Bug Acquires Sugar Hill Publishing Rights

Bug Music CEO John Rudolph announced today the company has entered into an exclusive agreement to administer rights to Sugar Hill Records’ music publishing catalog. The deal gives Bug Music worldwide rights to a 600-title library containing a “who’s who” of country, bluegrass and Americana music.

The rosters at Sugar Hill Records’ two publishing companies, Southern Melody Publishing Co. and Queen’s Counsel Music, include Nickel Creek members Chris Thile, Sarah and Sean Watkins, Robin and Linda Williams, Ralph Stanley, Etta Baker, Claude Hensley, Ruth Franks, Doc Watson, Tommy Thompson of Red Clay Ramblers, and members of Donna the Buffalo, Austin Lounge Lizards and Seldom Scene.

“Sugar Hill’s Southern Melody Publishing Co. and Queen’s Counsel Music developed a rich catalog of American roots music,” Bug Music Senior VP Garry Velletri said. “Sugar Hill has done an amazing job in working with their writers, and we’re proud to represent and find new opportunities across multiple platforms for their music.”

Bug Music claims to be the largest U.S. independent contemporary publisher, spread across eight offices in the U.S. and Europe. Sugar Hill Records, co-founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978, has grown to become one of the country’s premier country, bluegrass and Americana record labels.