LONDON (May 16, 2016) – Since establishing a presence in the U.K. late last year with the opening of a new London-based office, Spirit B-Unique U.K. has made a quick impact in the creative community with a string of new signings and renewals, and that trend has continued with the acquisition of Polar Patrol Publishing. The announcement of the acquisition was made jointly today by David Renzer, Chairman and CEO, Spirit Music Group; Martin Toher and Mark Lewis, Co-Presidents of Spirit B-Unique U.K.; and Rak Sanghvi, Managing Director of UK/International, Spirit B-Unique.
Polar Patrol Publishing was founded by Jonny Quinn, Nathan Connolly, and Gary Lightbody from the band Snow Patrol, and its catalog includes successful songs written by Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian, and Ed Sheeran co-writer Johnny McDaid, to name a few. Polar Patrol’s Steve Farris will continue on working out of the new Spirit B-Unique offices in London and, in addition to servicing the existing Polar Patrol roster, will also search for new signing opportunities for Spirit B-Unique as the deal also includes a joint venture for new signings.
“Polar Patrol brings so many wonderful songs and talented songwriters to Spirit, and it’s an honor to be in business with Jonny Quinn, Nathan Connolly, and Gary Lightbody. Not only have they made amazing music as members of Snow Patrol, but they’ve shown they’re equally capable as businessmen by assembling such a remarkable catalog of music in Polar Patrol Publishing over the years. We’re very excited to work with them to continue building on the success that the Polar Patrol catalog and songwriters have had in the UK and around the world,” said David Renzer.
“Polar Patrol are chuffed to bits to announce our partnership with Spirit-B Unique. We’ve always admired their roster and reputation whilst sharing our independent values. We’re buzzing about the future,” said Jonny Quinn of Snow Patrol and Polar Patrol Publishing.
“We have been admirers of Polar Patrol for some time and see a real growth parallel with B-unique. What Snow Patrol have achieved as a band is very special, but put into context alongside the building of their publishing company, they have created something extraordinary. We are looking forward to working with Jonny Quinn and the team. The roster is exciting and varied. We are also proud to be working with Johnny McDaid, who is an incredible talent and already one of the world’s premier songwriters,” said Mark Lewis.
In addition to songs by Snow Patrol (who has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide), Polar Patrol Publishing’s roster also includes songwriter Johnny McDaid, who co-wrote nearly half of the songs on Ed Sheeran’s album, ‘X.’ The album became an international sensation, selling many millions of copies around the world and becoming Spotify’s most-streamed album of 2014 with over 430 million streams. McDaid’s co-writes include the smash hit singles “Photograph” (UK No. 1) and “Bloodstream” (UK No. 2). Polar Patrol also publishes Belle and Sebastian, including their latest album, ‘Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance’ (over 150,000 copies sold), as well as the band’s forthcoming untitled studio album. Rising bands and songwriters signed to Polar Patrol include Here We Go Magic, Bo Bruce, and Gita Langley.
Spirit’s acquisition of Polar Patrol marks the latest in an aggressive series of signings and catalog acquisitions. Earlier this month, Spirit announced the opening of a new Spirit Music Latino division and JV with Sunflower Entertainment. Spirit established a presence in the UK late last year with the opening of its London-based office, Spirit B-Unique U.K. Spirit also recently acquired the Nashville-based independent music publisher, production, and artist management company Cal IV Entertainment, which brought top country writers, artists, and staff into the fold along with 25 number one country copyrights and top ten singles, as well as the StyleSonic catalog, bringing another four No. 1 country hits to its portfolio as well as over fifteen Top 20 country songs spanning the last decade. Spirit’s aggressive expansion plans also led to the recent acquisition of leading contemporary Christian catalog West Main Music and the acquisition of a portion of the catalog of Jason Ingram, one of Christian music’s most accomplished songwriters.
ABOUT SPIRIT MUSIC:
Spirit Music Group, founded in 1995, is one of the world’s leading independent music publishers, owning and/or managing more than 75,000 songs spanning seven decades and every musical genre. The company’s repertoire reflects some of the most beloved songs and songwriters of all time, including hits by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday, Elvis Presley, Dion, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Santana, The Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Alice Cooper, Pure Prairie League, Chicago, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, The Go-Go’s, Madonna, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Ricky Martin, Keith Urban, Usher, Dido, Jewel, Jason Aldean and Mary J. Blige; the complete catalogs of such iconic songwriters and writer/artists as Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, Boz Scaggs, The Marshall Tucker Band, Toto, Billy Squier, Charles Mingus, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Henry Mancini, T.Bone Burnett, Rick Nowels, C&C Music Factory; and the breakthrough work of such newer artists as Scissor Sisters, The Naked & Famous, Matt & Kim, Kodaline, San Cisco, Zooey Deschanel, Eric Paslay, Big Data and James Bay.
Spirit has earned a strong reputation as an aggressive royalty administrator and a peerless promoter of its songs into film, television and advertising productions as well as a wide range of new media. In recent years, Spirit has helped transform the publisher’s role beyond royalty collection and song promotion to proactive career and legacy partnership by creating and executing marketing plans to revitalize its clients’ songs and expand their brands.
Spirit Music Group is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, Nashville and the Netherlands. Spirit is a portfolio company of Pegasus Capital Advisors, the New York-based private equity fund manager that has been providing creative capital and strategic solutions to growth companies since 1996.
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Spirit Music Group Media Contact:
Black Market Creative
Heather Glenn
310.765.1927 x707
hglenn@blackmarketcreative.com
