Trevor Rabin performing live. Photo credit: TheArcadeAddict
Two days before Hipgnosis’s purchase of Christine McVie’s 115-track catalog, rival song investment fund Round Hill Music has acquired an interest in the large catalog of veteran Yes guitarist and songwriter Trevor Rabin.
Round Hill Music (LON: RHM) unveiled the premier catalog investment this morning, via an official release shared with Digital Music News. While this announcement post does not disclose financial details of the deal, it does note that South Africa-born Trevor Rabin’s catalog includes “3,528 movie clips and songs.”
The 67-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rabin claims writing credits on tracks from Yes including 1994’s “The Calling”, 1983’s “Changes” and what is perhaps the most popular song. known to the group, “Owner of a Lonely Heart” from 1983. “In addition, Rabbitt co-founder Rabin has released five studio albums as a solo artist, the most recent of which, Jacaranda, debuted in 2012.
On the cinematic composition side, Rabin’s catalog includes a “very significant” collection of sheet music, as the 11-time BMI award winner designed the music for well-known films like Remember the titans (2000), Bad boys II (2003), National treasure (2004), Get smart (2008), and Force G (2009), among many others.
Regarding the specifics of the purchase, “the catalog is acquired by funds managed by Round Hill (including the Company) whose participation of Round Hill represents 50%,” said the press release. In addition, “the acquisition includes the publisher’s share and the writer’s share of the relevant copyright, as well as administrative control allowing Round Hill to control the catalog rights synchronization license.”
Addressing the purchase in a statement, Round Hill President and CEO Josh Gruss said in part: “Trevor Rabin is an iconic songwriter who has written major hits of his time with Yes, the one of the most important progressive rock groups of the 1980s and 1990s, in addition to an irreplaceable portfolio of film music compositions spanning decades representing a working life of one of the masters of the genre.
“We believe this is a particularly attractive area in which to increase our exposure as revenues from film and television performances continue to increase in value,” he continued.
As initially mentioned, UK-based song investment fund Hipgnosis acquired the catalog from Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie earlier this week, having kicked off 2021 by striking a deal with former Lindsey Buckingham. guitarist of the group. More generally, despite these investments and all manner of other investments in Hipgnosis’s IP music – as well as the seemingly substantial selling prices to which they contribute – various entities continue to drop considerable sums on catalogs.
With these points in mind (as well as the sheer amount of new music that becomes available daily to fans), it should be noted in conclusion that catalog releases – or those that are over 18 months old – now represent the two-thirds of all music consumption. in the United States, according to MRC Data.
