Warner/Chappell Music, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has signed a worldwide publishing deal with British pop rock band New Hope Club. The trio is made up of Blake Richardson, George Smith and Reece Bibby.

New Hope Club were discovered by The Vamps, who promptly signed them to their label Steady Records, part of Virgin/EMI Records. The Vamps, who also have a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell, were given their label imprint while Warner/Chappell UK MD, Mike Smith was President of Music at Virgin/EMI Records.

Mike Smith, Managing Director, Warner/Chappell Music UK, says: “It made sense that The Vamps were given their own label, it’s clear that the boys have the ability to spot amazing talent – and they’ve proven this with New Hope Club! Like The Vamps, New Hope Club are pushing the boundaries of modern pop music and rewriting the rules on what it means to be in a pop band. I’m really excited to get them in rooms with our incredible songwriters and hear what they come up with.”

New Hope Club add: “Mike has been really enthusiastic and supportive about the music we played him and once we met the Chappell team we knew it was the right fit. The depth and variation of Chappell’s roster is so impressive and working with these talented artists is only going to improve our songwriting. Let’s get to work!”

New Hope Club were formed in 2015 by Smith and Richardson, who were later joined by Bibby. Their first recording together was a cover of ‘Wake Up’ by The Vamps which went viral and created a buzz online. The clip of them performing it subsequently caught the attention of The Vamps who decided to sign them to their label Steady Records in December 2015.

The band opened for The Vamps on their 2016 UK tour and have gone on to support them on their Middle of the Night 2017 world tour and Night and Day 2018 European tour.

In May 2017 they released Welcome To The Club, their debut four-track EP that included the song ‘Fixed’, which has racked up more than eight million streams on Spotify. The band went on to sign to Hollywood Records in the US and spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Next Big Sound chart, peaking at number five in September 2017 and were nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the Next Big Thing category.

2018 has seen New Hope Club release three new songs, with singles ‘Start Over Again’ and ‘Medicine’ accumulating more than three million streams combined. They also had two songs featured in the animated film Early Man.

In June of this year, the band played their first headline shows, selling out two nights at London’s famous o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.