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Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
BMG takes control of the Buddy Holly catalogue
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 3 July 2015
BMG has acquired the rights to much of the Buddy Holly catalogue through an arrangement with his widow Maria Elena Holly that’s backed by The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, a music education charity she co-founded in 2010.
The deal covers the publishing rights in nearly every song Holly wrote, including classics like ‘Peggy Sue’ and ‘That’ll Be The Day’, plus BMG will also rep royalties due on the musician’s recordings, and rights in his name, image and likeness.
Confirming the deal, Holly told reporters: “For almost 60 years Buddy’s loving fans and I have worked to bring his creativity to successive generations of fans and I have been looking for a steward to lead those efforts into the future. I am very happy to announce that I have entrusted Buddy’s legacy to BMG”.
Meanwhile Holly’s legal rep Stephen Easley, who is also counsel to the aforementioned Foundation, added: “We are particularly pleased that BMG will join with Maria Elena and The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation to further Buddy’s legacy, and Buddy and Maria Elena’s dream to promote musical education for all young people, regardless of creed, income or ethnicity”.
BMG US’s President Creative & Marketing Laurent Hubert will join the board of the Foundation as part of the deal, and he said of the alliance: “Buddy Holly is truly one of the founding fathers of rock and roll. What is all the more extraordinary is that he completed this tremendous body of work by the time he was 22. Maria Elena and the music community can be assured that BMG takes its responsibility to preserve and develop the Buddy Holly legacy extremely seriously”.
