Wu-Tang Clan Producer RZA Sells Catalog to Hipgnosis Songs

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter a comparatively slow week leading into the long weekend — which means we only scanned around 100 songs last week instead of the usual 130! — the avalanche of songs is back with a bang.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCapping a week that has seen the company acquire Big Deal Music Group and appoint several new top officers, Hipgnosis Songs announced that it has acquired the music catalog of Chrissie Hynde, founding member, lead vocalist and primary songwriter of pioneering rock band The Pretenders.Hipgnosis has acquired 100% of Hynde’s music publishing catalog of 164 songs, including publishing and writer’s share (PRS) from the Pretenders and her other projects. Terms of the deal

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs has acquired Big Deal Music Group and brought board its senior staff, with Kenny MacPherson becoming CEO of Hipgnosis Songs Group and reporting directly to founder and CEO Merck Mercuriadis. He is joined by Co-Presidents Casey Robison and Jamie Cerreta and Executive Vice President Dave Ayers (New York) as well as Senior Vice President Pete Robinson (Nashville) all of whom have signed new five-year contracts, according to the announcement.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Sept. 13, Carl Cox, Pete Tong and Roger Sanchez are just three of the legendary DJs who will take part in “For Beirut,” a 12-hour-long livestream event presented by Electronic Labor Day and Beatport ReConnect to raise funds to support Lebanon and its people in the wake of the August 4 explosion that killed more than 200 people and leveled a large area of the city.

Wu-Tang Clan have signed a new publishing deal with Dowtown Music. The deal covers their full back catalogue, as well as selected works from individual members’ solo projects and collaborations.“We are excited to be partnering with Downtown and entrusting them to handle our historic back catalogue”, says band leader RZA.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDowntown Music Publishing announced the signing of global publishing administration agreements with Wu-Tang Productions and Diggs Family Music, and owners Robert “RZA” Diggs and Mitchell “Divine” Diggs, to represent the iconic hip-hop group’s interest in songs from its back catalog of classic albums, as well as select works co-written or produced by individual Wu-Tang Clan members for solo releases, affiliates and other artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs founder Merck Mercuriadis named Ted Cockle president and Amy Thomson as chief catalogue officer of the company.Cockle was most recently president of Virgin EMI in the U.K., which under his tenure managed the recorded music for artists including Queen, Elton John, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, George Michael, Justin Bieber, Emeli Sande, The Killers, Lorde and Lewis Capaldi.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCompared with the avalanche of recent weeks, the days leading up to Labor Day weekend were relatively slow for incoming new songs — which means we went through just 80 instead of 120! — providing a great opportunity to shine a light on some lesser-known artists.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen veteran music producer Hal Willner passed away due to complications believed to be associated with Covid-19 on April 7, a day after his 64th birthday, the music community in New York and beyond was devastated.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor today only — Friday, Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHipgnosis Songs has acquired the music catalog of Motley Crue bassist and main songwriter Nikki Sixx, one of the most successful rock bands of the 1980s.Hipgnosis have acquired 100% of Sixx’s writer’s share of PRO income and writer’s Sound Exchange royalties for the cataog, which contains 305 songs.

The Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA is teaming with Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Netflix to develop and produce a new dramatic feature film which will retell the story of how the Wu-Tang Clan’s one-of-a-kind 2014 album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” ended up in the hands of the notorious pharma-bro Martin Shkreli. The film will share the same title as the aforementioned album.

Back in 2015 Martin Shkreli was public enemy #1. The big pharma CEO's nefarious influence was felt in everything from his decision to charge $750 per pill for HIV/AIDS drug Daraprim to being revealed as the man who paid $2M for a one-off Wu-Tang Clan album.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThese are boom times for hit songwriters, with catalogs being snapped up by Hipgnosis, Shamrock and others — and the latest big acquisition comes from Spirit Music Group, which announced that it has acquired the publishing catalog of Grammy-nominated songwriter and former “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi.

Netflix have announced details of newmovie Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which set to tell the true story behind Martin Shkreli‘s controversial purchase of the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s album of the same name.The film is set to be directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo.Shkreli previously made headlines after paying $2 million (£1.5 million) for the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ album, which he was subsequently ordered to give up as part of his fraud conviction.Wu-Tang

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDan Parise, an Emmy- and Grammy-nominated television television and live-event producer and founder of Diversified Production Services, died Monday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to a rep from Roc Nation, for whom Parise produced many events.A 30-year veteran producer, Parise was nominated for a “Best Music Film” Grammy Award and an “Outstanding Special Class” Emmy Awards for his work as producer of the “Beyonce & Jay-Z: On the Run” concert film, and also

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Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEven in a week loaded with high-profile singles and albums, one song stands out: Pharrell and Jay-Z’s moving ode to Black entrepreneurship, “Entrepreneur,” which is part of an issue of Time magazine dedicated to the subject called “The New American Revolution” and curated by Pharrell.

Naman Ramachandran German sales and production outfit Beta Film has sold hit Canadian man and canine series “Hudson & Rex” to a slew of territories across Europe.UKTV has picked up the show for the U.K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHBO’s “Lovecraft Country” has already made history for its entirely online orchestral score, co-composed by Laura Karpman and Raphael Saadiq.But for noted musical multitasker Saadiq – with a resume that includes a Grammy (and 15 nominations), a 2018 Oscar nom, nine studio albums (five as a solo act, four with previous group Tony! Toni! Toné!) and countless hits as a writer/producer for artists like D’Angelo, Solange, Mary J.