Music News 6/3/10

>>Congratulations to Row Fax subscriber Michael Cooper, who had two songs recorded last month on Shawn Faler’s new album for Visionway Records Nashville. Songwriter/publisher Cooper reports having had four songs cut by Nashville-based labels in the past year, all from following leads published in Row Fax.

>>BMG Rights Management has announced the acquisition of the Adage IV catalog. Adage IV consists of rights in a number of classic compositions performed by artists including John Mayer, Ray Charles, Rob Thomas, Joni Mitchell, Faith Hill, Elvis Presley, Frankie Lymon, Joe Cocker, The Beach Boys and Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Among the acquired music rights are well-known pieces such as “Why Do Fools Fall In Love,” “Stay,” “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” “Little Darling,” “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and “Breathe.”

“Working with BMG Rights provides an opportunity to participate in the future of music publishing,” said Herb Jordan, founder and CEO of the Los Angeles based Adage Group. “The Adage Group looks forward to contributing to the growth and success of BMG Rights.”

“Herb Jordan and his team at Adage Group have built an impressive catalog of music rights – the iconic songs in the Adage IV catalog are a perfect fit for our synch and licensing strategy,” Laurent Hubert, COO North America, BMG said. “We look forward to working with Herb and his team”

After the acquisition of Cherry Lane and the formation of the JV One Haven Music Publishing earlier in 2010, this acquisition is another cornerstone in building up high quality repertoire for BMG Rights Management, the joint venture between the international media company Bertelsmann and the global private equity firm KKR.

>>The New York Post reported recently(6/2) that Bug Music, one of the world’s biggest independent music publishers, is being shopped by JPMorgan Chase, with an asking price of $300 million.

In the chase for the firm are several big record companies including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Sony/ATV Music and a joint venture with private equity powerhouse KKR and BMG.

The privately-owned indie publisher/administrator reps acts such as Kings of Leon and Kara DioGuardi. Bug claims to have shares in eight top 100 charting hits in the first quarter including the Kings of Leon hit, “Use Somebody,” and “Sex on Fire.” The company is number six in the Billboard top publishers chart.