MCA wraps Interscope deal
As part of the low-seven-figure deal, which had been expected (Daily Variety, Sept. 3, 1996) MCA adds tracks from such multimillion-album sellers as No Doubt to its already hefty repertoire.
Interscope Music prexy Ronnie Vance will segue to a post at Interscope Records overseeing soundtracks and will remain a consultant to MCA on publishing matters.
The Interscope acquisition is the latest in a series of pacts orchestrated by David Renzer, who this month marks his first anniversary as the worldwide prexy of MCA Music Publishing.
Industry insiders note that MCA's portfolio, which also includes songs penned by producer-writer Glen Ballard --- the co-writer and producer of Alanis Morissette's 15 million-unit-selling "Jagged Little Pill" --- and such seminal tracks as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" and the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," boasts one of the industry's better mixes of both current and classic songs.
MCA's fiscal year ends June 30, and Renzer estimates it will close with a 35% rise in revenues from publishing, while revenues generated by licensing songs to films and TV shows will have increased by 40% over the July '95 to June '96 fiscal period.
During his tenure, Renzer appears to have succeeded in making MCA a player in the publishing community by raising both the profits and the profile of a company that was often the last stop for deal-shoppers. It was known more in the industry as the publisher of tracks popularized by the Andrews Sisters or Brenda Lee than songs warbled by Morissette, White Town or Eric Clapton.
"The good news is that the (family of) labels are hot and there is a lot of support throughout the (Universal Music Group) for what we are doing," Renzer told Daily Variety. "But we are still active in convincing the (creative community) to come here first, and that we can be competitive on deals."
Renzer, much like his predecessor Jay Boberg, who now runs MCA Records, has been instrumental in establishing a sense of camaraderie between the record label divisions of the UMG.
Renzer has made a number of deals during his tenure that have kept such successful MCA/Universal artists as Live, Merrill Bainbridge, New Edition and Nashville act Big House in the family.
Previously, it would not have been unusual for an MCA Records artist to ink a publishing deal elsewhere.
The opening of a Latin division, led by veep Ivan Alvarez, is also paying dividends in industry recognition and revenues. The arm has acquired more than 2,000 copyrights and has designs on increasing MCA's presence in the Tejano genre, according to Renzer.
"The Interscope (deal) is the first of several major catalog acquisitions we intend to make in the coming year," Renzer said. "But one of our best (calling cards) is our new computerized song tracking system, that allows us to tell our artists that their copyrights will be efficiently administered all over the world."
Renzer joined MCA as its worldwide prexy from Zomba Music, where he made the tiny publisher a serious player with a fraction of his competition's resources.
