Imagem Production Music, one of the most significant independent production music companies in the UK, has been acquired by fast-growing Canadian rights firm ole.
The acquisition adds 240,000 tracks to ole’s existing production-music library, which now totals over 750,000 controlled songs.
Imagem was formed in 2007 by Dutch pension fund ABP and music publishing firm CP Masters BV, and immediately went into acquisition mode.
In February 2008 it paid around $150m for assets including Rondor, Zomba UK and the BBC Catalogue – assets divested as a result of the industry-changing Universal Music Publishing Group and BMG Publishing merger.
In April 2008, Imagem paid $240 million (£125m) for classical music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, and then in 2009, it paid around $225 million to acquire publisher Rodgers & Hammerstein.
However, by spring 2014, Imagem CEO Andre De Raaff was seeking to offload the business for approximately $650m – a figure that was found to be too high for potential acquirers such as BMG.
At the end of that year, Imagem announced it was no longer for sale.
Subsequent to the Imagem Production Music buyout, which took place for an undisclosed fee, ole has now rebranded the company as Cavendish Music.
The Cavendish name has a long history in the UK, having been established as a separate production music company by publishers Boosey & Hawkes in 1967.
Gareth Owen, General Manager of Cavendish Music, said, “Cavendish is a renowned brand that has always operated and moved ahead of the times, whilst remaining fiercely independent throughout.
“The Cavendish name signifies quality and service and we wanted to make a renewed commitment to our clients that we will continue to bring them the best in service and repertoire.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have a chance to evolve and grow Cavendish in new and innovative ways.”
“It’s incredibly exciting to have a chance to evolve and grow cavendish in new and innovative ways.”
Gareth Owen
Cavendish will continue to operate as an independent entity under the ole umbrella, serving its existing client base and market.
Its vast library of music crafted especially for TV, radio, and film includes orchestral music, trailer tracks, promo cues with multiple edit points, and music beds based on a range of genres from composers of award-winning film and television soundtracks.
Cavendish’s in-house team includes engineers who have worked with Madonna, U2, William Orbit, Trevor Horn, Cathy Dennis, and many more.
The company also provides U.K. representation to production-music catalogues from around the world, including 5 Alarm, Sonoton, Sonic Quiver, Epic Score, Gothic Storm Music, and 1Revolution Music.
Canada-based rights management company ole has earned a reputation for growth via acquisition.
Ole, founded in 2004, has concluded $500m USD in acquisitions over the past 11 years.
In the past two years, it’s snapped up the music publishing company of rock band Rush plus the Anthem label, as well as the 2101 song catalogue, music agency Jingle Punks, the Mark-Cain catalogue plus a huge collection of compositions from Sony Pictures films.
Copyrights under ole’s control include songs recorded by artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé, Blake Shelton, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, One Direction, Rihanna, Rush, Taylor Swift, and Timbaland.Music Business Worldwide
