Universal Issued Two Zahara Compilations Under a Flat “UMG Recordings, Inc.” Copyright Line. All 12 Recordings on Them Come From Albums Credited to TS Records and CCP.

Deal sheet

Status

Unresolved

Type

Licensing

Parties

TS Records, UMG Recordings, Inc., Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA), Warner Music Group, Sheer Publishing Africa

Amount

Not disclosed

Rights covered

Master recordings, and the phonogram credit line that names who holds them. Zahara's first three albums carry lines naming a South African independent as rights holder: Loliwe (2011) reads "(P) 2011 CCP Records Company (Pty) Ltd/TS Records", and both Phendula (2013) and Country Girl (2015) read "(P) [year] TS Records CC under Exclusive License To Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA)". That second formulation is an ownership-plus-licence structure: TS Records CC is the named owner, Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA) the named exclusive licensee. Two later albums, Mgodi (13 October 2017) and Nqaba Yam (9 July 2021), carry Warner Music South Africa instead. Two compilations, Woman of Power (2 August 2023) and African Songbird (15 August 2024), carry no South African entity at all: the line reads "A uDiscover Music Release; (P) UMG Recordings, Inc." and Deezer files both under the label "UME - Global Clearing House". Thirteen track slots across those two releases resolve to twelve distinct recordings, every one an exact ISRC match for a track on Loliwe, Phendula or Country Girl; none comes from either Warner album. No document reviewed states who owns any of these masters today, what licence permitted the two compilations, or what consideration flowed to anyone for them.

Territory

Not disclosed. Neither compilation carries a territory statement and no announcement of either was located. Both were live in Apple Music's South African storefront and on Deezer when read on 10 September 2026. The exclusive licence named on Phendula and Country Girl runs to Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA), a South African company, which on its face reads as a South African licence; the compilations are credited instead to UMG Recordings, Inc., described in a filed 2015 agreement as a Delaware corporation. No source reviewed reconciles those two territorial positions.

Announced

2024-08-15

Primary document

Rights registry

Sources

Apple catalogue lookup for Zahara (Apple artist ID 710955327), South African storefront, read 10 September 2026, returning the phonogram credit line for every release in her catalogue including both compilations · Deezer album endpoint for African Songbird, read 10 September 2026, returning label "UME - Global Clearing House", release date 2024-08-15 and the seven track IDs whose ISRCs are quoted in this record · Deezer album endpoint for Woman of Power, read 10 September 2026, returning label "UME - Global Clearing House", release date 2023-08-02 and the six track IDs whose ISRCs are quoted in this record · Deezer album endpoint for Loliwe, read 10 September 2026, returning label "The CCP Record Company (Pty) Limited", release date 2011-08-26 and the twelve source ISRCs in the ZA-G93-11 block · Deezer album endpoint for Phendula, read 10 September 2026, returning label "Universal Music (Pty) Ltd." and the source ISRCs in the ZA-W76-13 block · Deezer album endpoint for Country Girl, read 10 September 2026, returning label "Universal Music (Pty) Ltd." and the source ISRCs in the ZA-W76-15 block · MusicBrainz release list for Zahara, read 10 September 2026, listing TS Records on Phendula with catalogue number CDTSR 0028 and on Country Girl, Warner Music on Mgodi and Warner Music South Africa on Nqaba Yam, and containing no entry for either compilation · MusicBrainz artist entity e9539da6-28a4-4daf-a6e0-755ab21c9a0b, read 10 September 2026, giving a life span of 9 November 1987 to 11 December 2023 · Statement issued by TS Records, published 14 April 2019, saying the three albums were released through EMI South Africa and then through Universal Music, that royalties were and continue to be paid, and that Zahara owns her publishing personally with payments made by Sheer · Trade report of 12 December 2023 naming Thembinkosi Nciza and Sibusiso Leope as the owners of TS Records and quoting Leope on Universal Music's books · Trade report of 30 April 2021 describing Zahara's Warner arrangement as a global recording deal, quoting the artist and Warner A and R manager Vusi Leeuw, and making no statement about masters ownership · Exhibit 21.1 to Warner Music Group Corp's Form 10-K filed 20 November 2025, listing Warner Music South Africa (pty) Ltd. under jurisdiction South Africa, and containing no entry for CCP, TS Records or Music Lives Here · Exhibit 10.29 to Pandora Media's Form 10-Q filed 26 October 2015, describing UMG Recordings, Inc. as a Delaware corporation at 2220 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, and confirming in a side letter signed by Universal Music Group general counsel Jeffrey S. Harleston that United States rights in Universal Music Group's pre-1972 recordings are owned by UMG Recordings, Inc. or Capitol Records, LLC · Site search of uDiscover Music, the catalogue brand named on both compilations, run 10 September 2026 and returning "Sorry, your search did not match any entries" · This site's own record of Universal Music Group completing its acquisition of Downtown, the group that had acquired Sheer, the publishing partner named in the 2019 TS Records statement

Read this before citing: THIS IS NOT A RECORD OF AN ANNOUNCED TRANSACTION. No party announced either compilation. This desk searched the uDiscover Music website, the catalogue brand named on both releases, on 10 September 2026: a site search for "Zahara" returned "Sorry, your search did not match any entries." Neither compilation appears in MusicBrainz's release list for the artist. What is recorded here is a set of credit lines and ISRC matches read directly from two streaming services, not a deal either side has described.

A COMPILATION COPYRIGHT LINE IS NOT PROOF OF A TRANSFER. A phonogram credit on a compilation can cover the compiled product without the underlying masters changing hands, and a catalogue division routinely assembles releases under a licence it already holds. The finding here is narrower and is stated as such: two services describe the rights in the same recordings differently on the same day, and no party has said which description is current.

THE TWO SERVICES ALREADY CONTRADICT EACH OTHER ON THE OLDER ALBUMS. Apple names TS Records CC as owner of Phendula and Country Girl with Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA) as exclusive licensee. Deezer's label field for both albums reads "Universal Music (Pty) Ltd." and does not mention TS Records at all. Deezer's field for Loliwe reads "The CCP Record Company (Pty) Limited" and likewise drops TS Records, which Apple names on that line. This desk does not resolve which is right.

DATES DISAGREE ACROSS SOURCES. Apple gives Mgodi a copyright year of 2021 on an album Apple itself dates 13 October 2017; Deezer and MusicBrainz both date Mgodi to 2017 and place it with Warner. Apple dates Loliwe to 1 January 2011, Deezer to 26 August 2011. Apple and Deezer date Nqaba Yam to 9 July 2021, MusicBrainz to 13 August 2021. The 1 January dates on Loliwe and Phendula are consistent with placeholder metadata. None of these discrepancies is treated here as evidence of anything beyond inconsistent catalogue data.

ONE TITLE IS SPELLED TWO WAYS. The Loliwe track Apple lists as "Ndize" is listed by Deezer as "Ndiza", the spelling used on Woman of Power. Both carry ISRC ZAG931100125, so this is one recording under two spellings, not two recordings.

WHO OWNS THE MASTERS TODAY IS NOT ESTABLISHED. TS Records CC's current registration status could not be checked: South Africa's CIPC publishes no API, the company's domain does not resolve, and it appears in no SEC registrant's subsidiary schedule reviewed, including Warner Music Group Corp's FY2025 Exhibit 21.1. The present corporate parent of The CCP Record Company (Pty) Ltd could not be established either; it appears in no Warner subsidiary schedule, and Universal Music Group files no equivalent United States document. A 2019 TS Records statement said the albums were "released through EMI South Africa and then through Universal Music", which describes a distribution chain, not a transfer of copyright.

NO AMOUNT EXISTS ANYWHERE. No source names a fee, an advance, a royalty rate or any payment connected to either compilation, and none names any payment to Zahara's estate. "Not disclosed" is the accurate entry, not a placeholder for a figure this desk failed to find.

WARNER'S ROLE HERE IS CONTEXT, NOT PARTICIPATION. Warner Music Group is listed as a party only because Warner Music South Africa (Pty) Ltd holds the copyright line on two albums in the same catalogue. That company appears as "Warner Music South Africa (pty) Ltd.", jurisdiction South Africa, in Warner Music Group Corp's Exhibit 21.1 to its Form 10-K filed 20 November 2025. Nothing in this record suggests Warner had any involvement in either compilation, and no recording from either Warner album appears on them.

THE ROYALTY DISPUTE IS RECORDED, NOT ADJUDICATED. Zahara said publicly from 2019 that TS Records owed her money. TS Records denied it in a statement of 14 April 2019 and one of its named owners repeated the denial in December 2023. This desk takes no position on that dispute and it is not the subject of this record.