Naira Marley’s own catalogue has carried three different rightsholder names since 2017, and the one he has used the longest matches no company anywhere this desk could check. Reading his full Apple Music catalogue directly via Apple’s lookup API, cross-checked against Deezer’s separate catalogue API, this desk traced the sound-recording (℗) credit on his 35 own-artist releases through MOVES Recordings, then Marlian Music, then My Type Of Music, a name that returns zero results on the UK companies register and zero results in the MusicBrainz label registry. One 2024 single breaks the pattern entirely, crediting a license to a fourth, separately registered UK company.
The full deal record, with every source checked, is here.
A label founded in public, a credit history that was not#
Naira Marley’s most visible corporate act is on the record. On 30 December 2019, at his Marlian Fest concert at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, he told the crowd: “I want to use the platform to announce my new record label called Marlian Records and it’s for you all.” He signed four acts that night, Zinoleesky, MohBad, Fabian Blu and C-Blvck, and Marlian Music has stayed in the news since, for its hits and, after 2022, for the fallout with MohBad.
What has had no equivalent announcement is the credit on Naira Marley’s own recordings. His artist account, read directly through Apple’s iTunes Lookup API, turns up 109 catalogue entries; 35 carry his name alone or as lead artist. Their ℗ copyright line, the printed assertion of who holds or administers the sound-recording right, moves through three distinct names over nine years, and none of those changes was ever announced by any party in any document this desk could find.
MOVES, then one single, then a name with no company behind it#
From “Flying Away” on 17 November 2017 through “Anywhere,” his feature with Ms Banks on 30 January 2020, fourteen releases carry the credit “MOVES Recordings.” MOVES is a real operation, a London imprint launched in 2017 under A&R Ian McQuaid and run inside Marathon Artists Limited, a UK company, number 08024700, incorporated 11 April 2012 and still listed as active on Companies House today. No document from Marathon Artists or MOVES naming Naira Marley, or announcing either his signing or his exit, turned up anywhere this desk looked.
The MOVES credit stops after January 2020 and never returns. One single, “Aye,” released 19 March 2020, carries “Marlian Music,” the label Naira Marley had announced three months earlier. Starting with “As E Dey Go” on 27 June 2020, the credit changes again, to “My Type Of Music,” and stays there, essentially without interruption, for eighteen releases running to “Moti High” on 8 May 2026. Deezer’s catalogue API, checked independently, confirms all three handovers on the identical dates: “moves recordings” on “Anywhere,” “Marlian Music” on “Aye,” “My Type Of Music” on “As E Dey Go.”
From “Body,” released 10 May 2023, the credit sometimes gains a corporate suffix, appearing as “My Type Of Music LTD.” It is not a clean switch. “Body,” “Modafoka” (2025), “Cartoon” (2025) and “Mmmn” (2025) carry the suffix; “Wahala” and “Omo (On My Own)” (December 2023), “Giddem” (2024) and “Moti High” (2026) do not, despite coming after “Body” introduced it. Both forms are live on his catalogue right now.
Neither form resolves into a registered company anywhere this desk checked. A direct Companies House search for “my type of music,” run on 16 October 2026, returned the page “No results found.” A MusicBrainz label-registry search for the exact phrase, run the same day, also returned zero results. Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has no public search tool this desk could access, so a Nigerian incorporation for the name could not be confirmed or ruled out. What is established, rather than assumed, is that a name used as the printed rightsholder credit on roughly half of a major artist’s output for six years does not show up in either public registry this desk was able to search.
One single, one license, to a company that is actually registered#
A single release complicates even that picture. “Pxy Drip,” out 13 December 2024, carries the credit “Marlian Music under exclusive license to NWS Music Group.” It is the only release in nine years that names a licensing arrangement to an outside company, and NWS Music Group’s recordings arm, North West Sound Recordings Limited, is unambiguous on the public record: UK company number 13985763, incorporated 18 March 2022, confirmed active as of 16 October 2026. This desk’s own directory file on NWS Music Group, compiled for an earlier record on the Nigerian artist Spyro, had already flagged that the label’s Instagram account promotes Naira Marley’s content without a formal signing having been verified; “Pxy Drip” is the first release metadata naming any formal arrangement between the two. What the license covers, for how long and on what terms, was not disclosed in any document checked.
Two further names sit at the edges of the story without resolving into anything checkable. The earliest entry, “Gotta Dance EP,” released 12 February 2015, predates MOVES and Marlian Music both and carries the credit “Cash Ellz Entz,” a name with no trace in the UK register or in MusicBrainz. Marlian Music, unlike My Type Of Music, does exist as an entry in MusicBrainz’s label registry, but the entry carries no country, no founding date and no detail beyond the bare name. No UK or Nigerian filing under “Marlian Music” has turned up in any check this desk has run.
What this means for artists#
The name printed as your rightsholder is not a legal filing, and switching it does not require telling anyone. Naira Marley’s own catalogue carried three different sound-recording credits over nine years with no public explanation for any of the changes, on an artist whose team runs a functioning label business for other acts at the same time.
A credit that has never been checked against a company register for six years is not the same as a credit that has been verified. “My Type Of Music” sits on roughly half of this artist’s commercial output and returns zero results on two separate public registries. That does not prove anything improper happened to the underlying rights; a name can be used informally, as a trading style, for years without a registered company behind it, and that alone is not evidence of wrongdoing. It does mean nobody checking only the DSP page would know whether a real, accountable legal entity sits behind that credit.
Check the actual company register before you treat a label name as a guarantee of anything. This record exists only because Companies House, MusicBrainz and two separate DSP catalogues were checked directly, rather than trusting the name printed on a streaming page. An artist, manager or investor weighing a deal with a label whose name does not resolve on any public register is working with less certainty than the printed credit implies, worth knowing before signing anything, not after.
How this was verified#
Primary sources: the full Apple Music catalogue for Naira Marley’s artist account (ID 847413160), read directly via Apple’s iTunes Lookup API on 16 October 2026, 109 entries, with 35 own-artist releases isolated and ℗ credits read individually; Deezer’s separate catalogue API, checked for the three transition dates and one 2024 collaborative single; the UK Companies House register, checked for Marathon Artists Limited (08024700) and North West Sound Recordings Limited (13985763), plus a name search for “My Type Of Music” returning zero matching UK companies; the MusicBrainz label registry, queried for exact-phrase matches on all three names; and a direct fetch of a Nigerian entertainment-news report quoting Naira Marley’s words at the 30 December 2019 announcement. Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has no public equivalent to Companies House, so the entity behind the “My Type Of Music” credit could not be confirmed there. No party named in this record was reached for comment before publication.
Quick answers#
Does Naira Marley own his own masters?#
Not established. No document checked for this record states who owns the sound-recording rights to Naira Marley’s catalogue. What is established is that the printed rightsholder credit on his own releases has used three different names since 2017, with no public announcement explaining any of the changes.
What is My Type Of Music?#
The sound-recording credit on the large majority of Naira Marley’s own-artist releases since 27 June 2020, sometimes rendered “My Type Of Music LTD” since May 2023. It does not correspond to any company on the UK Companies House register or any label entity in the MusicBrainz registry. Nigeria’s CAC register has no public search this desk could access, so a Nigerian incorporation could not be checked.
Is Naira Marley still with MOVES Recordings?#
Not established as a formal matter. His last own-artist release carrying the MOVES Recordings credit was “Anywhere,” on 30 January 2020. No announcement of an exit, or of the original signing, was located. MOVES is an imprint of Marathon Artists Limited, a UK company that remains active today.
What is the “Pxy Drip” license to NWS Music Group?#
Not disclosed. The single, released 13 December 2024, carries the credit “Marlian Music under exclusive license to NWS Music Group,” the only release in this catalogue naming a licensing arrangement. NWS Music Group’s recordings arm is a UK company, active and incorporated in 2022. No document naming the license’s terms, duration or scope was located.
How much is Naira Marley’s label arrangement worth?#
Not disclosed. No contract, price, revenue share or royalty split has been published by MOVES Recordings, Marathon Artists, Marlian Music, My Type Of Music, NWS Music Group or Naira Marley himself in any document checked for this record.
