Sony Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing LLC is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over six million songs owned or administered as of end March 2025, it is part of Sony Music Group, which is itself owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. The company was formed as Sony/ATV in 1995 by the merger of the original incarnation of Sony Music Publishing and ATV Music, which was owned by late entertainer Michael Jackson. Jackson had purchased ATV Music, which included the Lennon–McCartney song catalog, in 1985.
In 2012, an investor consortium led by Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired EMI Music Publishing to become the largest music publishing administrator in the world, with a library of over three million songs.
In April 2019, Jon Platt became CEO/Chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing after the contract of longtime CEO/Chairman Martin Bandier expired. In August 2019, management of Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Sony Music Entertainment were merged under the newly formed Sony Music Group.
History of ATV Music
was a British television broadcasting company that was part of the ITV Network founded in 1955 by Lew Grade. Over the next two decades, ATV expanded through acquisitions to become an entertainment conglomerate with business lines in the record industry, music publishing and film production.ATV entered the music industry in 1958 when it acquired 50% of Pye Records, a British record company. ATV expanded into music publishing in 1966 when it acquired 50% of New World Music and Jubilee Music, subsidiaries of Chappell & Co. ATV also acquired the other 50% of Pye Records, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of ATV, including Pye Record's publishing subsidiary Welbeck Music.
ATV acquired Northern Songs, publisher of the Lennon–McCartney song catalogue, in 1969. The catalog featured almost every song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Northern Songs was co-owned by Lennon, McCartney, Brian Epstein and Dick James, who owned a controlling interest. In 1969, James offered to sell his shares to ATV. Lennon and McCartney then attempted to gain a controlling interest in the company. Their bid to gain control, part of a long and acrimonious fight, failed. The financial clout of Grade, their adversary in the bidding war, no ensured that the songs written by the two Beatles passed into the control of ATV.
In 1970, ATV formed a joint publishing venture with Kirshner Entertainment, called ATV-Kirshner Music. The partnership agreement expired at the end of 1972 at which time ATV Music was formed to manage all of ATV's publishing interests, including Northern Songs. ATV Music remained a successful organization in the music industry throughout the 1970s, largely due to the performance of Northern Songs. ATV Music also entered into co-publishing agreements with Lennon and McCartney, whose contract with Northern Songs expired in 1973.
While ATV Music was successful, its parent company, now known as Associated Communications Corporation began experiencing financial difficulties. From 1978 to 1981, ACC's profits declined due to losses in its film division, and share prices dropped dramatically. The main television arm of ATV lost its government-granted license in its then-current form and was restructured into Central Independent Television. In 1981, Grade entertained offers for Northern Songs, drawing interest from several bidders. McCartney, with Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, offered £21 million but the offer was declined by Grade who decided not to sell Northern Songs separately after other suitors, including CBS Songs, EMI Music Publishing, Warner Communications, Paramount Pictures and the Entertainment Co. showed interest in buying ATV Music as a whole.
Meanwhile, Australian businessman Robert Holmes à Court had been acquiring shares of ACC and launched a takeover bid in earnest in January 1982. Grade resigned as chairman and was replaced by Holmes à Court who successfully acquired a controlling interest in the company. After Holmes à Court assumed control of ACC, ATV Music was no longer for sale.
Sale of ATV Music to Michael Jackson
In 1981, American singer Michael Jackson collaborated with Paul McCartney, writing and recording several songs together. Jackson stayed at the home of McCartney and his wife Linda during the recording sessions, becoming friendly with both. One evening while at the dining table, McCartney brought out a thick, bound notebook displaying all the songs to which he owned the publishing rights. Jackson grew more excited as he examined the pages. He inquired about how to buy songs and how the songs were used. McCartney explained that music publishing was a lucrative part of the music business. Jackson replied by telling McCartney that he would buy the Beatles' songs one day. McCartney laughed, saying "Great. Good joke."Jackson was first informed that the ATV catalog was up for sale in September 1984 by his attorney, John Branca, who had put together Jackson's earlier catalogue acquisitions. Warned of the competition he would face in buying such popular songs, Jackson remained resolute in his decision to purchase them. Branca approached McCartney's attorney to query whether the Beatle was planning to bid. The attorney stated he was not; it was "too pricey." According to Bert Reuter, who negotiated the sale of ATV Music for Holmes à Court, "We had given Paul McCartney first right of refusal but Paul didn't want it at that time." Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono had been contacted as well but also did not enter bidding.
The competitors in the 1984 sale of ATV Music included Charles Koppelman and Marty Bandier's New York-based the Entertainment Co., Virgin Records, New York real estate tycoon Samuel J. LeFrak, and financier Charles Knapp. On November 20, 1984, Jackson sent a bid of $46 million to Holmes à Court. Branca suggested the amount of the bid after having spent time evaluating the earnings of the catalogue and learning of another bid for $39 million. Jackson was only interested in the music copyrights, but the package also included buildings, a recording studio and studio equipment. The two sides signed a non-binding memorandum of mutual interest in December 1984 and Jackson's team began a four-month process of verifying ATV Music's legal documents, financial reports, and every significant composition in the nearly 4000-song catalog.
The two sides began drafting contracts in January 1985 and follow-through meetings began on March 16. Jackson's team described the negotiations as frustrating, with frequent shifts of position by the seller. One Holmes à Court representative described the negotiations as a "game of poker". Jackson's team thought they had reached a deal several times, but new bidders would enter the picture or they would encounter new areas of debate. The prospective deal went through eight drafts. In May 1985, Jackson's team walked away from negotiations after having spent hundreds of hours and over $1 million. In June 1985, they learned Koppelman/Bandier had made a tentative agreement with Holmes à Court to buy the catalog for $50 million.
But in early August, Holmes à Court contacted Jackson and talks resumed. Jackson only raised his bid to $47.5 million, but he had the advantage of being able to close the deal faster, having completed due diligence of ATV Music prior to any formal agreement. He also agreed to visit Australia as a guest of Holmes à Court and appear on the Channel Seven Perth Telethon. Holmes à Court included some more assets and agreed to establish a scholarship in Jackson's name at a U.S. university. Branca closed the deal and purchased ATV Music on Jackson's behalf for $47.5 million on August 10, 1985. In October 1985, Jackson fulfilled his contract provision to visit Perth, Western Australia and appear on the telethon, where he spoke briefly and met with two children.
The only Beatles song in the Northern Songs catalog that was excluded from the sale was "Penny Lane", the rights to which were gifted by Holmes à Court to his then-teenage daughter Catherine before the sale, as it was her favorite Beatles song.
Reactions to the acquisition
Jackson went on to use the Beatles' songs in numerous commercials, feeling that it would enable a new generation of fans to enjoy the music. McCartney, who had used the Buddy Holly song catalogue in commercials, felt saddened. Privately, Jackson was reported to have expressed exasperation at McCartney's attitude; he felt that the musician should have paid for the songs he had written. At the time, McCartney was one of the richest entertainers in the world, with a net worth of $560 million and a royalty income of $41 million. Jackson stated, "If he didn't want to invest $47.5 million in his own songs, then he shouldn't come crying to me now."Appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman shortly after Jackson died in 2009, McCartney spoke about Jackson's acquisition of the Beatles songs and the impact of it on their relationship:
And which was, you know, that was cool, somebody had to get it, I suppose. What happened actually was then I started to ring him up. I thought, OK, here's the guy historically placed to give Lennon–McCartney a good deal at last. Cuz we got signed when we were 21 or something in a back alley in Liverpool. And the deal, it's remained the same, even though we made this company the most famous… hugely successful. So I kept thinking, it was time for a raise. Well you would, you know. And so it was great. But I did talk to him about it. But he kind of blanked me on it. He kept saying, "That's just business Paul." You know. So, "yeah it is", and waited for a reply. But we never kind of got to it. And I thought, mm.... So we kind of drifted apart. It was no big bust up. We kind of drifted apart after that. But he was a lovely man, massively talented, and we miss him.
Ono was pleased that Jackson had acquired Northern Songs and called it a "blessing". Speaking in November 1990, Ono stated, "Businessmen who aren't artists themselves wouldn't have the consideration Michael has. He loves the songs. He's very caring." She added that if she and McCartney were to own the songs, there would certainly be arguments. Ono explained that neither she nor McCartney needed that. "If Paul got the songs, people would have said, 'Paul finally got John.' And if I got them, they'd say, 'Oh, the dragon lady strikes again.'"
At least one Beatles song was covered by Jackson after acquiring publishing rights: "Come Together" from the album Abbey Road in 1986. The song was recorded for Jackson's 1987 album Bad but was scrapped and instead put on HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I eight years later. It was featured on the 1988 movie Moonwalker and also had an official video. It is not known if Jackson covered any other songs, as no bootlegs have been released.