Evergreen Copyrights

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EverGreen grows global

January 22 2006, Phil Gallo, Variety

Music industry veterans Joel Katz, David Schulhof and Richard Perna have created a full-service global music publishing company, EverGreen Copyright Acquisitions, by purchasing six catalogs, including Rykomusic.

EverGreen Copyrights will be based in Nashville, with an additional office in New York. Perna in Nashville and Schulhof in New York will serve as co-CEOs of the company. Perna will oversee copyright and royalty administration; Schulhof, former VP of music at Miramax, will oversee the company's global film, TV and advertising department as well as creative affairs.

With backing from Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking, EverGreen has launched with the purchase of Rykomusic, Warlock Music (featuring the major works of Nick Drake), the Teddy Riley catalog, the Audigram catalog (including a number of works by J.J. Cale), the Bill Monroe Music catalog and the Matt Slocum catalog.

"We looked at publishing assets that were underserved and undermarketed that were owned by people we have dealt with in the past," Schulhof said from Midem in Cannes, where the company is meeting with foreign partners, considering more acquisitions and looking to cut deals with other writers and producers. The core of EverGreen is the 10,000 songs in Rykomusic and Warlock. Artists in the catalogs include Drake, whose song "Pink Moon" boosted his profile when it was featured in a Volkswagen ad; Richard Thompson; Cubanismo; Morphine's Mark Sandman; Zero 7; Josh Rouse; and John Martyn. EverGreen Copyrights assumes Rykomusic's joint-venture partnership with Rough Trade Music, giving the company rights to sign new bands plus 50% ownership of the Rough Trade catalog's 5,000 compositions, including works by the Violent Femmes, Rocket From the Crypt and John Spencer Blues Explosion.

Schulhof said the Slocum buy was partly sentimental: In 2000, Schulhof used "Kiss Me" by Slocum's band, Sixpence None the Richer, as the cornerstone of the promotion for the pic "She's All That."

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