Irving Azoff Buys Up The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys have landed a deal with music mogul Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, which means the company owns their entire brand, including their master recordings, the rights to their band name and a share of their publishing rights and memorabilia.

Fans could see Beach Boys appear in different forms in the future, thanks to technologies such as VR and CGI.

The firm’s CEO Olivier Chastan told Rolling Stone: “The Beach Boys, in a sense, are not just a band. They’re a lifestyle. They’re a consumer brand. And they’ve never really exploited that.

“That includes VR, AR, 3D, CGI, natural language processing, et cetera.

“That, to me, is probably the most interesting aspect of what’s going to transform our business. In five years, I could send you a text and say, ‘At 2 p.m., let’s put our Oculus Rift glasses on, and let’s go see the Beach Boys record ‘Good Vibrations’ at Western Recorders.’”

It’s not known how much the rights were sold for.

It comes as a number of artists have sold various percentages of their back catalogues to the popular firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund.

Neil Young recently sold 50 per cent of his catalogue, which is said to be worth an estimated $150 million (£110 million).

The 75-year-old music legend inked a lucrative deal with Hipgnosis, following their recent acquisition of 100 per cent of former Fleetwood Mac musician Lindsey Buckingham’s entire music collection and producer Jimmy Iovine’s producer royalties.

Half of Neil’s music collection amounts to 1,180 songs.

The firm’s founder, Merck Mercuriadis, said: “This is a deal that changes Hipgnosis forever.

“I bought my first Neil Young album aged seven. ‘Harvest’ was my companion and I know every note, every word, every pause and silence intimately.

“Neil Young, or at least his music, has been my friend and constant ever since.”

Hipgnosis ensures their client’s music is heard across radio and TV and that they earn a tidy profit in royalties.

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