NASHVILLE, TN (May 25, 2016) – Spirit Music Group has continued its investment and expansion within country music by striking a deal with Grammy-winning Nashville songwriter Josh Osborne to acquire his co-published catalog, as announced today by David Renzer, Chairman and CEO, Spirit Music Group and Daniel Hill, President, Spirit Music Nashville. One of the most talented and accomplished songwriters in country music, Osborne’s incredible catalog features nearly 500 songs, including nine No. 1 hits, which will now be published globally by Spirit Music Group. Spirit’s deal with Osborne also encompasses a number of his unreleased songs that are set to be recorded and released by some of the biggest names in Nashville, bolstering Spirit’s Nashville operation with an exceptionally strong pipeline of country music in the coming months.
“We’re thrilled and honored that Josh Osborne has chosen Spirit Music Nashville as the home for his incredible catalog of hits. Josh’s catalog not only contains some important #1 country hits, but with the new Sam Hunt single ‘Make You Miss Me’ and with our strong team in Nashville working the catalog we’re sure there will be more hits to come from this incredible collection of great songs,” said David Renzer.
“Josh Osborne is a talented and prolific songwriter who has had amazing success in recent years. This catalog represents much hard work and inspiration, and we are proud that he has entrusted this valuable body of work to Spirit Music Nashville,” said Daniel Hill, President, Spirit Music Nashville.
Among the nine No. 1 country hits included in Spirit’s acquisition of Osborne’s catalog are “Come Over” by Kenny Chesney, “Wild Child” by Kenny Chesney, “Drunk Last Night” by Eli Young Band, “My Eyes” by Blake Shelton, “Sangria” by Blake Shelton, “Leave The Light On” by Sam Hunt, “Take Your Time” by Sam Hunt, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban, and “We Are Tonight” by Billy Currington. Osborne also co-wrote Kacey Musgraves’s hit song “Merry Go ‘Round,” which won him a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
Other recent hit singles written by Osborne include “Make You Miss Me” by Sam Hunt, “Late To The Party” by Kacey Musgraves, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban (reached No. 2), and “Top Of The World” by Tim McGraw. He’s also secured upcoming cuts with many major artists.
Spirit’s acquisition of Osborne’s catalog is the latest in an aggressive series of signings and catalog acquisitions. The company recently acquired Polar Patrol Publishing, which includes successful songs by Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian, and Ed Sheeran collaborator Johnny McDaid, and earlier this year 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 UK. 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
