Seeker Music, the new music rights and publishing company headed up by hit songwriter Evan Bogart, has acquired the full masters and publishing catalog of Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross.
The news comes on the heels Seeker Music’s acquisition of the catalogs of pop songwriters John Ryan and Jon Bellion last month.
Seeker notes that Cross was the first artist ever to win all of the “Big four” Grammys (Best New Artist, and Record, Song, and Album of the Year – only ever since done by Billie Eilish and Adele) in one night.
In addition to the acquisition deal, Seeker Music has announced a “year-round celebration of his music and legacy” to build on the success of its 2022 “Summer of Christopher Cross” campaign.
To kick things off, last week the company released Cross’ sophomore album Another Page in Spatial Audio for its 40th anniversary, and today the company is announcing a remix campaign and several national events being scheduled for the Spring/Summer.
In 2022, for the “Summer of Christopher Cross,” Seven of Cross’s albums were distributed across streaming services for the first time. Seeker says he hit his own peak of 3.27 million monthly Spotify listeners in the process.
In addition to the Spatial Audio release, Seeker will be rolling out remastered releases, a year-long remix campaign and a series of interactive events.
Seeker says that more details on the remixes, which it adds will “feature some of the biggest names in the electronic music world” and the upcoming events will be revealed this Spring.
Led by CEO Evan Bogart, a chart-topping songwriter himself (Beyoncé’s Halo, among others), Seeker says that it only “signs catalogs of songs that Bogart and his team are incredibly passionate about, genuine personal fans of, and for which they see intrinsic creative opportunity”.
Commenting on the news, Bogart said: “I’ve been a Christopher Cross fan going back to when I was a kid – I grew up around, and listening to, so many of his contemporaries. He’s an absolute legend!
“I’m so proud to have the opportunity to carry his legacy forward and of what we’ve already been able to do with his catalog, and will continue to do this year to keep introducing music fans to Chris’s incredible songs, and timeless songwriting”
In the following interview, Evan Bogart and Steven Melrose (Seeker Music Head of Creative), tell us more about the deal and how it ties into Seeker’s strategy…
What made Christopher Cross’ Catalog an appealing acquisition target for Seeker Music?
Evan Bogart: We just love Chris, his songwriting, and legendary songs so much that the opportunity was too great for us not to partner with him on his catalog. As a songwriter myself, and someone who grew up listening to his music with my family, his songwriting has been a real inspiration. Having the ability to collaborate with him on both the master and publishing side has given us the ability to fully put Seeker’s creative machine to work.
Tell us about the success you’ve achieved with the catalog so far?
EB: There’s so many things that we’ve done, but our Summer Of Christopher Cross campaign, releasing and celebrating several of his albums that had been previously, mostly unavailable, was a lot of fun!
Steven Melrose: We hit streaming and sales growth milestones along the way while super-serving his existing fanbase and introducing his music to a whole new generation. Additionally, we were successfully able to re-introduce his music via new sync milestones, and supporting big sync moments with full creative marketing campaigns, such as Jake Gyllenhall singing Sailing in Ambulance.
What potential do you see in the market for the catalog in the long-term?
EB: These songs are timeless and will continue to resonate with music fans all over the world. We want to continue to cater to, and serve, Chris’s huge fanbase and preserve his legacy, while also creating new ways for people to fall in love with the songs that have soundtracked so many people’s lives already.
SM: We also feel very strongly about how much his songwriting and craft can translate globally – literally and figuratively – and we plan to export his music to traditional, and emerging, markets in a way that’s never been done before.
How does this deal tie into Seeker Music’s wider acquisition strategy?
EB: We’re incredibly selective about who we partner with. Seeker’s ethos is always creative first — do we love these songs, can we celebrate these music creators, are we uniquely the right fit? We’re curating a roster of publishing and masters, and Chris checks all of the boxes.Music Business Worldwide
