BMG Buys The Living End & Wolfmother's Catalogues, Creates Licence To Print Money

The newly formed local arm of international publishing giant BMG, BMG Australia, has pulled off a massive coup only two months into its life by securing deals with Wolfmother co-founders Chris Ross and Myles Heskett as well as The Living End co-founder and primary songwriter Chris Cheney.

The new deals will eventually grant BMG Australia publishing rights to an impressive line-up of chart-busting albums and singles; in Wolfmother's case, Ross and Heskett's signing will open up access to the band's acclaimed 5x Platinum debut full-length, which included massive tracks like Joker & The Thief, Dimension, White Unicorn, Love Train and, of course, the world-beating Woman. The album catapulted Wolfmother to worldwide fame, earning sync deals in widely distributed cinematic properties such as the Hangover trilogy, Madagascar, (500) Days Of Summer, Fantastic Four and others.

"Having signed Wolfmother after witnessing their first-ever gig at the Vic On The Park way back in 2004, I could not be more proud to have Chris and Myles sign this new deal with BMG Australia," managing director Heath Johns said in a statement. "It is an iconic Australian catalogue with enduring global appeal; to now represent the majority share of this seminal LP on an international basis is an honour."

But if the Wolfmother deal is good, the signing with Cheney represents an even better prospect for the nascent local publisher — eventual access to The Living End's full back catalogue of releases.

For the moment, BMG Australia will represent the band's recent seventh full-length Shift — also their seventh consecutive top-five-charting album, no big — but will, in 2019, regain the global publishing rights to the entire oeuvre. On top of that, Cheney has included the master sync rights for the band's 5x Platinum self-titled debut as well as their multi-Platinum second record Roll On (for Australia and New Zealand only), wrapping this whole deal up in quite the lucrative little bow.

"I'm really excited to announce that I am signing with BMG," Cheney said in a statement. "We look forward to a creative and exciting future together with the new Australian company and the entire global team."

Echoed BMG's Johns: "For over two decades, The Living End have been producing incredible records. Their enduring success is a testament to the quality and relevance of Chris Cheney's songwriting.

"Now based in LA, we are excited about Chris' international prospects as a songwriter for outside projects and also in his impending solo work."