Leap Masters Press Release
Leap Music Launches Leap Masters In Order To Exploit Copyright In Sound Recordings
03 May 2005
The advertising industry’s first inhouse music publishing company, Leap Music, today launches a new subsidiary company called Leap Masters. The new company will trade from Leap’s London offices in the West End.
Leap Masters’ core business will be the acquisition and exploitation of copyright in sound recordings (known as Master Rights, hence Leap Masters). This is a separate right from the copyright in compositions (known as Publishing Rights) which is currently the core business of Leap Music. The expansion of the Leap Group to cover both publishing & master rights is a logical progression which mirrors traditional music company models.
Leap Masters will not, however, be a traditional record label releasing physical product (i.e. CDs and vinyl.) Instead, Leap Masters will exploit the sound recordings as digital downloads (e.g. through the likes of iTunes Music Store, Napster, & Sony Connect etc) and as Mobile Realtones (e.g. through mobile networks & aggregators). Leap Masters will announce deals with various strategic partners and licensees in due course.
The new company will begin operating immediately and will be run by Richard Kirstein, who set up Leap Music, together with Ayla Master (Music Services Manager) & Simon King (A&R / Music Researcher.)
"Leap Masters extends what we can offer to unsigned talent by providing a legitimate retail route through and into the digital music market", said Richard Kirstein, Managing Director. "We have seen how exposure via commercials creates consumer demand and this is an entirely logical move for Leap Music to take. We are now able to work more closely with the artists we sign to further exploit their music, and seamlessly satisfy consumer demand through downloads & realtones. For an unsigned band the combined forces of Leap Masters and Leap Music generates huge profile, upfront fees and backend royalties."
Leap Music was launched in 2003 and since then has grown rapidly as the only music publishing company that allows advertising agencies to share in publishing income streams. Set up as a joint venture with BBH, the company now regularly works for many other advertising agencies such as McCannErickson, WCRS, DLKW, Fallon, Leith, Mustoes, JWT & Leo Burnett. The company has acquired the publishing rights for ad campaigns such as Levis, Barclays, Audi, Bertolli, Impulse, KFC, Baileys, HP Sauce, Frosties, Clairol, Warburtons, Gordons, Lynx, Barclaycard and Sony Walkman. The company's success has also meant the rapid recruitment of more staff and now consists of a team of three music industry specialists.
One of the copyrights controlled by Leap Music (I See Girls) was used on a PanEuropean Lynx Ever Ready campaign in 2003. This track was later sampled by Studio B (feat. Romeo from So Solid Crew), retitled I See Girls (Crazy) then remixed by Tom Neville. I See Girls (Crazy) (in which Leap Music has a 50% publishing interest) recently hit No. 1 in the UK Club charts following extensive play on Pete Tong's Radio 1 show. I See Girls (Crazy) was released Nationwide by Ministry of Sound on 28th March 2005 and is still in the top twenty after five weeks.
Editor's Note
How It Works
The immediate aim of the new company will be to build a catalogue of sound recordings, which it will acquire through two key routes:
(a) Commissioned Scores
Leap Music helps ad agencies source unpublished composers to create tracks for advertising campaigns and then acquires the publishing rights so there are no restrictions on future usage. Under the new model, Leap Masters will now acquire the sound recording (master rights), which gives Leap the opportunity to exploit the commissioned score outside the commercial once the campaign has finished (subject to approval of appropriate agency & its client.) Typical exploitation will be via production library CD which generates an income stream for both composer and agency. However, there may also be opportunities to exploit some commissioned scores as downloads and mobile realtones.
(b) Existing Unsigned Tracks
Leap Music has already acquired publishing rights in many existing unpublished songs & compositions as used in commercials for Sony Walkman, Audi, HP Sauce, Barclaycard, Lynx/Axe, Baileys and Gordons. In every case, Leap briefs managers and lawyers who represent unsigned talent and encourages them to pitch appropriate new titles. Frequently, the talent isnt signed to a record label or publisher, so even if Leap Music acquires the publishing rights, the sound recording remains unexploited. With the launch of Leap Masters, were able to offer artists the chance to sell their music as downloads and realtones, and so generate additional revenues. This is also an attractive option for agencies as well as artists who are keen to embrace the rapidly developing digital singles market in conjunction with their clients campaigns.
