Phil Collins and Genesis Sell Catalogs to Concord for $300 Million

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan selling their catalogs for $600 million, Genesis and Phil Collins for $300 million, Stevie Nicks for $100 million — over the past few years dozens of artists have sold the rights to their music catalogs for eight or nine figures. There are all kinds of reasons why this is happening: Artists are getting older and are basically estate planning, the pandemic proved that copyrights can be a great investment, and the booming market is bringing more and more buyers and sellers to the table. But what do you do with that catalog once you’ve bought it? The old approach was to basically to sit and wait for the songs to make money — through radio, sales, use in films or TV shows or advertising campaigns, Broadway shows and lots of other ways.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Kendrick Lamar’s sold-out show at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday will be livestreamed exclusively through Amazon Music and Prime Video, the company announced today. The event will mark the 10-year anniversary of the release of Lamar’s monumentally influential album, “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City” and will give fans with a special look at Lamar’s 65-date world tour in support of his latest release, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” Airing live on October 22 at 2 p.m. ET, fans will be able to watch the livestream for free exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, and on the Amazon Music app. The stream will also feature sets from pgLang’s Tanna Leone and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Baby Keem. Lamar’s performance will be available to view on-demand on Prime Video following the livestream event.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor The courtship between art and commerce is a tricky one, but when a brand invests in music in a way that legitimately benefits not only its customers and the artist but people from the artist’s community, it’s good business all around. And at a time when the concert experience can be downright insulting to the customer — most of whom have invested horrifying amounts of money and time with no guarantee of it paying off — it’s even better business to make them feel like they’re flying first-class.   “Jack Harlow’s Louisville,” a hometown-themed concert sponsored by American Express and exclusively for card holders, was basically like a large version of one of those corporate events most humans only read about, crossed with a really rich friend’s kid’s sweet sixteen party. It was held at Brooklyn Steel, an 1,800-capacity, five-year-old venue with a spacious upstairs balcony (which was used as VIP for this event) that includes a sunken terrace that’s basically the equivalent of box seats (and was ultra-VIP).

Netflix show ever. The platform’s statistics for the week of Oct. 3rd to the 9th showed that the drama, starring Evan Peters as notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, drew in 205.33 million hours of viewing time worldwide.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Duran Duran have confirmed details of a brand-new, 75 minute docu-concert film titled “A Hollywood High,” that captures the band performing live on a rooftop in Los Angeles, alongside interviews and archival footage that tells the story of their long-time relationship with the city. The film will be released in theaters on November 3, 2022.  “For our first US show in several years we wanted to do something really special and intimate,” explains keyboardist Nick Rhodes.  “After considering many options, a rooftop performance quickly became the frontrunner. It was post-pandemic, we had never done anything like that before, and we had just released a new album.  Somehow it seemed like a magical doorway to the next part of our journey.”

Ramones singer Joey Ramone have sold a stake of his publishing rights for $10million (£8.9m).The sale comes as part of a new partnership between the Primary Wave Music publishing group and investment company Brookfield Asset Management.As the Wall Street Journal reports, the deal also includes non-exclusive rights to Ramone’s likeness and name. Included in the publishing deal are songwriting credits on many Ramones hits including ‘Judy Is A Punk’ and ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’.In a statement, the singer’s brother, Mitchel Hyman, said: “I’m thoroughly convinced of their eagerness to perpetuate his legacy, and their sincerity about doing it in a way that will never compromise his credibility.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Primary Wave Music has acquired a major stake in Joey Ramone’s music-publishing assets for around $10 million, according to people close to the transaction. Terms of the deal include non-exclusive rights to license Joey Ramone’s name and likeness, as well as income for songs across the band’s repertoire of music; the news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. While the music-catalog market has been booming for the past several years, with blockbuster deals for catalogs by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen (both for around $600 million), Neil Young, Stevie Nicks, James Brown (all around the low nine figures) and more, this is possibly the first such deal for a punk-era artist, and could open up a new field of opportunity in a rapidly narrowing market.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Back in the day (“the day” being the 1990s), Pavement became so typecast as a cliché-lambasting, anti-rock band that they never really got credit for what a great rock band they were — and, as their ongoing 30th-ish anniversary tour shows, still are. The stereotypical scrawny, bookish, indie vibe and image of the group’s early records had become so cemented that few seemed to notice how tight and accomplished they became after drummer Steve West joined the group in 1993. Although they always downplayed their ability to “rock out” and still do, when the band locks in on hypnotic grooves while singer-guitarist Stephen Malkmus plays solos with a Lou Reed-ish combination of soaring melodies and brittle squall (usually finishing with some self-mocking gesture), they can hold their own with virtually any rock band. On their later albums, that seasoning carried over to their songwriting, as Malkmus’ almost run-on melodies were delivered in a cleaner, sharper manner, as if he were no longer quite so embarrassed by how pretty or catchy they can be.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Drake, arguably the biggest rapper in the world, will play a special concert at the legenday Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem neighborhood that will be broadcast on SiriusXM, he and the network announced on Tuesday. Details on the show were slim — “Drake will perform at the world-famous Apollo Theater in New York. The exclusive SiriusXM concert marks the first time that Drake will perform at the iconic theater,” the announcement reads — but the concert will be the latest in a long series of special, intimate gigs the network has staged at the 1,500-capacity venue. Fans should head here to score tickets, but act fast.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor While there’s been no official word, Pink Floyd has been shopping its recorded-music catalog and other assets for several months, seeking as much as $500 million, according to the Financial Times, with both major music companies and investment firms as the top bidders. But sources say an explosive new interview with founding member, main songwriter and stakeholder Roger Waters — in which he makes extensive remarks about Israel, Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and other political matters that one could politely characterize as controversial — is giving at least one potential buyer cold feet and seems likely to lead others to rethink their positions. For years Waters has sounded off about politics in the press and at his concerts, most controversially Israel’s policies. But the new interview in Rolling Stone raises (or lowers) the bar considerably. While interviewer James Ball does his best to challenge some of Waters’ more far-fetched statements, the former Pink Floyd singer argues emphatically that some Jewish people in the U.S. and U.K. bear responsibility for the actions of Israel “because they pay for everything”; that well-documented accounts of Russian war crimes in Ukraine are “lies, lies, lies”; that the United States is “the most evil [country in the world] of all by a factor of at least 10 times”; that Russia’s brutal military involvement in Syria is justified because “they were there at the invitation of the Syrian government” (which is led by one of the world’s most murderous dictators, Bashar Assad), and more. (See a 12,000-word transcript of the interview here).

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In observance of World Mental Health Day on October 10, singer-songwriter Lauv has teamed up with therapy platform BetterHelp to provide up to $3 million in free therapy for any fan who applies. An outspoken advocate for mental health via his music and nonprofit Blue Boy Foundation, BetterHelp is helping to amplify his intent to de-stigmatize asking for mental-health help. Any fan new to the organization can sign up and be matched to a licensed therapist for a free month of professional therapy by visitingwww.betterhelp.com/lauv. “Lauv is a global superstar and well-known advocate for mental health,” says Alon Matas, President and Founder of BetterHelp. “We’re excited to work with an artist who is as passionate as we are about reducing the stigma around mental health and spreading awareness of free therapy resources to millions of people.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Twenty years before “Moonage Daydream” was a sprawling documentary film about David Bowie‘s life and art, it was a massive photo book focusing on his Ziggy Stardust years, with photos by Mick Rock — his exclusive photographer at the time — and an introduction and commentary written by both of them. The limited-edition book was snapped up quickly and for years has fetched horrifying prices on the secondary market. But original publisher Genesis Books — which specializes in such state-of-the-art photography books — is releasing a 20th anniversary edition of the book today (Oct. 4, 2022). Where the film focuses on Bowie’s entire life, the book is entirely about the rise and fall of the Ziggy Stardust character in 1972 and 1973 — “Eighteen months, that’s all it was,” Bowie writes in the book. Alongside over 600 photographs taken by Rock, Bowie’s provides commentary on the creation and proliferation of the character that, in no understatement, changed rock music.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Jack Harlow Partners With American Express to Present ‘Louisville by Jack Harlow’ Jack Harlow has partnered with American Express to present “Louisville by Jack Harlow,” a special concert taking place at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, October 12. According to the announcement, the show, which is part of the company’s Member Week and is exclusively for card members, “will transport fans deep into Harlow’s world, paying homage to the rapper’s hometown of Louisville, KY and give fans an up-close-and-personal taste of Harlow’s favorite small businesses, artists, and restaurants.”
 The show will be livestreamed on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel and Card Members will have exclusive access to a custom merchandise collection from Louisville illustrator, Bri Bowers, known for her depictions of Louisville’s neighborhoods & landmarks. Her “Jack Harlow x American Express” collection will be sold IRL and online; all other merch items will be sold online.

Playing the right songs can lift the energy of an entire room, a club and even an entire stadium. It can also earn you some big bucks.

tumbling pound has encouraged dollar buyers to snap up hit songs with Phil Collins and Genesis the latest big names to cash in on their back catalogue with a $300m (£270m) deal. Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks sold the rights to hit songs including “Mama”, “Land of Confusion” and “Invisible Touch” to the US-based Concord Music Group.

Phil Collins and Genesis have sold a large chunk of their back catalogue for a whopping $300million (£268m). Concord Music Group has landed the publishing rights and master recordings for most of prog rock legends Genesis’ catalogue, as well as a portion of the group’s recorded music income streams and masters. The sale also includes Collins’ solo hits In the Air Tonight, You’ll Be In My Heart, and Against All Odds.