Vintage punk just got a tighter grip on its legacy after Trust Records locked in its longtime visual brains as official Creative Directors.
Sam Siegler and Mike Nucero step up
Trust Records elevated Sam Siegler and Mike Nucero to Creative Directors.
Matt Pincus launched the label with Joe Nelson in 2020.
Easy Does It handled visuals and storytelling from day one.
Titles make official a partnership that already ran the show.
Trust Records' mission and brand ties
Pincus built Trust to safeguard classic punk and hardcore recordings.
Over four years, the team linked with Vans and NTS Radio.
Collaborations pulled in Ian MacKaye and Ed Colver.
December 2025 brought an intellectual property pact with Bad Brains.
Sam Siegler’s music and...
Cash hit creators’ accounts at record levels after Sound Royalties pushed 135 million dollars out the door in 2025.
Record funding year for Sound Royalties
Sound Royalties says 135 million dollars went to creators in 2025.
Florida-based firm calls it the biggest year since 2014 launch.
Alex Heiche founded the company and still runs it.
Model fronts cash against royalties without taking copyrights.
Assets, referrals, and global footprint
Referred deals doubled assets under management year over year.
Dozens of new payors joined the company’s network.
Funding stretches across music, YouTube, touring, and TV.
Creators in over 30 countries tapped the financing.
Notable creators funded in 2025
Tayla Parx received backing from Sound...
Indie pop royalties just shifted hands, and Bella Figura grabbed a chunk of The Drums’ back catalog as it flexes harder in the US.
Bella Figura snaps up Jonny Pierce catalog
Bella Figura Music secured Jonny Pierce’s publishing rights.
Acquisition covers releases through the Encyclopedia album.
Early records like Summertime! and Portamento fall inside.
Money alone has pulled over 471 million Spotify streams.
The Drums’ evolution and streaming pull
The Drums started in Brooklyn around 2008.
Pierce later reshaped the act into a solo vehicle.
Spotify shows more than 4 million monthly listeners.
Bella Figura praised the catalog’s moody surf-pop mix.
US push and leadership hires
London-based Bella Figura expanded into the US last year...
Global songwriter money just got rerouted through a new pipeline, and Kobalt just widened its grip on who gets paid and how fast.
Kobalt backs Geo Music with a global admin
Kobalt Music Group just teamed up with Geo Music Group.
Kenny McGoff confirmed the linkup expands Kobalt’s footprint.
Deal hands Geo’s writers access to Kobalt’s payout machinery.
Infrastructure covers royalty tracking, accounting, and international collections.
Daniel Seal’s track record and pitch
Daniel Seal launched Geo Music Group after leaving Sony Music Publishing.
Earlier, Seal locked in Tems and Skillibeng.
At Black Butter and Global, his signings hit multi-platinum status.
Geo pushes artist-first deals and hunts talent via data tools.
What Geo Music...
A 20-year prison term without parole just slammed the door on a brutal killing, giving one Limpopo family a slice of justice after months of grief.
Murder of Morongwa Angel Mootane
Morongwa Angel Mootane vanished on 28 July 2024.
Family reported her missing after days of silence.
Searchers found her body on 31 July 2024.
Lethlaba River bushes hid a shallow grave in Ga-Sekgopo.
Details of the violent attack
Investigators counted 13 stab wounds on her body.
Plastic wrapping showed an effort to conceal the crime.
The Ga-Sekgopo community reeled from the gruesome discovery.
Marotholong section became the grim scene’s location.
Arrest and charges against Rody Moloto
Rody Moloto admitted to stabbing Mootane during a heated clash.
Police...
Hotel bath talk backfired hard, forcing Gauteng’s top official into damage control while neighborhoods across Johannesburg still queue for water.
Backlash over hotel bathing comment
Panyaza Lesufi admitted he used a hotel to wash.
Social media users blasted the remark as tone-deaf.
Residents said most people rely on tankers and bottled water.
Satirical posts mocked promises made after a bubble bath.
Apology and clarification statement
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi released a late-night apology.
The statement said his words were misread as elitist.
Lesufi insisted that shortages frustrate every resident equally.
He extended regret to Gauteng and neighboring provinces.
Johannesburg water crisis deepens
Melville, Randburg, and...
A busted trust account shuffle has sidelined an attorney after the Supreme Court of Appeal refused to let him slip back into practice.
Allegations of trust money misuse
Mmatlou Matsi of Matsi Law Chambers Inc handled Road Accident Fund payouts.
Essie Emma Msiza was awarded R1.9 million in July 2019.
Tshwene Julia Morifi secured R837,000 paid in October 2020.
Maditati Merriam Mogorosi’s R300,000 landed in June 2019.
Trust deficits and missing safeguards
Legal Practice Council flagged tiny trust balances after large deposits.
Records showed funds shifting between clients without proper cover.
His firm operated without a valid Fidelity Fund certificate.
Judges rejected COVID-19 and partner excuses as thin.
Suspension upheld by higher...
Tariff hikes have replaced rolling blackouts with wallet pain, forcing households and shops to swap generator stress for brutal electricity bills.
Load-shedding finally stops
President Cyril Ramaphosa will speak at SONA on 12 February 2026.
South Africa logged over 175 blackout-free days.
Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor climbed past 63 percent.
Reforms lifted private generation caps and created an Electricity Minister.
Market reforms and stability push
The Electricity Regulation Amendment Act unlocked private competition.
Investors are backing new transmission line builds.
Businesses can plan ahead without surprise power cuts.
Households ditched candles and generators after years of outages.
Tariff hikes sting consumers...
Service breakdowns have slammed Johannesburg into daily dysfunction, freezing work, draining wallets, and pushing residents into the streets.
Water shortages grip Johannesburg
The City of Johannesburg is juggling dry taps across Melville, Randburg, and Parktown.
Thousands of residents queue for tankers or grab bottled supplies.
Brixton reservoir maintenance, burst pipes, and summer demand choke supply.
Johannesburg Water staff downed tools over bonus disputes, stalling repairs.
Strain on systems sparks protests
Protest groups are pushing for a national disaster declaration.
Entrepreneurs drill boreholes, while locals swap water-saving hacks.
Decades of thin spending left infrastructure lagging behind growth.
Randburg saw slight flow...
