The band has been approached several times about selling their interest in Brother Records, which is co-owned by Love, Jardine, Brian Wilson, and the two sons of Wilson’s late brother Carl, Justyn and Jonah. But they held out until a conversation with Azoff and his team, whom they saw as true music fans who would act in the band’s interest and not just for financial gain.
The goal is “to bring the Beach Boys’ music and the depth of their catalog to the new generations,” said Justyn Wilson. “The music has been around for nearly 60 years, and there are generations of people who have yet to discover the depth.”
Many of the other companies now buying catalogs don’t have the infrastructure to properly exploit so much material. They are financial institutions or funds without much background in music licensing or Hollywood.
Iconic doesn’t have the money to buy up every artist, so Azoff and top deputies Susan Genco and Beth Collins are going to cherry-pick a handful of big acts from Southern California that started between about 1950 and 1990. They are in talks with Linda Ronstadt and David Crosby about similar deals.
Iconic is developing a business plan right now for the Beach Boys’ anniversary in 2022, which will include a channel on SiriusXM and the use of old interviews that have never been seen.
“The Beach Boys want to monetize their life work, but are also concerned about legacy preservation,” Genco said. “We’re building a company that brings all the rights together. We have a company that is able to carry on that legacy.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.