WOLLERAU, CH (CelebrityAccess) – MusicBird has acquired the music catalog of songwriter, recording artist, and producer Midge Ure. The music rights company has acquired the writer’s share, master recording, and neighboring rights income on over 300 songs across Ure’s solo career and his work with Visage, Ultravox, and more. Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) continues to represent the majority of the publishing across the catalog. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Ure was most successful during the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids, and Visage and as the lead singer of Ultravox. He produced, co-wrote and performed on several new wave classics such as “Fade To Grey,” the hits “Vienna” and “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes,” and his UK No. 1 hit “If I Was,” taken from his album The Gift.
Together with Bob Geldof, Midge co-wrote and produced the Band Aid charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” which sold over 12 million copies worldwide (as a charity single, this was not part of the MusicBird acquisition).
Ure said: “It is a significant moment for me as an artist and songwriter to see my songs find a new home at MusicBird with people who are genuinely passionate about music. I think this team will take the songs to new audiences, and I am excited to be working with them on that!”
Paul Brown, CEO of MusicBird, said: “This is an important deal for MusicBird. Midge has written some genuinely timeless hits that were ground-breaking, helping to define the 1980s new wave sound and literally paving the way for those that came after. We are hugely excited to become the custodian of these incredible songs, and we are humbled that Midge has entrusted these precious pieces of art to the MusicBird team.”
MusicBird’s current portfolio includes the publishing rights of JR Rotem (Rihanna, Jason Derulo, Fall Out Boy, Sean Kingston) and the master income and publishing rights of Shaggy.
