Yet Another BMG Acquisition: Chrysalis Music Publishing
We were welcomed back from Thanksgiving this morning by the news that German media conglomerate BMG Rights Management is buying the Chrysalis Music Publishing catalog for a grand total of £107.4 million (or $168.6 million USD). Wow!
We’d like to say we didn’t see this coming, but we had a feeling this would happen after BMG snapped up Evergreen Copyrights, Stage 3 Publishing and Cherry Lane Music (Elvis, anyone?) in rapid succession earlier this year. According to Billboard Magazine, this acquisition probably makes BMG the world’s fourth-largest music publisher by global market share.
In addition to being the home of writers like Debbie Harry of Blondie, Chrysalis is also the home of some well-loved music execs like Jeff Brabec and Jessica Hobbs. We think that if BMG is lucky/savvy, they’ll hang onto the executive talent that has been looking after these copyrights for the past few years.
What We’re Listening To: Bob Dylan, ‘The Witmark Demos 1962-1964′
It’s hard to believe that Bob Dylan wrote and recorded these generation-defining songs before the age of 24: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, “Blowin’ in the Wind” “Boots of Spanish Leather,” and “Mr. Tambourine Man,” among others.
The Witmark Demos were recorded by Dylan for the M. Witmark & Sons music publishing company over a two year period for the purposes of song pitching and plugging. The Witmark publishing company was eventually purchased by Warner Brothers, but the legacy lives on in this previously unreleased two-disc set, which will be available on Oct. 19.
NPR has a great story on the upcoming album and the history behind the recordings: First Listen: Bob Dylan, ‘The Witmark Demos 1962-1964′.
Bug Music Acquires Worldwide Rights To Saban Music Group’s Publishing Catalog
Bug Music, one of the world’s largest independent music publishers, and Saban Capital Group, Inc. (“SCG”), a private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment and communications industries, announced today that Bug Music has acquired the worldwide rights to the Saban Music Group’s (“SMG”) extensive music publishing catalog. With this transaction, Bug Music will control the worldwide rights to SMG’s complete music library and further the company’s strategy of acquiring high-profile music copyrights licensable across multiple media platforms. The extensive purchased catalog includes material from leading children’s franchises such as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers‚ Digimon, The Addams Family, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Generation, Princess Sissi and Walter Melon properties, and encompasses a slate of theme songs, cues and scores from more than 90 television series, 3,700 television episodes and 100 made-for-television films and specials.
- Bug Music Acquires Worldwide Rights To Saban Music Group’s Publishing Catalog