HarbourView acquires master royalty income of Grammy-winning Jazz star George Benson

HarbourView Equity Partners says it has acquired the master royalty income of 10-times Grammy-winning jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter George Benson.

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Benson has released 36 studio albums and eight live albums across his career.

Fox Rothschild served as legal counsel to HarbourView in this transaction. George Benson was represented by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Established in 2021, with backing from Apollo Global Management, HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired over 50 catalogs to date.

Some of the firm’s other deals include Christine McVie’s share of Fleetwood Mac’s recorded music royalties from the late artist’s estate and a share of “select” recorded music and publishing assets from Grammy Award-winning artists Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

In March, HarbourView, which is led by former Tempo Music CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, secured approximately $500 million in debt financing through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties.

Other recent acquisitions made by HarbourView include ‘select songwriting and publishing assets’ from the hip-hop and R&B music group and production team Full Force, and select publishing assets from country star Kane Brown.

HarbourView Equity Partners founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, said: “We maintain a commitment to be a canon for legendary culture movers such as George Benson.”

“His artistry is distinct in its sound, with acoustics that forever stir emotions of a musical era that means so much to so many of us.”

Sherrese Clarke Soares, HarbourView

Added Sherrese Clarke Soares: “His artistry is distinct in its sound, with acoustics that forever stir emotions of a musical era that means so much to so many of us. We are proud to stand in partnership and welcome him to the HarbourView family.”

Benson’s 1976, three-time Grammy-winning album, Breezin’, featured the pop-jazz hit This Masquerade, which at the time topped the jazz, pop, and R&B charts and, according to Harbourview, remains one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.  It has since been certified 3x platinum.

Benson’s 1980 smash, Give Me The Night, produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton (Michael Jackson), soared to the top of the soul single charts.

In 2009, Benson was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship. In addition, Benson has earned a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, as well as honorary doctorate degrees from Morris Brown College, the Berklee School of Music, and Duquesne University.

In 2018, Benson collaborated with Gorillaz, featuring Blur’s Damon Albarn and visual artist Jamie Hewlett, to co-write and perform on the track Humility, which has amassed over 100 million YouTube views.

In 2021, DJ Steve Aoki remixed Benson’s hit Give Me the Night.

Benson recently co-wrote, performed the title track, and appeared in the video for funk pioneer Bootsy Collins’ Power Of The One.

In 2020, he was inducted into DownBeat Magazine’s “Hall of Fame.” The following year he was inducted by music legend Quincy Jones into New Jersey’s Hall of Fame — an honor from which he received a personal congratulatory note from President Obama.

HarbourView notes that Benson remains an “annual must-see artist” at venues such as The Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, Hampton Court Palace, and Sydney Opera House. Benson also performs at various US Jazz and international festivals, including Montreux Jazz Fest.Music Business Worldwide