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Los Angeles, CA — Seeker Music, the songwriter-led music rights, publishing and record company, has acquired the publishing rights to indie-rock band The Wombats’ first four albums. Formed in Liverpool in 2003 and led by singer-songwriter Matthew Murphy, some of the group’s best-loved tracks include “Let’s Dance to Joy Division,” “Greek Tragedy,” and “Turn.” They’ve won an NME Award (and been nominated for several others), sold over one million albums worldwide and, of their first four albums, one has been certified platinum, two have been certified gold, and three have charted in the UK top 5.
The Wombats met as students at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in the early 2000s, before recording several early EPs and gaining large fanbases in the European and Japanese markets. They scored prime slots at Glastonbury, Reading, and Leeds Festivals, and with the release of “Let’s Dance to Joy Division,” broke through as major players in the mid-2000s indie-rock world. Now, twenty years later, they - and their catalog - are in a unique position for a band of their tenure: their live business is bigger than ever, their online audience for songs old and new is growing to the largest its ever been due to several viral moments and song resurgences on TikTok, and their last album scored them a UK #1.
Seeker’s acquisition of The Wombats’ catalog represents a dual emphasis both on current-day catalogs, to complement their legacy acquisitions, and on UK-centric catalogs with global reach. Other Seeker acquisitions in these categories include the catalogs of the hit songwriters Plested and RuthAnne, production duo Future Cut, UK R&B-icon Mark Morrison, and writer/producer John Ryan (40+ One Direction hits), among others.
And for a songwriter-led company like Seeker, whose CEO/Founder is Evan Bogart (Beyonce’s “Halo,” Rihanna’s “SOS”), the Wombats acquisition also proves the value proposition of entrusting music to a person, and a company, that really understands what it’s like to make music. Especially for a contemporary, active band like The Wombats, the opportunity to partner with a company that truly “gets” creators, and is committed to finding fresh, creative ways to work their catalogs the way they would new artist signings, was a game changer.
The Wombats said “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the team at Seeker and can't think of a better team to help build our catalogue over the coming years.”
Seeker’s Global Head of Creative, Steven Melrose, said “So excited to be working with Murph and the band on the next phases of their growth and careers. And with Simon [Bobbett, Director/Founder of SB Music Management, who led the deal on The Wombats’ side], we know we will have a great team going forward across all of our joint endeavors. Onwards!!!”
The Wombats were represented by Tim Smith and John Statham for SGD, and their manager Simon Bobbitt. The deal was helmed at Seeker Music by Bogart, General Counsel Dan Stuart, Global Head of Creative Steven Melrose, and Head of Catalog Scott Rubin, and was represented by Eric Custer at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. Jeff Walker and Matthew Baxter at Stellwagen Ventures brokered the deal.
Beyond The Wombats, other recently announced additions to Seeker’s catalog of over 14,000 copyrights and recordings include that of hit songwriter Plested (“Before You Go”), producer Kosine (“Anaconda,” “Dance A$$”), Mark Morrison (“Return of the Mack”), and more. The year’s number one song, and longest-running Billboard Hot 100 #1 this decade, the GRAMMY-Nominated “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” interpolates one of Seeker’s catalog cuts, J-Kwon’s “Tipsy.”
Watch this space for more to come from Seeker Music - and for more information, contact Hannah Schwartz: hschwartz@shorefire.com
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