BMG acquires Jean-Michel Jarre's entire publishing catalogue

21 July 2022 - Press release

 

BMG is delighted to announce it has acquired the entire music publishing back catalogue of French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

The deal brings rights in groundbreaking classics such as Oxygene and Equinoxe together with Jarre's writer's income stream. The company previously acquired the sound recordings of Jarre's first three albums when it bought noted independent record label Francis Dreyfus Music in 2012.

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, "Jean-Michel Jarre is not only a ground-breaking pioneer in electronic music, he is a polymath and a shining ambassador for culture and internationalism. Nearly fifty years after Oxygene burst upon the world, we are delighted to build on our longstanding relationship to become custodians of his music publishing rights."

Jean-Michel Jarre said: "This partnership with BMG means a lot to me. Hartwig Masuch and the entire team have been part of my family for many years. Moreover, I am pleased that my publishing back catalogue is sheltered here in Europe and that my work will continue to grow in such good hands. Today is a new start allowing me to develop fresh ideas and giving me the means to explore new territories. Together we will thrive."

Jean-Michel Jarre has generated 85m album sales over his career and holds numerous world records for his live concert spectaculars which have attracted some of the biggest audiences in human history, including the Paris Bastille Day concert 1979 (1m people), Houston 1986 (1.3m people), Paris-La Défense 1990 (2.5m people) and Moscow 1997 (3.5m people). Jarre was also the first Western musician to ever perform in China in 1981; he returned in 2004 upon invitation again to play the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square live on national television. More recently, the live stream of his 2020 VR concert Welcome To The Other Side, live from Virtual Notre Dame de Paris, attracted 75m people.

He has released 21 studio albums including the 1976 breakthrough Oxygene, its 1978 follow-up Equinoxe and 1981's Magnetic Fields, one of the first records to use a sampler. Jarre's commitment to technology has influenced generations of artists, many of whom he has collaborated with including Moby, Armin van Buuren, Robert '3D' Del Naja, Edgar Froese, Laurie Anderson, Gesaffelstein, the Pet Shop Boys, Gary Numan and Hans Zimmer. His latest album Amazonia, the score to an exhibition by legendary photographer Sebastião Salgado was released in 2021 to pay tribute to the Amazonian Forest, its inhabitants, and the threats they face. Always pushing technology's boundaries, Jean-Michel Jarre recently performed his new immersive live project, Oxymore, at Radio France's Hyper Weekend Festival.

Maximilian Kolb, BMG EVP Repertoire & Marketing Continental Europe, said, "The dizzying range of Jean-Michel Jarre's creativity spans six decades. We are committed to not only spotlighting it to his existing international fanbase, but also introducing it to new generations."

Jean-Michel Jarre has been honored across the globe with multiple awards and distinctions. He is a longstanding United Nations ambassador and spokesperson for UNESCO and recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. In 2021, he was awarded with the rank of Commander of the Légion d'Honneur by President Emmanuel Macron.

Jarre is a long-time advocate of creator rights having served as spokesman for international record company lobby group the IFPI and President of CISAC, the international federation of authors' societies. He currently chairs the Council for Strategy and Innovation at French authors' society SACEM.

BMG Managing Director France Sylvain Gazaignes said, "Jean-Michel has always been ahead of his time. Throughout his career, he has relentlessly continued to push the boundaries with his music and his creative innovation. He is one of the most influential French artists in music history. Our Paris-based team are very familiar with the catalogue and look forward to working even more closely with Jean-Michel and his team."

The deal was brokered for Jean-Michel Jarre by Catalogue Associates Limited, assisted and advised by Maximilien Jazani Esq.

The acquisition is the biggest single deal ever struck by BMG in France.