LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Ultra International Music Publishing, the independent music publisher founded by Patrick Moxey in 2004, has announced it will officially change its name to Payday Music Publishing.
The name change follows a recent court judgment in a legal case brought by Sony Music, which disputed the ownership of the Ultra brand after the label group’s acquisition of Ultra’s label business in 2021.
The Payday Music Publishing moniker pays tribute to Payday Records, the hip-hop label founded by Moxey in 1992 that provided a platform for artists such as Jay-Z, Jeru the Damaja, and Antslive, among others.
Payday Music Publishing represents approximately 70,000 copyrights, including publishing and co-publishing rights to hit songs by artists such as Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Future, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Drake, Martin Garrix, Kygo, Steve Aoki, Playboi Carti, and many others.
“Throughout the entire legal process surrounding the ongoing usage of the Ultra brand, we have asserted our belief that, for our entirely separate and unconnected publishing division, the rights should remain with us,” said Moxey. “However, the judge in the case thought otherwise—even though no damages or legal costs were awarded against us—and we will move forward with a new name. But it’s important to emphasize that this is all it is: a new name. Nothing apart from the name changes. We will continue to represent our amazing songwriters and producers, and we will continue serving as the custodians and protectors of the more than 70,000 copyrights we are privileged to represent. We have seen tremendous growth in recent years and will remain market leaders in independent global music publishing. We are proud to be working under our new Payday Publishing banner.”
Alongside the name change, Ultra International announced plans to host a series of international writing camps in 2025, following the success of 2024 collaborations with Atlantic Records in Ibiza, Virgin Records in Germany, and Warner Music in Paris.
The camps include the eighth Coachella Writing Camp, which brings together Coachella artists at Payday Publishing’s Santa Monica studios to collaborate on new music. Payday will also host its annual Sync Writing Camp in Palm Springs in May.
