A live performance from Janet Jackson, one of the many artists who have recorded works featured in the catalog of Lastrada Entertainment. Photo Credit: J Vettorino
Reservoir Media has officially acquired the publishing catalog of Lastrada Entertainment – including interests in works recorded by Jim Croce and many others.
New York City-based Reservoir and 38-year-old Lastrada reached out with word of their deal today. While the same parties opted against identifying the financial specifics at hand, they did indicate that the transaction encompasses north of 5,600 compositions.
Among those compositions are commercially prominent efforts like Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle,” Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together,” and Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce,” according to the announcement.
(More than a few different releases, recorded by Tina Turner, Latto, and an array of other talent, are featured in Lastrada’s online catalog database. But several of the relevant stakes seemingly only involve masters and look to be excluded from the IP-sale agreement as a result.)
Meanwhile, thanks to a variety of samples – 2Pac incorporated Ronnie Hudson’s “West Coast Poplock” into “California Love,” to name one example – the purchase also includes interests in works recorded by Ne-Yo, Yo Gotti, Dave East, Kanye West, Usher, Drake, Gucci Mane, Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and Rick Ross.
(Despite its varied IP investments and holdings, Reservoir has zeroed in particularly on hip-hop in recent years. 2024 saw the business ink publishing deals with Snoop Dogg as well as Death Row, on top of investing in the work of 2Pac collaborator Big D Evans, for example.)
In a statement, Reservoir chief operating officer Rell Lafargue said his company would work to preserve “the legacy the Moelis family has built,” with an underlying goal of ensuring Lastrada’s continued success.
And in remarks of his own, Stephen Moelis (who’d served as president of music publishing, with his brother Larry working as VP of operations) described the sale as “the natural next step” for Lastrada.
“The Moelis family takes pride in the catalog of hits we were part of,” Stephen relayed, “and in the personal relationships we forged with our incredibly talented songwriters.
“Passing the creative torch to Reservoir is the natural next step to continue the work we started with our father 40 years ago, and we wish to thank Golnar Khosrowshahi, Rell Lafargue, and the entire Reservoir team as they become stewards of some of the great songs of all time,” he concluded.
With Reservoir’s Lastrada buyout (besides Warner Music’s DWA and Extravaganza catalog purchases), it’s safe to say that the IP-acquisition space is heating up.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen precisely how many massive deals the sub-sector will deliver this year. Among other things, 2024 delivered what appeared (and appears) to be the single-largest IP investment thus far, Sony Music’s reportedly $600 million purchase of 50% of Michael Jackson’s catalog.
However, billions are already earmarked for song rights; a steady stream of IP sales is all but guaranteed for 2025, and additional gargantuan rights selloffs might come to fruition as well.