The Beatles’ Apple Corps Ltd. have signed a new agreement with Bravado, the worldwide merchandising branch of Universal Music Group, to handle the licensing of official Fab Four products in North America.
The agreement means that UMG now handles both the recorded music and the merchandising for the Beatles legacy. Tom Bennett, CEO of Bravado said, “We are extremely honored to have this opportunity to work with The Beatles. We fully recognize that representing artists of this magnitude comes with enormous responsibility, and with our unparalleled creative team and infrastructure, we will apply the industry’s best resources to execute the Beatles’ vision to create products that their fans will love.”
Commented Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group, “All of us at Universal Music Group are very excited about extending our relationship with the Beatles’ iconic brand to include both merchandise and their legendary recordings, and about the potential for innovative marketing of creative new products.”
Bravado’s client list includes some of the biggest names in the business including the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Lady Gaga, Guns N’ Roses and Bob Marley.
Fleetwood Mac have also signed a new deal but one that involves royalties and new media. The band has singed with Clear Channel for the first direct performing rights partnership between a radio company and a specific artist. The company had signed a number of independent labels to similar agreements but had never done so before with a musician or group.
Irving Azoff, who represents the band, said “Fleetwood Mac has consistently pushed the envelope – creating new sounds, making music that seems designed for radio and looking at the industry in new ways. It’s fitting that a group that’s played such an integral role in radio and music history would be the first band to take such a major step — helping the music industry create a sustainable digital marketplace so it can thrive for decades to come. We’re delighted to join Clear Channel in creating a new model for the music industry, one that will be good for performing artists, good for music fans, and good for the people who have invested their talent, time and money.”
Stay updated with your free Noise11 daily music newsletter. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
