Downtown Sells Catalog
DOWNTOWN℠ has sold a portfolio of 145,000 owned and co-published music copyrights to CONCORD, which brings its owned and controlled music assets to over 600,000 works. DOWNTOWN will continue to manage global royalty collection for the copyrights included in the sale through the end of 2021.
The catalog includes works by ADELE, ARETHA FRANKLIN, BEYONCÉ, BLAKE SHELTON, BRUNO MARS, CARRIE UNDERWOOD, DAVID BOWIE, ERIC CLAPTON, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, JAY-Z, LADY GAGA, MADONNA, MAROON 5, MARVIN GAYE, MARY J. BLIGE, MOS DEF, MÖTLEY CRÜE, NEW ORDER, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RAY CHARLES, SANTIGOLD, SAM SMITH, STEVIE WONDER, and THE 1975 among many others. Songs such as “Green Onions,” “Dancing In the Streets,” “Runaway,” “Home Sweet Home,” “Change the World,” “Moves Like Jagger,” “Halo,” “Stay With Me,” and “Shallow” are all included in the transaction. Also, the catalog sale features numerous local and regional hits, including top hits from marquee K-POP and J-POP artists, 30 years of FRENCH pop music songs, and much more.
DOWNTOWN manages more than 23 million music assets on behalf of more than 1 million creators and 2,500 enterprise clients worldwide. The sale of its owned copyrights enables DOWNTOWN to focus on its core music publishing service offerings, including all global creative and sync licensing capabilities, as well as SONGTRUST®, its underlying technology, and assets which are unaffected by this transaction.
“CONCORD is an excellent home for this extraordinary catalog that we’ve had the unique privilege to build over the past 14 years. Not only does CONCORD recognize the value of these works, but this transaction further demonstrates the true strength of the modern independent music sector,” said DOWNTOWN Founder and CEO JUSTIN KALIFOWITZ.
“The incredible catalog of songs is an excellent complement to the timeless and valuable copyrights upon which Concord has built a successful business,” commented CONCORD Chief Publishing Executive JIM SELBY. “Our global publishing team is honored to now represent these songwriters and their works to the world.”
This is CONCORD’s latest acquisition since its purchase of IMAGEM in 2017. Since 2013, Concord has welcomed ROUNDER RECORDS, VEE-JAY RECORDS, RAZOR & TIE, KIDZ BOP, FEARLESS RECORDS, RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN, BOOSEY & HAWKES, SIKORSKI MUSIC PUBLISHING, SAVOY, VARÉSE SARABANDE, FANIA, INDEPENDIENTE, MUSART, VICTORY RECORDS AND PUBLISHING, the publishing catalogs of IMAGINE DRAGONS and SPIRIT B-UNIQUE, theatrical licensors SAMUEL FRENCH and TAMS-WITMARK and has partnered with ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER. In 2020, CONCORD formed an exclusive joint venture with PULSE MUSIC GROUP and signed a co-publishing agreement with songwriter HILLARY LINDSEY in addition to the purchase of her catalog of hit songs.
