one77 Music Launches With Jennifer Blakeman at Helm of a Hits-Filled Publishing Catalog
one77 Music, a new publishing firm, has launched with a 6,000-song catalog and $27 million in assets, backed by private equity firm Virgo Investment Group and helmed by music industry veteran…
one77 Music, a new publishing firm, has launched with a 6,000-song catalog and $27 million in assets, backed by private equity firm Virgo Investment Group and helmed by music industry veteran Jennifer Blakeman.
According to its website, one77’s catalog includes songs written by writer/producer Sean Garrett, Luke Foley, Ashley Gorley, Brett James, and the late Booker T & the MG’s member Al Jackson Jr. In its announcement, the company says its catalog includes Pat Benatar’s “Shadows Of the Nights,” Ike & Tina Turner’s “The Hunter,” Martina McBride’s “In My Daughter’s Eyes,” Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road,” Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party,” Jason Aldean’s “A Little More Summertime,” and Kenny Chesney and Pink’s “Setting the World on Fire.”
As part of its formation, Kobalt Music will serve as global administrator for one77 Music. In addition to signing current songwriters, the company will actively seek to acquire catalogs, backed by the Virgo Investment Group, which formed in 2009 and to date has invested over $950 million across 48 deals.
“With our focus on creative and Kobalt’s best-in-class global administration, one77 is poised to deliver,” president and CEO Blakeman said in a statement. “We are actively seeking to acquire a diverse array of catalogs. An ideal fit would be to acquire a catalog owned by heirs who have an emotional attachment to the songs but feel overwhelmed in knowing how to maximize the legacy. We’re also looking to do deals with established acts that are basically comfortable with their existing situation but are not ‘invigorated’ and need more attention.”
Additionally, one77 has partnered with Combustion Music, the Nashville-based music publishing firm.
“We are confident our investment in one77 Music is well-positioned for substantial growth,” Virgo Investment Group MD Scott Guthrie said in a statement. “Jennifer Blakeman is a dynamic, passionate music executive with a proven track record of amplifying major and indie companies to thrive in a competitive environment. Jennifer’s deep experience makes her one of the most respected women in music.”
Prior to becoming one of the few woman leading a music publishing company, Blakeman’s industry experiences was as a Warner Bros. Records recording artist, a side musician, and as an industry executive with Universal Music Publishing Group as senior vp of creative. She was also chief creative officer at Atlas Music Group, which previously handled many of the songs and some of the writers in the one77 Music catalog.
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In addition to serving as an NYU professor teaching music publishing, Blakeman previously had been a chapter president and trustee and current governor of the Recording Academy’s New York chapter, a voting member of the Latin Recording Academy, and an active member of AIMP and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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