BMG Rights Management has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Francis Dreyfus Music, an independent music publishing and recording company headquartered in Paris. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Francis Dreyfus Music was founded by its namesake, a renowened record producer who passed away in 2010. The company issued music through the record labels Disques Motors, Disques Dreyfus and Dreyfus Jazz. The Dreyfus catalog includes the publishing and master rights of French artists such as Christophe, whose songs include “Les mots bleus”, “Aline”, “Succes fou”, “Les Paradis Perdus”, and Jean-Michel Jarre including his hit albums Oxygène, Équinoxe and Chants Magnétiques.
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The publishing catalog also includes many classic songs spanning four decades: from the 1960’s songs such as “Pour moi la vie va commencer” and “Cheveux longs et idées courtes,” both recorded by Johnny Hallyday; the 1970’s songs like “Où sont les femmes” recorded by Patrick Juvet, and “Faut pas pleurer comme ça” recorded by Daniel Guichard; and the 1980’s songs like “À cause des garçons,” “Boule de flipper,” “Bonne bonne humeur ce matin,” and “Madrid Madrid” recorded by Nilda Fernandez, and “En résumé en conclusion” recorded by Françoise Hardy.
The catalog also includes original soundtracks composed by Philippe Sarde, Francis Lai, François de Roubaix and Jean-Michel Jarre, TV themes like “PJ,” and “Le manège enchanté.” More recent highlights in the catalog include “Madame rêve”, recorded by Alain Bashung and co-written by Pierre Grillet and several David Guetta songs co-written by Peter Kitch such as the hit single “People Come People Go”.
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In addition to French repertoire, Dreyfus produced and released recordings of American artists such as Roy Haynes, Ahmad Jamal, Marcus Miller, The Mingus Big Band, Jean-Michel Pilc, Steve Grossman and Lucky Peterson, among others.
“The Dreyfus jazz catalogue in particular is well-renowned and we see tremendous licensing potential in it,” BMG Rights Management CEO Hartwig Masuch said in a statement. The company said that the deal will further BMG’s goal of pro-actively serving a wide range of music customers across a global platform.
“The publishing and recorded music roster put together by Francis Dreyfus over several decades contains truly iconic songwriters, artists and songs,” BMG France managing director Stéphane Berlow said in a statement.
Hélène Dreyfus, widow of Francis Dreyfus, said in a statement, “It was paramount for us to find a potential suitor who would continue the work of Francis with the same spirit of courage, fidelity and generosity that was always his way. After many months of conversation, we believe and trust that BMG will continue in this same manner.”