Rock catalogs continue to reach new listeners through streaming and social media, while their owners seek value through licensing, archival work and fan experiences. Those opportunities, and the risks involved in buying catalogs, shaped a roughly 90-minute industry discussion.
Discovery and valuation
Ali Schlueter, head of frontline marketing and catalog development for North America at Reservoir/Chrysalis, said rock performs well on DSPs (digital service providers). She described the genre as broad enough to include alternative music, emo and singer-songwriters such as Zach Bryan and Phoebe Bridgers.
Scott Seine, president of Surfdog/DKM, said social feeds can introduce older songs to younger listeners without the context of an artist’s history. He pointed to renewed interest in Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” after a video showed a skateboarder singing along while drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice. Online discovery can then lead listeners deeper into a catalog, he said.
Catalog condition affects what a buyer can do after a deal. Dynda said assets with little metadata work left to complete place more emphasis on marketing and listener engagement. Valuation, he said, is largely an assessment of risk.
Murray cited the rising prices attached to catalogs by Queen, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen. Dynda offered a smaller-scale example: Open On Sunday and partner Fresh Sonics hold publishing and label interests in the B.B. King catalog. They found the eight-song Lucille Talks Back, which had been absent from streaming for 50 years, and developed a reimagined 50th anniversary release featuring Doyle Bramhall II and Eric Gales.
Licensing and catalog work
Seine said his team tracks approved sync placements because music supervisors may not notify rights holders when a placement airs. The tracking helps ensure artists are paid and listeners can find the music they heard.
Gilbert said catalog activity also includes interpolations, anniversaries and archival storytelling. He described one company with 12 acquired catalogs it had not worked on because it lacked staff. In another project, 11 Rick Springfield albums reverted to the artist, requiring checks for streaming availability, duplicate releases, missing tracks and territory gaps.
Seine described searching Iron Mountain archives using an engineer’s handwritten notes. That work led to a Eric Clapton reissue with three previously unreleased songs.
Experiences and publishing
Reservoir has invested in London-based immersive company Lightroom. Schlueter cited its David Bowie and Radiohead shows as ways to bring fans together around artists who cannot tour or are not touring. Gilbert and Seine also discussed immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos.
On publishing, Gilbert argued that the catalog prices associated with Merck Mercuriadis and Hipgnosis helped draw attention to songwriters. Seine said songwriter Dave Stewart, who sold to Hipgnosis early on, valued that attention. Dynda said financing can give writers another way to access the value of their assets.
Schlueter cited Reservoir’s campaign for Miles Davis’s 100th birthday, which includes brand partnerships and DSP activity led by a dedicated publishing marketing team. Asked which asset he favored for the future, Gilbert chose publishing and advised artists to retain it when considering offers.
