CLASSIC CATALOGS SALSOUL RECORDS, BETHLEHEM MUSIC AND WEST END RECORDS JOIN BMG WITH ACQUISITION OF VERSE MUSIC GROUP

29 June 2015 - Press release

BMG is to take ownership of a brace of significant publishing and recording catalogs following its acquisition of New York independent Verse Music Group, announced today.

Verse, formed in 2010, owns rights to around 40,000 songs and recordings including such catalogues as:

• Salsoul Records, the legendary funk and dance label behind the first ever commercial 12“ single (Double Exposure’s ‘10%’) and Loleatta Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’ (most famously featured in Black Box’s ‘Ride On Time’) together with its Latin offsheet Salsoul Lejendas featuring the 175m-album-selling Camilo Sesto;
• The Bethlehem Music catalog of classic jazz including works by Nina Simone (‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’), Duke Ellington, Mel Torme and John Coltrane;
• Golden Records, the first children’s record label in the US with artists ranging from Danny Kaye to Roy Rodgers, Bing Crosby to Johnny Cash;
• West End Records, the influential label led by Paradise Garage founder Mel Cheren behind seminal tracks such as Taana Gardner’s ‘Heartbeat’ and the worldwide hit ‘Here Comes The Hotstepper’ by Ini Kamoze;
• Successful catalogs from the likes of long-time Rod Stewart collaborator Kevin Savigar, Grammy Award-winning Franne Golde and the much-sampled Linda Laurie & Camex catalogue.

Verse Music Group was founded by award-winning songwriter/producers Curt Frasca and Sabelle Breer, who have worked with artists including Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Missy Higgins and Celine Dion.

Laurent Hubert, President Creative & Marketing of BMG Chrysalis US, said, “Verse has assembled an extremely varied and wide-ranging catalog which touches many of the most influential moments in popular music history. There are considerable synergies with existing BMG catalogs which make this acquisition particularly exciting.“