Irving Azoff's Global Music Rights (GMR) has signed a worldwide deal to represent Prince's catalogue.
Prince left ASCAP in 2014, seeking an alternative to traditional public performance licensing practices and his Estate, represented by Bremer Trust, their music industry advisors, Charles Koppelman and Londell McMillan, and attorney Jason Boyarski, concluded that GMR’s philosophy was most consistent with Prince’s values.
Commenting on the signing, which relates to both released and unreleased tracks, GMR founder Azoff said: “I couldn’t be happier that Prince, who, during his lifetime, I worked with at various times over the last 30 years, will have his incredible roster of works represented by GMR. Prince was an iconoclast, who never settled for second best, and now his Estate has ensured that the public performance rights are protected in a way befitting their significance.”
GMR CEO Randy Grimmett said: “Prince was a musical genius. It is a privilege to represent his vast catalogue which has influenced, informed and inspired fans for decades.”
The performance rights organisation also represents writers such as Drake, Bruno Mars, the Eagles, The Who, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Ira Gershwin, Smokey Robinson and Pharrell Williams.
Estate advisor Charles Koppelman added: “Uniting Prince with GMR was a no-brainer. Prince has always advocated for artist rights, and GMR is on the forefront of protecting performing rights for writers and composers. We are thrilled that we are part of Global Music Rights for worldwide representation.”
The development comes a day after it was announced that Prince's Estate had agreed an exclusive worldwide merchandise agreement with Universal Music Group-owned merchandise compnay Bravado.
