Acclaimed Composer Jed Kurzel Signs Publishing Deal With Music Sales Group

Award-winning Australian singer-songwriter and screen composer Jed Kurzel has inked a deal with Chester Music/G.Schirmer Australia — part of music publishing behemoth Music Sales Group — to represent his publishing rights for existing and future projects, it has been announced.

Kurzel, who first came to wide attention as a founding member of indie-blues-rock outfit The Mess Hall, has more recently established himself as an acclaimed film composer, winning awards last year for his work on the scores for films Slow West and All This Mayhem, and achieving additional renown for his efforts on films such as Snowtown (for which he won an APRA-AGSC Screen Music Award), as well as Dead Europe, The Babadook, Son Of A Gun and upcoming Toronto International Film Festival premiere drawcard Una.

"We first met Jed when he was scoring the film Slow West, and he not only wrote a beautiful score, but was a joy to work with," Music Sales' senior creative manager, Lucy Bright, said in a statement. "He comes from a band background and has a very fresh approach to composing for picture, each project quite distinct and with a voice which sets him apart from many in the field."

The new deal comes ahead of Kurzel's debut studio-feature score, for the upcoming cinematic adaptation of Ubisoft's popular Assassin's Creed video game franchise, directed by his brother, Justin, and starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons. Currently residing in London, he joins a group of artists under Music Sales' purview that includes a diverse array of composers, from Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Stuart Copeland (The Police) and Bryce Dessner (The National) to Philip Glass, Solomon Grey, and Alberto Iglesia.