In a move that dramatically expands its reach, Downtown Music Holdings has acquired two high-profile music publishers: London’s Good Soldier Songs and South Africa’s Sheer Music Publishing.
Downtown Music finalized the Good Soldier Songs buyout late last week, and a copy of the announcement message was shared with Digital Music News. News of the Sheer Music Publishing acquisition broke today.
Founded by former Warner Music UK CEO Christian Tattersfield, Good Soldier Songs has secured publishing contracts with artists including The 1975 and The Wombats. The ongoing agreement between Good Soldier Songs and The 1975 covers the latter’s upcoming fourth studio album, which is slated to release this Friday, May 22nd. The contract was included in Downtown’s acquisition.
In total, the Good Soldier Songs deal encompasses some 350 tracks.
Founded back in 1996, Johannesburg, South Africa-based Sheer Music Publishing bills itself as “the first pan-African world class music publishing company.” Per the acquisition’s terms, Sheer Music Publishing will continue to operate independently while utilizing the Downtown Music’s technology and contacts to pursue global opportunities on behalf of its songwriters.
Not a few music industry companies are establishing footholds in developing – and increasingly lucrative – markets.
About one month ago, Digital Music News was first to report that Warner Music Group (WMG) had invested in leading African digital music company Africori. Like the Downtown-Sheer buyout, the Warner-Africori deal emphasized equipping the latter with an enhanced global reach and a bolstered ability to nab international contracts.
Additionally, Warner has debuted Warner Music India (headed by Sony Music India veteran Jay Mehta) and Warner Music Vietnam (led by former Zing Media exec Lisa Nguyen) this year, as part of an ambitious plan to pursue long-term international growth.
Downtown Music Publishing’s client roster includes Alphaville and One Direction, besides late-and-great artists such as John Prine and John Lennon.