AC/DC’s entire catalog will be administered by Sony Music Publishing on a worldwide basis through a new partnership struck with Alberts.
In what’s described as an historic deal, Sony Music Publishing will represent the entirety of the Aussie rockers’ works, including “Highway to Hell,” “Back in Black,” “Thunderstruck,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and “TNT.”
Through this new arrangement, announced Monday (July 12), the band’s publishing and recording rights come together under the Sony banner for the first time.
Additionally, the music publishing giant strikes a worldwide deal to represent the song catalog of Harry Vanda, George Young, and Stevie Wright.
“We are pleased to join forces with Alberts to deliver new opportunities for AC/DC and Vanda, Young and Wright,” comments Sony Music Publishing chairman and CEO Jon Platt. David Albert and the Alberts team, he continues, “are leaders in shaping Australia’s modern music culture, and our shared ethos will be powerful in sustaining the global impact of these iconic catalogs.”
AC/DC signed with the family-owned Alberts back in 1974 and they’ve been back in black ever since.
The Rock Hall-inducted band has released 17 studio albums, including 2020’s Power Up, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, their third leader. With that LP, AC/DC became just the second band in history (after Metallica) to bag Top 10-charting albums in the 1980s, ’90s, ’00s, ’10s and ’20s.
The Vanda, Young and Wright catalog is one of the most precious in Australian rock history, and includes “Friday on My Mind” and “Good Times” by The Easybeats, along with “Love is in the Air,” “Yesterday’s Hero” and “Standing in the Rain,” performed by John Paul Young.
In the early 1960s, Young met with Vanda and Wright at Villawood Migrant hostel in Sydney and formed the Easybeats, a band that set a benchmark for Aussie rock ‘n’ rollers with global ambitions.
“Friday on My Mind” is one of the most enduring songs by any rock band from these parts. The single reached No. 6 in the U.K. and No. 16 in the U.S., and has been covered by the likes of David Bowie and Gary Moore.
In 2001, when APRA published its Top 30 Australian Songs, “Friday On My Mind” was declared No. 1 by a panel of 100 Australian writers, musicians and critics. Young passed away in 2017, and Wright died in 2015.
“We are so excited and honored at Sony Music Group to build on our long standing relationship with both Alberts and AC/DC through the representation of the Alberts song catalog,” enthuses Rob Stringer, chairman, Sony Music Group. “We thank them for their trust and faith in us.”
Source
