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
10 Responses
A new album would be great, but it would be even greater with Michael Anthony! 😉
Ain’t that the truth…a not so different kind of truth. It’s the truth we want to see come to fruition! No Michael, no VH.
Does the exclusion of DLR (co-author of EVERY VH song from his era) in this deal mean that somewhere along the way he gave up all his rights?….or is this deal the catalyst for a future lawsuit between Dave, Sam Hagar, and the brothers VH?
Although I’m a huge fan of VH, I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to hearing their music behind toothpaste and Viagra commercials. Sounds like a good revenue stream for the VH boys though, and good for them.
It’s cool to have your music In a great movie like the Stones did in Goodfellas. But commercials although they expose your music to people who would never ear it otherwise. Like it or not it’s the equivalent of the Rock n Roll 401k. I give the Chili Peppers and Neil Young for not doing it though. I’m sure they were offered a lot of money.
It’s really amazing that I can actually have no problem completely ignoring anything Van Halen does musically or tour wise while Michael isn’t in the band. It’s as if they don’t exist. Kinda reminds me of the Van Hagar era. I treated it as if they disbanded lol