EDDIE AND ALEX VAN HALEN SIGN PUBLISHING DEAL WITH THE ATLAS MUSIC GROUP
The Atlas Music Group has signed Eddie and Alex Van Halen to a worldwide publishing administration deal. The publishing deal is for Van Halen‘s entire music catalog, excluding the band’s last album, entitled A Different Kind of Truth.
Atlas Music Group CEO, Rich Stumpf, spoke to Billboard about its new deal with Van Halen. “This deal has been a long time coming. I have been after Irvin Azoff (manager for the Van Halen brothers) and Peter Paterno (the brothers’ lawyer) for five years, to find out if there would ever be an opportunity to work with the Van Halen catalog,” Stumpf told Billboard. He continued, “They are my favorite all-time band so this is kind of a surreal moment where my professional and personal lives are coming together.”
Stumpf also said Van Halen is the most important band the company has ever signed, since it was launched in 2013. “It speaks volumes that after being with one company for thirty years that they have chosen to move to an independent music publisher. This [deal] is an important moment not just for us but for the independent music publishing community,” Stumpf stated to Billboard.
The CEO said he is really looking forward to getting Van Halen’s music in films, television, and commercials. “This is a premium catalog, so we will look for the right films and brand advertisers to place their music with,” Stumpf told Billboard. Atlas Music Group is hoping to reach younger consumers with Van Halen’s music. “That is how you maintain the value of the (legendary artists) catalog by reaching the younger generations that come along,” the CEO stated. He added, “A lot of the decision makers themselves are young so we will have to educate them on the importance of Van Halen, and not just their many hits.”
Now that Atlas Music Group has added Van Halen to their roster, the company’s catalog has increased to 4,000 songs. Last year, Atlas and Nashville publisher, Combustion Music, created a joint-venture. That joint-venture increased Atlas Music Group’s team to 25-30 active songwriters, and the publishing company currently has fifteen staff members in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.
Eddie Van Halen recently spoke at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History about innovation as part of the national What It Means To Be American program in a sold-out event.
When asked by Rolling Stone about the current plans for the band, Van Halen replied, “I’d love to make a studio record. Depends on everybody’s timing. I don’t know what Dave Lee Roth is up to now. I don’t know if he’s living in New York or Japan or wherever he is.”
additional source: bravewords.com
Only Eddie and Alex signed the deal and it’s for the band’s entire catalog. So that means Eddie and Alex started owning all the publishing at one point. That’s where the money is for recorded music. Every Van Halen song of the Roth era had that it was written by the entire band, even though it’s well known Eddie wrote the music and Dave wrote the lyrics and later the lyrics were written by Sammy. So it appears the Van Halen brothers have found a way to screw the other guys over once again. They’ve found a way to make money off of Van Halen’s music without the other band members, past and present. In that case, I feel the most sad for Michael. Sammy, on the other hand, has mucho money in the bank and if they try to screw him over, I hope he hires the best lawyers on earth and kicks Eddie and Alex’s asses in court. Eddie Van Halen is one of my top five favorite guitarists of all time but I have slowly lost more and more respect for him as a person as the years have gone on. Alex, it seems, just goes along with whatever Eddie wants to do. I wanted EVH to appear on TMS but now I don’t know if I would like that as much. Harry Taint posted something in the previous Van Halen news story that I agree with and that’s how the alcoholic Eddie was more likeable and the sober Eddie is a jackass, or something of that nature.
I completely agree with your assessment. I love his playing, but really don’t like his behavior, especially towards former band members. The way he downplays Michael Anthony’s contributions really irks me, and it’s disrespectful to the fans and the history o the bad. He’s not able to part ways with anyone, without completely trashing them, and that’s immature and small minded. The only reason he works with DLR, is that he has no choice, in order to get some of the fans to buy in. It’s pathetic.
As I said previously, unless DLR signed off his publishing share of VH’s catalog to the brothers (something they required of Michael Anthony, to which he agreed!), there will most likely be a lawsuit in the future. The brothers did something similar a few years back when one of their WB contracts came up for renewal and DLR had to sue them for his share. Making their relationship even odder/more complicated than fans understand is the fact that they all handled it as a “business affair” and not anything personal.
Can’t wait to hear some of those classics from VH III on a Lyrica commercial.