Tash Sultana has signed the first global label partnership of their career, entering an exclusive worldwide recording agreement with BMG after nearly a decade of building an international audience independently.
by Paul Cashmere
Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer Tash Sultana has signed a global recording agreement with BMG, marking the first major worldwide label partnership in the Melbourne artist’s career. The deal covers future releases and will also see Sultana’s existing recorded catalogue revert to BMG in 2030, ending one of the most prominent independent success stories in contemporary Australian music.
For BMG, the signing secures an artist who has spent much of the past decade operating outside the traditional label system while still achieving commercial scale internationally. For Sultana, the agreement signals a strategic shift after years of self-management through independent structures including Lonely Lands Records.
Sultana said the move came after deliberately spending years developing a career without a major global partner.
“I’ve been an independent artist for a very long time and intentionally so,” Sultana said.
“I wanted to see how far I could take it on my own, to build something real and meaningful from the ground up. Reaching this point has allowed me to enter a partnership from a place of strength and clarity about my future on my terms which was always my long-term goal.”
The artist added that BMG represented “the right move for this next phase”, describing the deal as an opportunity “to grow, evolve, and take things to the next level”.
The agreement comes after a sustained international run that has positioned Sultana among Australia’s most globally recognised contemporary artists. Since breaking through with the viral success of “Jungle” in 2016, Sultana has accumulated billions of streams and sold hundreds of thousands of concert tickets across North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
Sultana first emerged from Melbourne’s busking circuit, developing a reputation as a live looping performer capable of constructing entire arrangements solo on stage using guitar, percussion, keyboards, horns and layered vocal performances. A social media performance clip of “Jungle” became a breakout moment in 2016, generating millions of views within days and pushing the track to No. 3 in Triple J’s Hottest 100 of that year.
The momentum led to the independently released EP Notion, followed by sold out international touring and later the debut album Flow State in 2018. The album became a commercial breakthrough, reaching No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart and winning Best Blues & Roots Album at the ARIA Awards. Follow-up album Terra Firma debuted at No. 1 in Australia in 2021 and expanded Sultana’s production ambitions, with the artist handling recording, engineering, arrangement and production duties personally.
Across that period, Sultana also transitioned from a solo live setup into a broader touring configuration, reflecting the increasingly complex arrangements of later recordings. International touring milestones included performances at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and major festival appearances throughout Europe and North America.
Heath Johns, President of BMG Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, said the company moved quickly after hearing new material currently in development.
“Tash is a generational talent with a global platform that has been built by relentless hard work and creative conviction,” Johns said. “When our team heard the level of these new songs, we instantly knew we’d be the perfect partner to take Tash to even greater levels.”
Sultana joins a regional BMG recordings roster that includes Chet Faker, Dope Lemon, Crowded House, The Cat Empire and The Living End.
The signing also reflects a broader industry trend in which artists who built careers independently are entering selective partnerships later in their careers, often after retaining creative leverage and ownership. BMG’s structure, which frequently emphasises catalogue participation and artist rights, has become increasingly attractive to established acts seeking global infrastructure without fully surrendering control.
Sultana’s move is notable because their independent pathway had become central to the artist’s public identity. From early busking in Melbourne through self-produced recordings and direct fan engagement online, Sultana was frequently cited as an example of an artist bypassing traditional gatekeepers. The success of releases such as Flow State, Terra Firma and the 2023 EP Sugar demonstrated that independent Australian artists could build international touring careers without conventional label backing.
At the same time, the economics of global touring and streaming continue to place pressure on artists attempting to scale independently. A worldwide label partner can provide marketing infrastructure, international promotion and catalogue management that become increasingly difficult to maintain internally as touring operations expand.
The announcement also arrives during a new creative phase for Sultana. In 2025, the artist released the single “Milk and Honey” and later announced the EP Return To The Roots, signalling another stylistic shift while reconnecting with the improvisational foundations that first drew audiences to the project.
What comes next under the BMG partnership is expected to become clearer with the release of new music later this year. For an artist who spent years proving the viability of independence, the deal represents less a departure from that philosophy and more an evolution of it, entering the next stage with proven commercial leverage and a global audience already established.
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