Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson and Kiss are among the major music acts set to expand their brands by having their songs licensed to movies, TV shows, video games and commercials.
They are part of a publishing catalog owned by HoriPro Entertainment Group, a U.S. music publishing subsidiary of entertainment giant HoriPro Inc., which just inked a deal to have Silver Lake’s MediaHorse market part of the Japanese conglomerate’s vast catalog.
HoriPro bought its way into the U.S. music business with the acquisition of Kiss’ publishing rights in 1989. The company’s catalog has since expanded to include 13,000 songs in all genres – from Aguilera to Manson. The entertainment giant works with various licensing firms around the world to monetize that music by placing it in films, TV shows, ads and games.
“We see this being lucrative for all parties as these songs can secure fees up to the high six figures,” said Joe Berman, who formed MusicHorse four years ago with Shauna Krikorian.
The duo has made a lot of noise in the entertainment industry since then by placing music in such TV shows as “Revenge” and “The Good Wife,” ads for Victoria’s Secret and Pepsi, and trailers for movies such as “Jupiter Ascending” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
That brought them to the attention of Nobu Yamamoto, HoriPro’s L.A.-based executive vice president.
Berman and Krikorian’s network of contacts has been built over years spent in the local music scene. Berman played guitar in various rock bands before producing, recording, releasing and promoting records by emerging artists and then securing licensing deals for them. Krikorian was a DJ prior to becoming a talent booker, manager, marketer and licensing executive.
“Being super passionate about what we do lends greatly to our success,” she said.
The new deal means expansion for the small company, which is looking to add sales and administrative staff to free up the co-founders to focus on licensing classic songs such as “Rock and Roll All Night” by Kiss.
“We have shown exponential growth since inception, tripling our numbers. Now with more hard work and dedication we will grow further,” Berman said. “It’s awesome to be working with iconic artists.”
– Sandro Monetti
