Anitta Signs With Republic Records
Anitta has officially signed with Republic Records.
“After being in this business for many years, I wanted to find partners that work like a family,” she said in a statement. “After meeting with Monte [Lipman], Wendy [Goldstein], their team at Republic, and [Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula Chairman & CEO ] Jesus Lopez I was blown away. Their passion, innovation, creativity and vision is incredible. I not only felt so connected to them as an artist, but also on a human level. I knew immediately, I was home.”
The news comes just weeks after the Brazilian singer and Warner Music Group agreed to part ways. The two parties released a joint statement to social media on April 4 announcing the news.
“After eleven years of successful partnership, we’ve agreed to go our separate ways,” the post read. “Anitta would like to thank the Warner Music team for all their support. And the Warner team wishes Anitta all the best in the future.”
Anitta signed with Warner Records in the United States in 2020 after previously linking with Warner Music Brazil in 2013. She had long voiced concerns about her relationship with WMG, from the label refusing to produce a video for an underperforming song to advising young artists to pay closer attention to what they sign.
During an Instagram livestream last May, Anitta said Warner only invested in her work “after it pays off on the internet. Unfortunately, there are things I can’t get, that’s why I don’t buy millionaire cars, because when I want to do something, I pay for it.” She added that Warner “is very tied to TikTok, to what goes viral, and if they don’t get a hit right away, they say ‘later.'”
The singer followed that with a tweet thread last month in which she blasted Warner, saying she regretted signing with the label and would have “auctioned off her organs” in order to be released from her contract.
During her run at Warner, Anitta scored a global breakthrough with her trilingual album, Versions of Me, which last year hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart with its TikTok-driven single, “Envolver.” The song’s music video won in the category of Best Latin at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. That same year, she also performed at Coachella and the Latin Grammy Awards.
Anitta will now join a superstar roster at Republic that includes Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj and more. Jesús López, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula, and Paulo Lima, president of Universal Music Group Brazil, will work closely with the artist. Republic co-president Wendy Goldstein will be the artist’s A&R. “We’ve all admired Anitta from afar for a long time,” Goldstein shared. “She has catalyzed the explosion of Latin music as one of its most important artists. She’s kept Brazil close to her heart at all times and given her country an incredible voice in the global arena. What she’s doing now musically is nothing short of mind-blowing, and we can’t wait to release it.”
Added López: “Everyone in this team led by Anitta has a clear goal: to write a new successful chapter of Latin music worldwide.
Anitta is managed by S10’s Brandon Silverstein globally. He said: “Monte, Wendy, Jesus and the entire Republic, UMLE and worldwide UMG team had such an immediate and strong bond with Anitta, it was clear they understood her vision and wanted to help her execute on a global scale.”
UPDATE: This article was updated April 27 at 1 p.m. EST to include official statements from the Anitta, López and Silverstein confirming the news.
Lyndsey Havens
Billboard