One Media buys Don Williams’ back catalogue
THE estate of country music star Don Williams has sold the rights to more than 200 of the late singer’s tracks following a flurry of artists selling on their songs.
One Media paid an undisclosed sum for the writer’s catalogue of songs produced during the 1970s and 1980s, a period in which Williams scored 17 number one records and became a global superstar.
Nicknamed “The Gentle Giant”, his hits included Till The Rivers All Run Dry, which was covered by The Who’s Pete Townshend; I Wouldn’t Want To Live If You Didn’t Love Me; and Tulsa Time, which Eric Clapton also covered. Williams also wrote Down The Road I Go for Johnny Cash.
The singer, who died in 2017 aged 78, gained an international following, particularly in the UK, where he would regularly tour.
Under the deal, One Media will use its Technical Copyright Analysis Tool (TCAT) to crack down on illegal streamings of his songs, which leads to royalties for each play not going to the artist.
The AI software monitors streams across digital music platforms such as Spotify, Amazon and iTunes with extreme accuracy, One Media said.
Digital publishers have been snapping up back catalogues of artists at a ferocious rate in recent years as the rise of streaming services means older songs can generate far more royalties than previously.
One Media chief executive Michael Infante said: “There has been a steady rise in the popularity of country music in the UK and Europe, with events such as the Country 2 Country festival, which have drawn in huge crowds in recent years.
“Don Williams — like Johnny Cash — is revered by younger artists, which has in turn fed through to a new generation of fans.
“In life he was known as the Gentle Giant . . . and in his musical legacy we believe we have a Sleeping Giant, as fans of all generations are drawn to his timeless music.”
The deal follows a series of acquisitions by One Media, including the rights to a selection of tracks by Take That, 1980s pop star Kid Creole And The Coconuts, and Carole Bayer Sager, who wrote A Groovy Kind Of Love, Nobody Does It Better, That’s What Friends Are For and On My Own.
The streaming world has fallen under the scrutiny of MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which recently completed an inquiry.
They concluded that the music streaming model is in need of a “complete reset” and that “pitiful returns” for performers and songwriters are affecting the “entire creative ecosystem”.
MPs also raised “deep concerns” about the position of the major music companies and recommended the UK competition watchdog investigate their commercial power.