BMG Music Publishing Spain has acquired all the copyrights owned by Autores & Productores Asociados, one of Spain’s biggest independent music publishers and a specialist in traditional Cuban music.
The catalog includes more than 1,200 copyrights of hit songs, including Compay Segundo’s “Chan Chan” which featured in the 1997 Ry Cooder-produced Cuban traditional music hit album “Buena Vista Social Club.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal means that BMG Music Publishing Spain now owns all songs written by Pablo Milanés, who with Silvio Rodríguez led the Nueva Trova song movement in Cuba in the 1970s. APA’s catalog also includes songs by another Buena Vista star, Ibrahim Ferrer, as well as leading Spanish songsters Enrique Morente, Antonio Vega and Manolo Tena. Hits by Ricky Martin, Los Secretos and Azucar Moreno are also included.
Carmen López, managing director at BMG Music Publishing Spain, says “We are privileged to add a catalog with such rich Cuban and Spanish repertoire to our company.” Former APA owner Antonio Pérez Solis says “It was difficult to let go of this wonderful catalog, but I am very pleased that BMG Music Publishing was the buyer.”
