Downtown Music Publishing Grows With Songs By The Beatles And Other Hits Covering Five Decades Of #1's

Publisher Has Gone From 0 To 60,000 Copyrights Since 2007
 
Downtown Music Publishing - which launched in 2007 with a handful of songs and now comprises 60,000 copyrights – has acquired administration rights to several early Beatles titles and signed a trio of writers whose hit songs were mainstays at pop radio in the 1970s and 80s. This new round of agreements demonstrate Downtown's growth and breadth, bringing hit songs spanning five decades under the same roof.

Downtown will now administer John Lennon’s share of four classic early Beatles songs ("Please Please Me", "Ask Me Why", "Love Me Do", and "PS I Love You") along with the band’s lone post-breakup single “Free as a Bird”. The four early works, written by Lennon and McCartney, represent the first two singles of original material by the most celebrated songwriting duo in rock music history. This catalog addition expands upon Downtown’s current pact with the Estate of John Lennon covering his entire solo catalog along with the complete works of Yoko Ono.

They have also signed Grammy Award-winning songwriter/artist and composer Trevor Rabin (Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and the Grammy-winning "Cinema", etc.), writer/artist Stephen Bishop (“On and On,” Phil Collins' "Separate Lives," the theme from 'Animal House', etc), and ASCAP Award-Winning songwriter/producer Elliot Wolff (Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and "Cold Hearted," Taylor Dayne's "Heart of Stone," etc.).

Justin Kalifowitz, Downtown's President says, "We are privileged to represent such remarkable songs and songwriters. These new signings reflect our direction and continued expansion as a full-service music publisher.”

This summer, Downtown expanded its operations to Los Angeles and will add several more staffers to its LA operation in the coming months. The company is also planning to expand to additional cities in 2014.

Another pillar of Downtown's success this year has been placing the songs it holds through its highly regarded sync licensing team, reviving catalogs and breaking new copyrights through film, television, advertising and video games. Recent placements include major spots for Downy featuring Alphaville's "Forever Young," Chrysler featuring Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart" and the hit television show New Girl featuring The Vaccines' "I Always Knew."

To further help songwriters assert their rights as easily and efficiently as possible, Downtown is also continuing its commitment towards investing in industry-leading technology. Through Songtrust, an online platform launched by Kalifowitz and Downtown in 2011, the company has developed software to automate global copyright registration and income tracking for thousands of independent songwriters and corporate clients. These tools are now being rolled out across Downtown's core publishing business. Overseeing the integration is Joe Conyers, the former Head of Product for Songtrust who has now been named Vice President, Technology for Downtown.

About Downtown Music Publishing:
Downtown Music Publishing is one of the leading rights management firms in North America. The Company's catalog spans over 60,000 titles including the works of such diverse writer/artists as John Lennon & Yoko Ono, The Kinks, Hans Zimmer, Motley Crue, Seal, Ellie Goulding, and Neon Trees.

For Downtown Music on the web, please visit:
http://www.shorefire.com/clients/downtown/
 
For more info on Downtown Music Publishing, contact Hector A. Silva (hsilva@shorefire.com), Ray Padgett (rpadgett@shorefire.com), or Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media: (718) 522-7171