Mojo Music & Media Acquires 50% Stake In Rick Nielsen Catalog
Mojo Music & Media, the global independent publishing and marketing company, has acquired a 50% interest in the publishing catalog of Rick Nielsen, co-founder and principal songwriter for Cheap Trick.
The deal totals more than 400 songs spanning five decades, and features 20 Billboard hits including rock standards like “Surrender,” “I Want You To Want Me,” “Dream Police,” “Voices,” “If You Want My Love” and “Can’t Stop Fallin’ Into Love.”
As the son of opera singer parents, Nielsen’s passion for music began at an early age. He formed Cheap Trick in the mid-1970s in his Rockford, Illinois, hometown along with vocalist Robin Zander, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E Carlos. The band’s 1977 self-titled debut and follow-up, In Color, won over both fans and critics, establishing them as a leading American rock band. The 1979 Cheap Trick At Budokan album became one of the best-selling live albums in history, launching the band into global stardom and setting the stage for a series of chart singles and gold and platinum LPs including Dream Police, All Shook Up, One On One and Lap Of Luxury. Over the course of their career, Cheap Trick has sold more than 20 million albums and performed more than 5,500 live shows. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
In addition to writing or co-writing nearly every song Cheap Trick has recorded, Nielsen has also contributed songs to projects by Rick Derringer, Dave Grohl and House Of Lords. He has guested live or in the studio with The Yardbirds, The Who, John Lennon, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue and Foo Fighters. The Mojo marketing team have authored an extensive multi-year plan to revitalize his song catalog via covers, samples, syncs and collaborations and promote his story and brand via film, television, theatrical and custom retail projects.
“For the last four decades-plus, Rick Nielsen has been teaching a master class in how to write jangly, melodic pop-punk anthems,” said Mojo Co-Founder and CEO Mark Fried. “He and his Cheap Trick bandmates, over the course of 20 studio albums and thousands of shows, have been pied pipers to the most devoted fans in history while in some way influencing nearly every alt-rock, arena pop and heavy metal band that followed in their footsteps. As fans since day one, we couldn’t be more psyched to work with Rick in promoting his music and shining a light on his unique rock and roll adventure.”
“I’d almost given up on the chance of finding a publisher who actually knew all my songs and had a vision for how to keep them alive for another 1,000 years or so,” said Nielsen. “Turns out, Mark & The Mojo’s are it! I’m looking forward to all the noise we’re gonna make together.”
