Over 4,000 artists and publishing companies, including iconic acts The Doors (pictured), Tom Petty, Journey and Santana, along with the Beach Boys’ Brother Publishing, will now be represented in Australia and New Zealand by independent publisher Native Tongue Publishing.
Native Tongue, which already represents local acts like Alex Lahey, Gossling, The Getaway Plan and The Drones, was able to beef up its roster through a sub-publishing partnership with the LA-founded Wixen Music Publishing.
Wixen, and now Native Tongue, also look after Jefferson Airplane, Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, along with contemporary acts including Weezer, Rage Against The Machine, NOFX and Missy Elliot.
The sub-publishing deals means Native Tongue now administers the writers and catalogues that Wixen has agreements with for Australia and New Zealand.
This involves:
– copyright registration
– royalty collection and accounting
– seeking placements and licensing the rights for synchronisation of the works in film, television, gaming and other audio-visual productions
– establishing collaborative and co-writing opportunities for songwriters
– providing on-ground support for Wixen’s clients in this territory
Tone Deaf asked Native Tongue Jaime Gough which new acts he’s most excited to represent. “This catalogue is filled with great songwriters. However, I spent a lot of my youth listening to The Doors and Rage Against The Machine, so it would have to be those two,” he said. “Honourable mentions to Tom Petty and Weezer.”
In an official statement, Gough said: “Wixen is a legendary name in music publishing and a catalogue we have always looked up to and admired.
Love Rage Against The Machine?
Get the latest Rage Against The Machine news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“Their repertoire includes many great songs we grew up listening to and still love to this very day. To now represent them in our territory is a great privilege. We look forward to a successful collaborative future with the Wixen family.”
Randall Wixen, who founded the publisher in 1978, said his company loves “multi-generation family-owned publishers”.
“Native Tongue is the exact sort of company we look for to partner with for our sub-publishing,” he said. “Not only do they have the independent spirit we look for, but they have the experience and infrastructure we need to have for a catalogue of our size.”
