographical, with his tremendous worldwide success," commented David Renzer, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publsishing Group. "Our global staff is thrilled and honored that we will be representing Juanes's future songwriting, and we look forward to utilizing UMPG's aggressive 'marketing driven' approach in representing his beautiful songs."
As one of the world's most critically-acclaimed artists, Juanes has received numerous awards and honors including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, 9 MTV Awards, 8 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, 7 BMI Awards for songwriting (including "Songwriter of the Year"). His debut album on Universal Music Latino, "Fijate Bien" was released in 2000 and since then, he has emerged as one of this century's most important Latin artists. His second album, "Un Dia Normal" was released 2002 and stayed on the Billboard Latin chart for two straight years, remaining in the Top Ten for a record breaking 92 weeks.
Since its release in 2004, Juanes' third album, "Mi Sangre" and its multiple hit singles have reached No 1 on album and/or singles charts in 32 countries throughout Latin America, the United States and Europe. Most recently, the Far East has embraced "Mi Sangre" as Juanes achieved the highest ever debut for a Spanish language album in Japan. In total, the album has sold well over 3 million copies, including nearly a million copies in The United States and another million units in non-Spanish speaking countries in Europe and Asia. In addition to reaching multi-platinum status across most Spanish-speaking countries, "Mi Sangre" has achieved unprecedented success in Germany, becoming the first Spanish album to simultaneoulsy score No 1 on both the country's top albums and singles charts. It has also achieved platinum sales in Switzerland, Czech Republic and Finland, as well as double gold sales in France and gold in Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Taiwan.
A dedicated global activist, Juanes is well known for his devotion to social change through music. He is a crusader in spreading the word on the dangers of landmines in both Colombia and across the world. In 2005, Juanes was recognized by TIME Magazine as "One of the 100 Most Influential People In the World" and in July of this year, he was honored as a Knight of The "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (Order of Arts and Letters) by France's Ministry of Culture. Recently, Colombian President Uribe declared the performer "Colombia's Greatest Ambassador."
Juanes is currently working on his fourth album to be released next year. The album will be co-produced once again with Gustavo Santaolalla, UMPG's Grammy Award and Academy Award-winning producer who has worked with Juanes on his last two chart-topping albums, and whose joint venture label, Surco, worked with Universal Music Latino to develop Juanes' career since his debut with "Fijate Bien."
