A young Jimmy Page performing live. Photo Credit: Jim Summaria
The daughter of longtime Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant has revealed plans to sell a 10 percent interest in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group’s body of work, reportedly including catalog rights, trademarks, and more.
59-year-old Helen Grant just recently disclosed her intention to cash in on the 10 percent stake in an interview with The Times. According to the sit down, Helen’s father, famed manager Peter Grant, possessed a 20 percent piece of Led Zeppelin’s “rights” – more on this below – at the time of his 1995 passing. Helen and her brother then each inherited 10 percent of the IP, per the text.
“I’m hoping it will allow me to showcase Dad again in the way he should be presented,” Helen told the newspaper of the anticipated catalog sale. “A film is being talked about. I never had a chance to do it before – I’ve got five bloody kids, for God’s sake – but I’m at that stage in life where I’m thinking we could do something great with Dad’s legacy.”
Warren Grant, Helen’s brother, is known for managing the Hats Off to Led Zeppelin tribute band. And in a 2016 Billboard interview, he expressed interest in creating a documentary about his father. It doesn’t appear that Warren has publicly revealed any plans to join Helen by selling his own stake, however.
Expanding upon the details of Helen’s stake, Music Week has indicated that the involved (decidedly valuable) intellectual property extends to not only Led Zeppelin masters and publishing, but to the “Whole Lotta Love” act’s “other business ventures, which encompass the trademarks and merchandise.”
Per the same report, Helen’s attempt to sell is already in full swing, with New Media Law LLP partner Ian Penman, a founding director and shareholder of Synchtank, having been tapped to manage the sale.
Meanwhile, LedZepNews has elaborated that Helen and Warren Grant each own 10 percent of Superhype Tapes, a half-century-old publishing business established to manage Led Zeppelin’s music. Jimmy Page is said to possess the remaining 80 percent.
Helen likewise owns 10 percent of an entity called United Blag Productions, according to the report. United Blag, for its part, “controls the rights” to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records releases – that is, 1975’s Physical Graffiti, 1976’s Presence, and 1979’s In Through the Out Door.
Lastly, regarding the catalog stake’s potential buyer, evidence and logic suggest that there won’t be a shortage of interested parties even with the relatively small ownership percentage at hand. Pimco– and KKR-partnered BMG has for a while been scooping up high-profile song rights, as have Primary Wave and (notwithstanding something of a slowdown as of late) Hipgnosis Song Management.
