Misc. — June 2, 2014 at 11:49 pm

Publishing rights for The Smiths’ and Morrissey’s catalogs now up for grabs

The Smiths

Looking for a new investment opportunity? Morrissey has announced, through his customary outlet, the quasi-official fansite True To You, that his 30-year publishing deal with Warner-Chappell Music “has come to an end” — and that he’s now shopping his solo catalog and The Smiths’ catalog to any new publishers that might be interested.

Below is the full message posted Monday night, including an email address for inquiries.

It’s not immediately clear how Moz’s stake in the Smiths’ publishing relates to Johnny Marr’s.

 

2 June 2014

Publishing.

Morrissey’s 30-year publishing term with Warner-Chappell Music has come to an end. If any publishing company has any interest in making a new offer for Morrissey’s solo and Smiths catalogues, they should please contact ivoryenquiries@outlook.com.

 

12 Comments

  1. Scott Stalcup

    What’s that incessant beeping I hear? Oh, it’s Joyce, Rourke and Marr all phoning their solicitors.

    Who thinks this is going to end well? (Room puts their hands to the ground a la Mike, Neil, and Vyv to (P)Rik’s question of “Hands up, who likes me?”)

  2. Uh oh-they’ll send Steven Patrick over to sit on the rickety chair.

  3. This should be interesting. There goes any Smiths reunion tour out the door!

  4. Why not have a reality competition show to see who gets to buy the rights? Call it Paint A Vulgar Picture.

  5. They only way I would buy it is if The Smiths would reunite and tour. Otherwise, forget it.

  6. Am I crazy? When the rights lapse, they go back to the original artist, correct? Why would they sell them, as now M/M would get 100% of the royalties from publishing and performance.

  7. Brian, a smart person would keep 100% of their publishing once their deal lapsed, and then sign an administration deal with a publishing company who would handle deals and keep only 10 to 15% in admin fees. I suspect Morrissey is more interested in a big, fat monetary advance than he is in retaining his rights.

  8. Scott Stalcup

    Wow, thanks everybody who commented on The Young Ones reference. That was very sweet of you. Let’s see if Steven tries to kill himself by overdosing on laxative pills.

    Don’t look at me. I’m irrelevant.

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