(l to r) Paul Cook, Sid Vicious, and Steve Jones. Photo Credit: Peter Stone/BMG
BMG has officially signed a global publishing agreement with the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and Paul Cook as well as the estate of Sid Vicious.
The Bertelsmann-owned music company formally detailed the publishing administration pact with 68-year-old Jones, 67-year-old Cook, and the estate of Sid Vicious today. Focusing mainly on the cultural impact of the Sex Pistols, the corresponding release notes that the newly inked deal extends to the mentioned professionals’ “portion of the legendary rock band’s songwriting catalog.”
Jones and Cook co-wrote the entirety of 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, among them especially well-known songs like “Anarchy in the U.K.,” “Holidays in the Sun,” and “God Save the Queen.” Vicious, for his part, received songwriting credits on the middle track and “Bodies.”
Of course, the comparatively substantial overall consumption of catalog music, generally referring to works released at least 18 months back, has been noted in a number of recently published reports and datasets. Meanwhile, regarding the contemporary reach of the Sex Pistols in particular, the almost five-decade-old act currently has 1.46 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with nearly 200 million cumulative streams between both “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy in the U.K.”
Addressing today’s agreement, BMG VP of music publishing Michael Howe said: “Steve, Paul, and Sid’s works with Sex Pistols are among the most important cultural and creative music of the last half-century.
“Their impact on society and the performing arts is orders of magnitude greater than the group’s incredibly brief lifespan and recorded output would suggest. The band’s influence resonates as deeply today as it did in 1977.”
And in comments of his own, BMG’s president of repertoire and marketing for L.A. and New York, Thomas Scherer, communicated: “We are honored Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Sid Vicious’ estate have chosen BMG to be the publishing home of their musical works with Sex Pistols – the crown jewels of a generation. Cash from chaos!”
On the other side of the tie-up, only Jones provided (decidedly brief) remarks, asking: “Where’s my money?!”
Last month, BMG acquired additional IP, finalized an expanded publishing deal with The Chemical Brothers (who released their 10th studio album, entitled For That Beautiful Feeling, one week ago), and reported H1 2023 revenue of about $452 million (a nearly 12 percent year-over-year improvement).
And earlier this week, the Berlin-based business unveiled a seemingly far-reaching partnership, extending to both publishing and the recorded side, with Jennifer Lopez.