Reservoir Media has acquired rights to the catalog of rock artist and songwriter Greg Kihn.
The deal includes publishing, recording, and distribution rights to Kihn’s Beserkley Records era catalog, and features some of his most famous songs, such as Jeopardy and The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em).
Kihn has had an extensive career as a solo artist, as well as the lead for the Greg Kihn Band. Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, he had 13 songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Kihn’s hit The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em) went to No.15 on the Hot 100 in 1981. Reservoir notes that The Breakup Song was “regularly synched across all mediums,” with notable featured placements including HBO’s The Sopranos, Miramax’s Beautiful Girls, and Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V, among others.
Kihn’s other hit Jeopardy reached No.2 on the Hot 100 and No.1 on the US Dance Charts upon release in 1983.
The track inspired Weird Al Yankovic’s parody track I Lost on Jeopardy a year later, and both the video for Kihn’s original track and Yankovic’s parody were staples in the early days of MTV in the 1980s.
The agreement with Kihn marks the latest for Reservoir in what has been a busy year for deals at the company.
This year alone, the New York-headquartered company signed a deal with De La Soul that brought the hip-hop trio’s music to streaming services for the first time; bought the rights to the catalog of Miami Sound Machine co-founder and lead songwriter Enrique “Kiki” Garcia; and signed a publishing deal with Armani White, the rapper behind the TikTok hit Billie Eilish.
Elsewhere, in January, it acquired the entire publishing catalog and future works of rock legend Dion and in April it purchased the publishing and recorded music rights of Grammy-winning hip-hop producer and artist Mannie Fresh.
Other Reservoir deals this yearincluded: its deal to buy the catalog of jazz icon Sonny Rollins; its joint venture with American Idol producer 19 Entertainment to sign publishing deals with Idol contestants… the list goes on.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Kihn began his musical career there before moving to San Francisco, California, where he pursued a stronger rock sound in his music.
He released his debut album Greg Kihn in 1976, followed shortly by Greg Kihn Again in 1977. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Kihn released about an album per year. To date, he has released a total of 23 albums, including live albums, with the most recent being 2017’s ReKihndled.
“I’m very excited to be partnering with Reservoir on this acquisition.”
Greg Kihn
On signing the deal with Reservoir, Kihn said: “I’m very excited to be partnering with Reservoir on this acquisition.
“David [Hoffman] and the team are ‘Kihndrid’ spirits and passionate supporters of me and my catalog, and I know they will take the greatest care of my musical legacy.”
“Greg’s music is cemented in rock and roll history. Jeopardy and The Breakup Song remain staples on classic rock and ‘80s radio.”
David Hoffman, Reservoir
Reservoir Vice President of A&R and Marketing David Hoffman added: “Greg’s music is cemented in rock and roll history. Jeopardy and The Breakup Song remain staples on classic rock and ‘80s radio.”
He added: “I’ve been a fan of Greg’s since seeing the video for Jeopardy on MTV as a kid, and it means a lot to me and Reservoir to expand our relationship with Greg and continue supporting his tremendous legacy for a long time to come.”Music Business Worldwide
