Downtown Music’s neighbouring rights division has signed international deals with the estates of Meat Loaf and Miles Davis.
Downtown Neighbouring Rights (DNR) has also announced the launch of its royalties and rights management platform, powered by Fuga’s proprietary technology.
Led by London-based general manager Dean Francis, the global Downtown Neighbouring Rights team has more than 30 years of experience and offers a bespoke, client-led service to wide-range of artist and label clients including Justin Bieber, Jon Batiste, Sub Pop Records, Lindsey Buckingham and the estate of Ella Fitzgerald.
Francis joined Downtown in 2020 to lead the standalone neighbouring rights division, and oversaw the integration of Fuga’s neighbouring rights business following the distributor’s acquisition by Downtown Music Holdings earlier that year.
As part of the international neighbouring rights agreement announced today, DNR will represent the entire catalogue of Grammy-winning artist Meat Loaf. His multi-platinum repertoire stretches over 40 years and includes the singles I’d Do Anything For Love (But I won’t do that), which reached No.1 in 28 countries, alongside his Bat Out of Hell album trilogy.
Terry Doty, trustee and business manager of the Michael Lee Aday Intellectual Property Trust, said: ‘With neighbouring rights becoming an increasingly important form of revenue for rights holders and their catalogue, we are confident that the Meat Loaf estate is in trusted and reputable hands with Downtown Neighbouring Rights, whose dedication to protecting and maximising artists’ repertoire makes them an ideal partner for us.”
DNR’s agreement with the estate of revered innovator Miles Davis - whose relationship with Downtown Music Publishing dates back to 2019 - covers the recordings of a career that spans five decades and includes releases such as Venus de Milo and Générique.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, the trumpeter, bandleader and composer’s music has provided a foundation for the future of jazz music around the world.
Vince Wilburn Jr, one of the overseers of the Miles Davis estate and nephew of the late jazz icon, said: “We are happy to expand our relationship with the Downtown Music Family. They have proven that they value and love Miles' music as well as his brand."
The announcement on the client-facing neighbouring rights management and royalties platform follows years of close collaboration with Fuga. DNR has used the distributor’s technology and infrastructure to develop proprietary tools and systems, with many of Fuga’s label clients leveraging Downtown’s Neighbouring Rights offering, including recently signed partnerships with Year0001, Insomniac Records, TikTok’s SoundOn platform and Polyvinyl Records.
The new centralised portal enables the department to focus on maximising income from clients’ repertoire, as well as offering streamlined features for clients across catalogue management, metadata enrichment, CMO deliveries and updates through a series of phased releases, with external access to the portal now available.
Dean Francis, general manager, Downtown Neighbouring Rights, said: “To partner with renowned estates such as Miles Davis and Meat Loaf, both of whom have deeply impacted the modern music industry, is a real testament to the services and expertise we provide across our neighbouring rights offering. We strive to give clients the best of our in-house knowledge and arm them with resources to make them aware of how they’re able to maximise collection of these rights. The launch of our new platform will bolster this further by providing more insight as we look to continue to improve efficiencies in the administration of our clients’ exceptional catalogues.”
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