Spirit Music Group (SMG) today announced that they have entered into a administrative services agreement with Downtown Music Publishing (DMP). After a decade of explosive talent, music and revenue growth, Spirit’s creative-driven ethos as a full-service, independent music publisher now looks to leverage Downtown’s global administration, registration and technology platform to help further meet their increasing infrastructure needs. Spirit Music Group’s current sub-publishing arrangements remain in place.
Jon Singer, Chairman, Spirit Music Group commented: “This move allows us to pair Spirit’s expertise at A&R, marketing, branding, digital and synchronization with Downtown’s extensive administration, technology, and registration capabilities to provide the best infrastructure available for our songwriters and partners. By uniting these strengths for Spirit clients, the sum is even greater than its parts.”
Singer continued: “As Spirit continues to grow, invest in new talent, and acquire repertoire, we want to continue to focus on what we do best—ensuring that our songwriters and artists are seen, heard and prioritized and driving growth for them through proactive, innovative song management. Linking arms with Downtown ensures that we stay ahead of the curve and in so doing allows us to maintain a laser focus on creating value for our copyrights as we continue to aggressively scale our business in the coming years.”
Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings said “We are pleased to be working with the amazing team at Spirit and to administer a catalog so filled with musical gems. We designed Downtown and our suite of service offerings specifically with these types of deals in mind so it is immensely gratifying for Spirit to have chosen to work with us.
Emily Stephenson, President of Downtown Music Publishing added: “Working with Spirit Music Group reinforces our dedication to fostering the success of legendary musical catalogs as well as supporting new talent, both abundantly represented in Spirit’s catalog. Downtown is committed to providing the best services to our clients via investments in administration, rights management, data and technology and we are thrilled to be working with the Spirit team.”
Since 2021, Downtown’s client distributions have exceeded $100M with annual increases of 14% year over year. Across Downtown Music Holdings’s operating brands, the company currently manages more than 23 million music assets on behalf of more than one million creators and 2,500 enterprise clients, making it the largest pure-play service provider in the global music industry. Spirit Music Group represents combined catalogs totaling over 100,000 songs spanning eight decades and every musical genre. The Spirit Music Group catalog boasts 800+ charted hits and 200+ number one songs. The company’s repertoire includes hits recorded by such iconic artists as The Who, John Legend, Chicago, The Go-Go’s, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Camilla Cabello, Jay-Z, Ricky Martin, Brad Paisley, Toto, Madonna, Jason Aldean, T.Rex, Charles Mingus, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Billy Squier, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Eminem, Salt-N-Pepa, Tom Petty, and more.
