(l to r) BMG continental Europe EVP Maximilian Kolb, Martin Solveig, business manager Ludivine Gutierrez, and BMG chief content officer Dominique Casimir. Photo Credit: Justin Personnaz/BMG
Two weeks after purchasing the recorded catalog of Australia’s Dope Lemon, BMG has officially acquired the recordings of Paris-born DJ and electronic artist Martin Solveig.
Berlin-based BMG unveiled its latest music-IP investment – one of several it’s inked with electronic acts in recent years – via a formal release today. According to the Bertelsmann-owned music company, the pact extends to five Solveig albums (2002’s Sur la Terre through 2011’s Smash) and approximately 130 total tracks.
Among these tracks are 2010’s “Hello” (which appears to have around 200 million cumulative Spotify streams across its various uploads) and 2015’s “Intoxicated” (351 million Spotify streams). Though the involved parties haven’t publicly disclosed the transaction’s precise financials, BMG did indicate that the play marks its “largest recorded music acquisition in France yet.”
(The overall value of BMG’s H2 2023 catalog expenditures should come to light in the next earnings report from its aforementioned Bertelsmann parent.)
Addressing the tie-up, the Madonna collaborator Martin Solveig expressed the belief that BMG “understands the intrinsic value of this music.”
“In the process of selecting a partner to host and preserve my recordings,” communicated 47-year-old Solveig, “it was imperative for me to associate myself with a company that understands the intrinsic value of this music and is just as passionate about its future potential as I was in creating it. BMG has demonstrated exceptional motivation, and a genuine desire to perpetuate the exploitation of the tracks that are dear to me.”
And in remarks of his own, BMG’s EVP of repertoire and marketing for continental Europe, Maximilian Kolb, touched upon a perceived opportunity to help the projects at hand reach more fans on streaming platforms.
“Martin Solveig has created some of the most potent and successful electronic music of the past decade with a career which straddles the end of the download era and the emergence of streaming,” added Kolb, whose company is said to have achieved nearly 12 percent growth during H1 2023. “We see significant potential to bring his music to a wider streaming audience.”
BMG’s agreement with Solveig marks the newest in a series of recorded catalog purchases, including the initially noted recordings of Dope Lemon and, in September, Jet’s recordings. Moreover, the German business scored an expanded publishing deal with The Chemical Brothers in August and has for about 15 months owned the publishing catalog of EDM vet Jean-Michel Jarre.
Expanding upon the latter, a growing number of entities are purchasing stakes in electronic and dance music, with Armada Music’s EDM-focused BEAT having closed multiple buyouts to this point in 2023.
