BMG splashes out on Take That and Nirvana songs with Virgin Publishing buy

The worldwide rights for the Virgin Music Publishing and Famous UK Music Publishing catalogues are going to BMG, after the company signed a binding contract for the songs.

Sony/ATV acquired EMI Music Publishing in June 2012 and is required to sell these catalogues by the European Commission as a condition of the acquisition.

They include some of the biggest pop hits of the past three decades from artists such as Take That, Kurt Cobain, Tears for Fears, The Human League, Iggy Pop, Duffy, Mark Ronson and The Kooks.

Take That’s greatest hits including the Number Ones ‘Patience’, ‘Shine’ and ‘Greatest Day’ and Robbie William’s interests in the likes of ‘Angels’, ‘Rock DJ’ and ‘Let Me Entertain You’ are included, alongside Kurt Cobain-penned Nirvana hits including ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘Come As You Are’ and ‘About A Girl’.

BMG is already the world’s fourth largest music publishing company. In May 2012, it announced it had in excess of one million copyrights under management.

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “These catalogues contain some of the most influential and successful songs in popular music. We are delighted to have won the opportunity to represent the writers of those songs and to demonstrate to them BMG’s commitment to twenty-first century service. They have my pledge that we will do our very best to deliver for them.”

Alexi Cory-Smith, Senior VP of BMG Chrysalis UK, said, “These catalogues are a significant addition to BMG’s UK-based roster which has already grown strongly this year with a raft of new signings. BMG is now the only European-based major music publisher, and importantly we work across all of our offices as a single international team. We will continue to pursue our ambition to be the best home for songwriters around.”

You can see some highlights of the Virgin Publishing catalogue below.

 Music Business Worldwide