Seeker Music, the music rights and publishing company headed up by hit songwriter Evan Bogart (Beyonce’s Halo, Rihanna’s SOS), has acquired the publishing rights to British 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-known tracks include Let’s Dance to Joy Division, Greek Tragedy, and Turn.
The band has 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.
Their last album scored them a UK No.1.
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 key players in the mid-2000s UK indie-rock world.
Seeker says that its acquisition of The Wombats’ catalog represents “a dual emphasis both on current-day catalogs, to complement [its] legacy acquisitions”, and also 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.
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 longest running Billboard Hot 100 No.1 this decade, the Grammy-Nominated A Bar Song (Tipsy), interpolates one of Seeker’s catalog cuts, J-Kwon’s Tipsy.
“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.”
The Wombats
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.”
“So excited to be working with Murph and the band on the next phases of their growth and careers.”
Steven Melrose, Seeker
Seeker’s Global Head of Creative, Steven Melrose, added: “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.Music Business Worldwide