BMG Signs Velvet Trip to Global Publishing Deal
BMG has signed Velvet Trip, the psychedelic-pop project of Wiradjuri singer, songwriter and producer Zeppelin Hamilton, to an exclusive global publishing agreement. The deal was confirmed by Billboard on 19 August 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.
A publishing deal covers the rights to a songwriter's compositions — the underlying music and lyrics, separate from the recordings themselves — and the publisher administers those rights, collects royalties and works to place songs with other artists, films and advertisers. BMG, one of the world's largest music publishers, will now represent Velvet Trip's catalogue worldwide.
Heath Johns, BMG's president for Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, told Billboard that all four members of the label's A&R team independently flagged Velvet Trip before the signing. BMG signs only when the decision is unanimous, Johns said — meaning every A&R representative had to arrive at the same conclusion on their own.
Velvet Trip has charted twice on the ARIA Albums Chart, the standard measure of album consumption in Australia. The second album, Glimmers Continued, debuted at No. 33 on the all-genres national chart and No. 5 on the Australian Artist Albums chart. The first LP, Harmony Blooms, peaked at No. 19 in 2024. Glimmers Continued also received the Feature Album slot on triple j, the national youth broadcaster that serves as a key platform for Australian emerging artists.
Hamilton's 2025 underscored that chart presence. In February, Velvet Trip won an APRA Professional Development Award — a grant programme from the Australasian Performing Right Association supporting early-career songwriters. Last year, Hamilton won a triple j Unearthed x NIDA competition, earning a professionally produced music video for the track 'Burnin' Up' created by student directors and designers from the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Velvet Trip also finished 2025 as the most-played artist across the triple j Unearthed platform, the broadcaster's discovery channel for unsigned and independent acts.
On the live side, Hamilton has sold out headline shows at the Sydney Opera House's Utzon Room and Melbourne's Northcote Social Club, and supported Djo, Parcels, Ocean Alley and Middle Kids. Festival appearances include Bluesfest, Yours & Owls, triple j One Night Stand, Party In The Paddock and the National Indigenous Music Awards.
Beyond performing, Hamilton serves as an official ambassador for the Australian Music Venue Foundation and MusicNSW — both organisations focused on supporting live music infrastructure and artists in New South Wales.
Velvet Trip joins a BMG Australia and New Zealand publishing roster that includes Neil Finn, Jet, The Cat Empire, Young Franco, KLP, Bag Raiders, Ladyhawke, What So Not and Keli Holiday. The roster spans established and emerging acts across rock, electronic and pop, placing Hamilton's psychedelic-pop project alongside a broad cross-section of Australian and New Zealand songwriting talent.
