Publishing
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CTM Outlander has inked a deal with four-time BMI songwriter of the year winner Ross Copperman, including both the acquisition of Copperman’s catalog (via Iris in the Sky with Diamonds) as well as a publishing deal for his future works.
Copperman has had songs recorded by Keith Urban, Tyler Hubbard, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani, Gabby Barrett, Kenny Chesney & P!nk, Dierks Bentley, Brett Young, Darius Rucker and more. CTM will create new opportunities for Copperman through a creative partnership with SMACKSongs. Copperman was previously with Sony Music Publishing.
As part of the arrangement, CTM Outlander also acquires Copperman’s writer share for songs previously published by Plain Jane, including “Love Ain’t” by Eli Young Band, “Happy Anywhere” by Blake Shelton feat. Gwen Stefani, “Get Along” by Kenny Chesney and “Living” by Dierks Bentley.
Copperman said in a statement, “I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to work alongside remarkable individuals like CTM and SMACK in my new team. CTM’s visionary leadership has already brought us exciting opportunities beyond Country, expanding our horizons. I’ve always held immense respect for SMACK, and I eagerly anticipate the promising collaborations and accomplishments that lie ahead.”
André de Raaff, CEO at CTM Outlander, said, “From the first moment we met Ross we felt his energy, passion and drive for music. His goal is set to break new artists and help creative new opportunities with the ones he’s already been working with. We are here to support him in any type of way and see Ross as somebody that is helping to develop the country music genre into a global genre.”
CTM Outlander is a partnership between the innovative and disruptive Dallas, Texas based Outlander Capital led by Les Ware and Mike McKool and the Dutch-based leading independent music entertainment company CTM, led by industry veteran André de Raaff. CTM Outlander previously acquired Shane McAnally‘s catalog earlier this year, in addition to other SMACKSongs works. In 2022, the CTM Outlander acquired catalogs of Natalie Hemby, Michael Tyler and Ben Burgess.
Mike McKool, director of CTM Outlander, said, “When we created CTM Outlander, we had no specific agenda as far as genre was concerned. It was only after meeting and developing relationships with the songwriting community in Nashville, that we decided to place an emphasis on country music. As we continue to invest and grow our portfolio, Ross is another example of the kind of artist we want to be in business with. We couldn’t be more excited to work with him moving forward, while also furthering our relationship with SMACKSongs.”
Robert Carlton, president of SMACKSongs, added, “SMACK is proud to further our partnership with CTM through this deal. Ross has been one of the premier writers and producers in Nashville over the last decade. We’ve been fortunate to share quite a bit of success with him through co-writes, but feel truly honored that he chose to entrust SMACK with this next chapter of his career.”
Kobalt, the digital-focused publishing administration company, has teamed up with investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value to invest more than $700 million into music IP in the next few years. The partnership will see Kobalt managing the creative, sync, licensing, administration and investment services for the copyrights that are purchased.
The deal, which was advised by Goldman Sachs, marks Kobalt’s return to managing investment for outside capital. Previously, Kobalt had two funds it worked with under Kobalt Capital, its investment management arm, both of which were sold in recent years. Kobalt’s first fund contained over 33,000 songs, including songs recorded by Lindsey Buckingham, Steve Winwood, the B52’s, 50 Cent, George Benson, Bonnie McKee, Nelly and Skrillex. It sold to Hipgnosis Songs Fund in late 2020 for a price tag of $323 million or 18.3 times the net publishers share, and it realized a $20 million gain for Kobalt. While it was the biggest sale for Kobalt at the time, the first fund represented less than 30% of Kobalt’s IP holdings at the time.
The second fund, Kobalt Music Royalty Fund II, sold to an investment group comprising of KKR and Dundee Partners the following year for $1.1 billion. To manage the investments of the royalty fund as well as other IP previously acquired by KKR, the partners formed a platform Chord Music Partners, which tapped Kobalt Music Publishing to continue to handle publishing administration for the works. The fund is believed to have included the SONGS publishing catalog, Insieme Music catalog, which it acquired from Glassnote, and the David Hodges catalog.
Since that sale, Kobalt has not worked with outside money for catalog acquisition.
Outside of Kobalt Capital, the publishing administrator, helmed by chief executive Laurent Hubert, has made a number of other major changes in its business. In 2021, it also sold off AWAL, the artist services company and distributor to some of music’s most successful independent talent, and its neighboring rights operations to Sony. In September 2022, following reports of its first-ever profitable year, Kobalt sold a majority stake to Francisco Partners.
“Kobalt is a pioneer in investing in music, increasing the value of copyrights, and creating music as a viable asset class,” says Hubert. “Morgan Stanley Tactical Value’s trust in Kobalt is a testament to our platform and leadership in the music industry. We are proud to form this unique partnership.”
“Morgan Stanley Tactical Value has profound respect for songwriters and the immense value of their art,” said Cameron Smalls, managing director, Morgan Stanley Tactical Value. “We are thrilled to partner with the leading creator-first publisher that is a pioneer in maximizing royalty collections for songwriters and rightsholders. Together with Kobalt’s infrastructure and deep commitment to bettering the music industry, we are excited about our partnership and the opportunities ahead.”
Nashville music publishing company Boom Music Group has severed ties with SESAC Nashville Music Awards’ 2020 songwriter of the year Matthew McGinn, after felony and misdemeanor charges were filed against him on Oct. 28 in Davidson County, Tenn. “Boom Music Group is extremely saddened about the reprehensible events that transpired this weekend with Matt McGinn,” […]
ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews was among those honored on Sunday night, Oct. 29, at the 2023 Songwriters of North America (SONA) Warrior Awards gala in West Hollywood. The event was hosted by Grammy-nominated songwriters Bonnie McKee and Shane Stevens.
The other honorees were songwriter Justin Tranter; country artist and podcast host Rissi Palmer; and the late songwriter Allee Willis, who co-wrote the Friends theme, “I’ll Be There for You.” That song had added resonance on Sunday since Matthew Perry, one of the stars of that long-running sitcom, had died just the day before.
At the event, ASCAP chairman of the board and president Paul Williams and Grammy-winning songwriters and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis lauded Matthews’ achievements. Hit songwriter MoZella performed the Miley Cyrus smash “Wrecking Ball.” (All are ASCAP members.) There were also video tributes to Matthews from Stephen Schwartz, NE-YO, Marcus Miller, Desmond Child, John Platt and Ashley Gorley, among others.
“To be recognized by SONA means the world to me,” Matthews said in accepting the honor. “I know that songwriters are the true musical warriors – unbelievably brave and remaining strong in the face of uncertainty every day as new technology challenges their livelihoods. Yet, songwriters are still able to remain vulnerable and go deep creatively, opening their hearts to write the music that we all love. I am constantly inspired by songwriters and it has been an honor of a lifetime to work for and alongside music creators.”
“As a friend of Beth’s, I know firsthand how tirelessly she works above and beyond her very very big job of running ASCAP,” said SONA founder and executive director Michelle Lewis. “I want everyone to know what I know and see what I see — that she is the ultimate warrior for creators.”
Tranter, a Grammy nominee for song of the year six years ago for co-writing the Julia Michaels hit “Issues,” has advocated for the LGBTQ+ community and worked with stars such as Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and many more.
In 2007, Palmer became the first African American woman in 20 years to reach Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. She achieved the feat with her single “Country Girl,” which was followed by two more hits, “Hold on to Me” and “No Air,” a cover of the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown pop smash.
Willis won a Grammy in 1986 for best album of original score written for a motion picture or a television special for co-writing The Pointer Sisters’ hit “Neutron Dance” on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Her most famous works are the Friends theme and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” Willis was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. She died in 2019 at age 72.
BMG terminated about 40 employees on Thursday (Oct. 27), sources within the company tell Billboard. The layoffs cut effectively the entirety of its film/TV, theatrical, and international marketing department for recordings as well as its Modern Recordings label, according to sources and an internal memo obtained by Billboard. It took place on the day of the New York office’s annual Halloween party, says a source.
The eliminations include company leaders like Fred Casimir (executive vp, global repertoire) and Jason Hradil (senior vp, global repertoire) and affected employees in its Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles offices. A source within the company fears there are more layoffs to come and believes the layoffs may be a result of the company hiring the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in recent months.
After employees were notified they were being laid off, the company hosted a call with the U.S. recorded music team — including those who were let go — according to a source within the company.
“Everyone at BMG says it feels like a venture capital firm now and not a record label,” laments an employee. “Things got dark real fast, and it bums me out watching a lot of amazing people lose their jobs right before the holidays.”
In a video call hosted by CEO Thomas Coesfeld, the leader explained that the restructuring was part of the implementation of its new strategy, BMG Next, according to an internal memo shared with Billboard. “The international marketing team was set up five years ago in response to the needs of the company at the time,” he said to senior managers. “Our talented team has done a great job, driving international campaigns for artists including Lenny Kravitz, Kylie Minogue, and Louis Tomlinson, but unfortunately on a business level, expectations from this novel structure were not met and it created duplication of functions with local teams. The clear business decision is to instead give artists a single contact point with their local repertoire teams.”
A BMG spokesperson declined to comment beyond providing the memo.
In the last year, BMG — which represents talent like Jelly Roll, Halsey and Lainey Wilson as well as certain rights to the catalogs of Tina Turner, Peter Frampton, Mötley Crüe, and more — has made a number of significant business changes. In January, its longstanding chief executive Hartwig Masuch announced he would retire and would be succeeded by then-CFO Coesfeld, effective Jan. 1, 2024. On April 18, BMG claimed it would be the first music company to fully integrate its catalog and frontline music operations. On May 17, Masuch announced he would accelerate Coesfeld’s transition to CEO to July 1 instead.
In September, BMG announced it was winding down its agreement with Warner Music Group’s ADA and would be taking over direct management of its 80-billion-stream digital distribution later this year. (Digital revenues contributed 70% of BMG’s overall revenues in 2022.) Last week, BMG also announced it would be partnering with UMG’s commercial services division for the distribution of its physical recorded music. Coesfeld described the deal as the first project of a burgeoning “alliance” between the two music companies.
Concord Music Publishing has signed Amaarae to a global publishing deal, in partnership with Immensum Music. This deal includes the Ghanian-American pop artist’s full catalog and all future works, including Fountain Baby, released earlier this year.
One Two Many (OTM) Music has signed Grammy-nominated producer Dot Da Genius to an exclusive global publishing deal, including both his back catalog and future works. This includes songs the producer has made with Steve Aoki, Don Toliver, Denzel Curry, JID, and Kid Cudi.
Warner Chappell Brazil has acquired a catalog from music publishing company Deck, which covers over 10,000 musical compositions by Pitty, Chico César, Falamansa and Sorriso Maroto, among other artists. The deal was first reported by POPline. According to the website’s report, the agreement between Warner and Deck — record label and publisher founded in 1998 — is one of the largest in Brazilian music.
Warner Chappell Music U.K. and Transgressive Publishing have renewed their joint venture partnership, which has been going for the last 17 years. The extension marks Warner Chappell’s longest-standing JV to date. Along with this news, Transgressive has also announced a new deal with the Foals for their catalog, side projects and future recordings.
Avex USA Publishing and The Revels Group’s Coup D’Etat Music have entered a joint venture to sign Victony to a global deal. A trusted collaborator of Rema, Burna Boy, Don Toliver and more and creator of viral hit “Soweto,” Victony is an essential part of the rising popularity of Afrobeats worldwide.
Peermusic has acquired Arctic Rights Management (ARM), the largest indie publisher in Norway. The deal will give peermusic the publishing rights to ARM’s 5,000+ recordings and compositions. This includes the publishing interest in songs like “Don’t Start Now” and “New Rules” by Dua Lipa and “365” by Zedd and Katy Perry.
Kobalt has signed U.K.-based songwriter and producer Toby Scott to a global publishing administration deal. Scott is an in-demand collaborator in the dance space and his discography includes songs with Galantis, David Guetta, Tiesto, Alok, Dom Dolla, Anyma, D.O.D, Jax Jones, Purple Disco Machine, Martin Solveig, Sophie and the Giants and Robin Schulz.
Warner Chappell Music and Tape Room Music has jointly signed country songwriter and producer Casey Brown to a global publishing deal. Over the course of his career, Brown has worked with Parmalee, Russell Dickerson, Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBryde, Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Tyler Hubbard, and Lauren Alaina.
Sentric Music Group has signed electronic musician and composer Amon Tobin to a worldwide publishing administration deal. To date, Tobin has released 17 studio albums, first under Ninja Tune and now under his own label Nomark, and his songs have appeared in films like The Italian Job, 21 and Rampart, Divine Intervention, Taxidermia, Splinter Cell, Infamous and more. As part of the deal, Sentric will represent Tobin’s catalog for synch opportunities.
Warner Chappell Music has signed Jenee Fleenor to a global publishing deal. The first woman to be nominated and win Musician of the Year at the 2019 CMA Awards, Fleenor is an in-demand fiddler, playing on top country songs like “I’ll Name the Dogs” by Blake Shelton, “Heartache Medication” by Jon Pardi, and “Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson. She also releases music as an artist in her own right, beginning with 2019’s “Fiddle & Steel” and is part of a supergroup called the Wood Box Heroes.
Rogét Chahayed‘s TruSauce Publishing has signed rising producer Brandon Shoop to a worldwide publishing deal. Based in Los Angeles, Shoop’s credits include “Cybah” by Syd & Lucky Daye, “Moonlit Breakers” by Paul Dally & Dijon, “Lip Service” by Cautious Clay, “Sleeping With My Friends” by GAYLE, and Chloe George’s “Ghost Town.”
Global music rights revenue collections reached €10.83 billion ($11.4 billion) in 2022, according to CISAC, the trade organization of collective management societies. That’s a new record that reflects growth of 28% over 2021, as live concert revenue continues to recover from the pandemic and digital income keeps growing.
Income from concerts — the royalties collected from the public performance of songs being played live — was up 185.7% based on a sample of 100 societies, since different organizations account for that revenue differently. And since these numbers are from 2022, when the concert business still hadn’t fully recovered, next year’s numbers will be better still.
The real change is in digital, though, which is now worth €4.08 billion ($4.3 billion), up 33.5% from 2021 and almost double its value from 2019. It now accounts for 37.7% of collections revenue — marking the first time it has been the biggest category — and is likely to be the main engine of growth for years to come. The TV and radio category, traditionally the largest source of revenue, is now No. 2 behind digital with $3.55 billion.
The CISAC Global Collections Report tracks money taken in by collective management organizations for authors’ rights — composers and publishers in the music business, plus audiovisual creators, writers and more. (Neighboring rights revenue for recordings is not included.) More than 90% of the money comes from song rights — specifically, the funds that flow through societies rather than through direct deals.
By any measure, the growth in the CISAC report is remarkable — a record both for the revenue collected and year-on-year growth. And while some of that reflects the unprecedented disappearance and return of the live business, digital growth has been, and will continue to be, steady.
“This is a remarkable return to growth as our whole sector fully recovers from the disastrous three-year pandemic,” said CISAC director general Gadi Oron in the announcement of the results. “While live and public performance have bounced back strongly, the recovery is driven most of all by digital which has now become creators’ largest source of income.”
Much of this growth reflects the changing role of collecting societies in the streaming era. Rather than just represent and license rights in the market in which they operate, societies also compete online. The biggest of the societies — PRS, SACEM and others — now license online rights from writers in most countries.
The growth is worldwide, too. All of the top ten music markets increased collections revenue, with an average growth rate of more than 25%. The biggest market is the United States with €2.616 billion ($2.759) and 30.5% growth; then France, with €1.325 billion ($1.398 billion) and more than 39% growth. Rounding out the top 10 are the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Australia, Canada, Spain and Korea.
Rarely does an accounting issue move markets and surprise people throughout the music business. But that’s what happened Monday when Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the publicly traded investment trust backed by the catalogs of such artists as Neil Young and Stevie Nicks, announced it will cancel a planned quarterly dividend payment to shareholders.
According to Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s board of directors, the decision was the result of the company’s independent valuation expert, Citrin Cooperman, reducing its expectations of “industry-wide” retroactive payments from the Copyright Royalty Board’s Phonorecords III (a.k.a. CRB III) ruling that increased the royalties music publishers receive from on-demand music streaming services for the years 2018 to 2022. Billboard estimated that the music industry would gain over $250 million in total, and another industry expert recently told Billboard they estimated the industry-wide retroactive payment will approach $400 million.
Hipgnosis’ adjustment was substantial: down roughly 54% from $21.7 million to $9.9 million. Meanwhile, Billboard continues to stand by its previous estimate and no other publishers or rights funds that spoke for this story have had to decrease their projections.
“Frankly, I’m shocked… I really do not understand this,” says one music publishing executive.
Multiple sources say there have been no new updates regarding CRB III in recent weeks that would cause a publisher to cut their expectations for accruals by more than half, and it must be an accounting error unique to Hipgnosis and Citrin Cooperman. “None of the data points have changed,” explains another publishing executive. “The ruling is what it is, so they must’ve made a mistake here.” Citrin Cooperman did not respond to Billboard’s request for comment.
The fallout Monday was immediate: With the sudden change in expected retroactive royalties, Hipgnosis Songs Fund was forced to cancel a dividend payment to not risk violating the debt covenants for its $700 million revolving credit facility. That dividend — 1.3125 pence per ordinary share — was announced on Sept. 21 and was to have a payment date of Oct. 27. The company’s share price dropped 10% on Monday’s news. Dividends are an integral component to the fund’s strategy of providing investors with stable returns from proven, successful music catalogs. Since its initial public offering in July 2018 through March, Hipgnosis Songs Fund had declared dividends of 21.6 pence per share, according to the latest annual report.
While the retroactive CRB III payments would be less than Hipgnosis Songs Fund expected and impacted a dividend payment this quarter, the resulting cash crunch likely won’t happen until 2024. Streaming royalties due for the period 2018 to 2020 will be paid directly to rights holders, with everything after that flowing through the Music Licensing Collective with a Feb. 9, 2024, deadline. Most of the adjustment will come from the 2021-2022 royalties owed to the MLC, according to sources. Considering the time it will take the MLC process the distributions, publishers probably won’t receive this tranche of royalties until the spring 2024.
In August, the Copyright Royalty Board stated its final determination for how songwriters and publishers would be paid for the period of 2018-2022. These rates were hotly contested between the music business and streaming services over the past six years. Though rates were nearly finalized in 2018, some streamers remanded it back to the CRB in 2019 in hopes of getting more favorable terms. In the meantime, the streaming services paid songwriters and publishers under the guidelines set by the previous period, Phonorecords II, which was lower than what was ultimately set for 2018-2022.
Ever since, the music business has been preparing for when the 2018-2022 rates would finally be settled, and streaming services would have to undergo a massive recalibration of what they had previously paid out. When the judges released their final determination in mid-August, it proved that these streaming rates overall would lead to more money for publishers and songwriters.
Other publicly traded publishing companies have also announced the amounts of their expected adjustments ahead of receiving the money. Universal Music Group-owned Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the world’s largest music publishers, expects to book a catch-up adjustment of nearly 30 million euros in the third quarter of 2023 related to Phonorecords III, UMG said in its July 26 earnings call. Warner Music Group, which often ranks as the third largest publisher, according to Billboard’s Publishers Quarterly, recognized a benefit of $20 million — less than the amount of Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s initial estimate — in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2022, resulting from the CRB’s ruling July 1, 2022, ruling.
Reservoir Media accrued less than $3 million in royalties in the third and fourth quarters of calendar 2022 related to the CRB III decision, says CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi. Reservoir Media doesn’t expect to adjust the size of the CRB III adjustment. “We continue to believe our estimates are accurate,” says Khosrowshahi. “We’ve applied an appropriate level of conservatism in recording that revenue.”
The amount of the expected windfall appears to have received a great deal of consideration inside Hipgnosis Songs Fund. According to Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s latest annual report, the company compared the Phonorecords III accrual estimates to estimates provided by the independent valuer — Citron Cooperman — as well as the fair-value appraiser for the City National Bank-led revolving credit facility. The 182-page report mentions the term “CRB III” 49 times and includes lengthy discussions of the company’s regulatory environment and how the CRB III determination raised the headline royalty rate due to music publishers by 44% from 10.5% to 15.1%.
CRB III will give publishers less than a 44% rate increase, though. The amount owed to music publishers is a complicated formula that includes minimum per-subscriber fees and percentage-of-revenue calculations. Publishers typically received above the headline rate from streaming services from 2018 to 2022, meaning extra amounts owed retroactively will be less than they would otherwise. Sources tell Billboard the effective rate for some streaming services was in the range of 12% to 13% of service revenue rather than 10.5%.
Hipgnosis did not respond to Billboard’s request for comment.
Rising country star Jordan Davis has sold the majority share of his publishing catalog to Anthem Entertainment, extending his relationship with the Toronto-based company.
While it’s relatively rare for artists at such early stages of their careers to make such a move, Davis is using the funds to invest in his future.
“One of the big things for us was creating a little bit of flexibility to be able to make some long-term decisions a little less with budget in mind,” says Red Light’s Zach Sutton, Davis’ manager. In February, Davis is undertaking his first European headlining tour, including stops in Stockholm, Amsterdam and London. While Sutton says the concerts are already nearly sold out, “they’re not the most lucrative dates and having some resources from this sale allows us to think a bit more strategically on building long term, not just on ‘If we dedicate the first quarter to Europe, we’re really going to miss out on this type of money here in the States.’”
The excitement around Davis also factored into the timing. Davis has been a remarkably reliable hitmaker since his first release, “Singles You Up,” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2017. Since then, every official radio release has gone top 5, with three other songs, 2019’s “Slow Dance in the Parking Lot, 2021’s “Buy Dirt” (featuring Luke Bryan) and 2022’s “What My World Spins Around” reaching the summit. “Buy Dirt,” which Davis co-wrote with his brother Jacob and another pair of brothers, Josh and Matt Jenkins, won the CMA Award for song of the year last year. This year’s “Next Thing You Know,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Country Airplay tally, is up for the same award at the 2023 CMA Awards next month. In addition to writing his own material, Davis has had songs cut by Jake Owen and Old Dominion. His total streams have surpassed 6 billion, Sutton says.
“Jordan’s heat at the moment, the marketplace, the new team involved [at Anthem], all pointed towards this is a good time to take a couple of chips off the table but keep [Jordan] in the game and keep building this asset at the same time,” Sutton continues.
The new team includes Jason Klein and Sal Fazzari, who were named permanent CEO and CFO, respectively, earlier this month after serving in those roles as interims since the departure of former CEO Helen Murphy in February. Both had been with Anthem in other capacities. Gilles Godard, who has been with the company since 2006, is president of Anthem’s Nashville-based music publishing operation.
“Jordan’s particularly important to us. We obviously see him as an exceptional talent as a writer and a performer, but what’s really special about Jordan is we’ve been there since the very beginning,” Klein says, referring to Godard signing Davis in 2015 as a nascent writer. “As an independent publisher, [who] has been his partner throughout his creative process, it was very important to us, now that he’s at this point in his career, that we’d be able to hold on and continue to super-serve him as a publisher. He’s got a world of options open to him at this point and to stay with the home team, it says a lot about his belief in what we’re doing in Nashville and the great team that we have.”
“The team at Anthem has evolved into a great creative platform for me,” Davis said in a statement. “Their belief in me as an artist and a songwriter — it’s made such a difference along the way — from when I first moved to Nashville as a songwriter to now.”
In addition to acquiring an interest in Davis’s catalog, the Anthem deal extends the company’s existing co-publishing agreement with Davis going forward. “We are proud to say that Jordan started his publishing career here at Anthem eight years ago, hard work does pay off, and now here’s to the next eight years making more musical history with Jordan Davis,” Godard added.
Nashville attorneys Derek Crownover, John Rolfe and Colleen Kelley of Loeb and Loeb represented Davis in the transaction.
As Fazzari notes, Anthem has purchased portions of other country publishing catalogs, including Jody Williams Music, Better Angels, RED Creative Group and Red Vinyl, which includes Chris Janson’s catalog. “Nashville has always been a focal point for us not only creatively, but for catalogs because we all love the music and the town. The songs that we get are pretty timeless. We’ve been able to amass a pretty sizeable catalog.”
Anthem has also bought portions of individual songs in Nashville, including co-writer Jesse Rice’s share of the Florida Georgia Line 2012 smash, “Cruise.” (Its publishing deals extend far beyond country, including a long-term partnership with Timbaland, whose catalog Anthem acquired in 2012. Anthem has continued to invest in new Timbaland ventures.)
While the Davis deal is the first substantial catalog purchase Klein and Fazzari have completed since taking the reins, “We’ve got a lot that we’re looking at,” Klein says. “We’ve got a pretty robust pipeline of opportunity that we’re exploring. We expect to be pretty busy in the months ahead.”
Fazzari adds that Anthem’s lane is exploring deals that complement existing publishing partners and help diversify into other areas, but “we’re not going to be going after large or big-ticket catalogs that usually come with an auction process. We like to spend a lot of time investing in relationships within our network and that brings deal flow to us.”
Reservoir Media has signed Joe Walsh to a global publishing agreement. The deal encompasses both hits from his catalog — including those he wrote for his solo project as well as the Eagles and James Gang — and future works. It does not include the administration of his back catalog aside from select songs, including […]