NASHVILLE, Tenn. (EverGreen Copyrights) - Six months after the company's launch, EverGreen Copyrights (Evergreen) today announced acquisition of the MC Hammer music catalog, the Crutchfield/Glitterfish music catalog and Nashville- based copyright administration company Integrated Copyright Group (ICG).
With the acquisitions, more than 40,000 copyrights are now owned or administered by Evergreen, including works by Tim McGraw and George Strait.
Four new executive members also join Evergreen, with John A. Lippman named senior vice president and CFO, John C. Barker named vice president of copyright administration, Chip Hardy named vice president of A&R Nashville, and Cathleen Murphy named vice president of A&R New York. Evergreen also announced the opening of its new Nashville offices on Music Row at 1203 16th Ave. South.
"We made tremendous progress in only six months," said David K. Schulhof, co-CEO of Evergreen. "The MC Hammer catalog brings some of the best selling and most popular rap songs of all time to Evergreen's catalog, and the Crutchfield/Glitterfish music catalog brings an excellent group of country music songs to our growing collection."
MC Hammer Acquisition
Evergreen purchased the MC Hammer catalog for $2.7 million from the trustee of the MC Hammer bankruptcy estate. The purchase of the catalog was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division.
Hammer is regarded as the first rap performer to find a large mainstream audience with hits including "Turn This Mutha Out" from the double platinum album "Let's Get It Started," and from the "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" album's first single, "U Can't Touch This," which won two GRAMMY Awards. Other singles including "Have You Seen Her" and "Pray" eventually pushed sales of "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" past the ten-million mark to make it one of the best selling rap albums of all time. "Too Legit to Quit" is another popular hit from the MC Hammer collection.
"We anticipate that many songs in the MC Hammer catalog will emerge as a perfect fit for licensing in movies, television shows, and corporate advertising," said Schulhof.
Crutchfield/Glitterfish Acquisition
Evergreen completed the acquisition of the Crutchfield/Glitterfish music catalog from veteran music publisher and award-winning record producer Jerry Crutchfield. The catalog contains several smash hits performed by well-known country artists including Tim McGraw's "Just to See You Smile" and "I Do But I Don't," Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel," George Strait's "Living and Living Well" and Tanya Tucker's "Oh What It Did To Me, as well as a number of songs performed by Lee Greenwood. As part of the transaction, Evergreen and Crutchfield will work together to market several hundred previously unrecorded songs included in the catalog.
Integrated Copyright Group Acquisition
Integrated Copyright Group, Inc. (ICG) is an independent global copyright licensing and administration company founded in 1990. ICG has become a significant leader in the music publishing community by providing full administration services for more than 500 clients worldwide, including the catalogs of Roy Orbison, The Orchard, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Ray Stevens, and also Sen. Orrin Hatch. ICG Co-Founder and President John C. Barker will continue to run ICG as Evergreen V.P. of copyright administration.
The transaction completes Evergreen's worldwide administration platform, and will also allow ICG to offer its clients an expanded range of creative and marketing services.
