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BMG acquires John Lee Hooker rights

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 17 February 2022

BMG has acquired a whole load of music rights from the estate of blues musician John Lee Hooker. This includes his entire publishing catalogue – in a joint deal with Fujipacific Music – all of his royalty income from his recordings, and a sizeable chunk of his actual recorded music catalogue, spanning releases put out from 1980 and posthumously since his death in 2001.

The Hooker estate is managed by JAM Inc. Its CEO, Jeff Jampol, says: “As the longtime managers of the John Lee Hooker estate, JAM Inc was happy to help the estate and BMG conclude this transaction”.

“We are very pleased that an artist-first company like BMG will be the stewards of this great legacy moving forward, and we are grateful to remain in a consulting and management role of the John Lee Hooker legacy, in partnership with BMG”, he goes on. ”This is a rare triple-win for everyone: the Hooker family, BMG, and for the millions of John Lee Hooker fans all across the world. We can’t wait to see – and be a part of – what’s coming next!”

BMG’s President Of Repertoire & Marketing for New York and Los Angeles, Thomas Scherer, adds: “BMG is proud to be the definitive home of John Lee Hooker’s music, one of the key inspirations and foundation stones of popular music. BMG will ensure John Lee Hooker’s legacy is honoured and respected wherever and whenever John Lee Hooker’s music is used, performed, recorded or sold”.

Much of Hooker’s recorded music output – which stretches back to the 1940s – remains with other companies. However, with this deal BMG does now control the majority of the revenue streams generated by his music.