VAN HALEN – Eddie And Alex Van Halen Sign Publishing Deal With The Atlas Music Group

The Atlas Music Group has signed Eddie and Alex Van Halen to a worldwide publishing administration deal. The publishing deal is for Van Halen‘s entire music catalog, excluding the band’s last album, entitled A Different Kind of Truth.

Atlas Music Group CEO, Rich Stumpf, spoke to Billboard magazine about its new deal with Van Halen. “This deal has been a long time coming. I have been after Irvin Azoff (manager for the Van Halen brothers) and Peter Paterno (the brothers’ lawyer) for five years, to find out if there would ever be an opportunity to work with the Van Halen catalog,” Stumpf told Billboard. He continued, “They are my favorite all-time band so this is kind of a surreal moment where my professional and personal lives are coming together.”

Stumpf also said Van Halen is the most important band the company has ever signed, since it was launched in 2013. “It speaks volumes that after being with one company for thirty years that they have chosen to move to an independent music publisher. This [deal] is an important moment not just for us but for the independent music publishing community,” Stumpf stated to Billboard.

The CEO said he is really looking forward to getting Van Halen’s music in films, television, and commercials. “This is a premium catalog, so we will look for the right films and brand advertisers to place their music with,” Stumpf told Billboard. Atlas Music Group is hoping to reach younger consumers with Van Halen’s music. “That is how you maintain the value of the (legendary artists) catalog by reaching the younger generations that come along,” the CEO stated. He added, “A lot of the decision makers themselves are young so we will have to educate them on the importance of Van Halen, and not just their many hits.”

Now that Atlas Music Group has added Van Halen to their roster, the company’s catalog has increased to 4,000 songs. Last year, Atlas and Nashville publisher, Combustion Music, created a joint-venture. That joint-venture increased Atlas Music Group’s team to 25-30 active songwriters, and the publishing company currently has fifteen staff members in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.

Eddie Van Halen spoke at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History on February 12th, in Washington D.C., about innovation as part of the national “What It Means To Be American” program in a sold-out event.

The institution recognized Van Halen, not only for his particular American journey as a Dutch immigrant, but also for his legacy as a inventor and innovator — someone who single-handedly rewrote not only how guitars are played, but also how they are built. He spoke to the question: is rock & roll all about reinvention?

When Rolling Stone asked Van Halen after the show about the band’s current plans, the guitarist was ambivalent, noting that the group has no immediate plans to record or tour.

“I’d love to make a studio record,” he says. “Depends on everybody’s timing. I don’t know what Dave [Lee Roth] is up to now. I don’t know if he’s living in New York or Japan or wherever he is.”

Asked how Van Halen, the band, adjusted to three different lead vocalists through the years — original singer David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone— the guitarist says it was more a case of the singers adjusting to the group: “You sing this, or you’re out of the band,” Van Halen says, laughing.

Read more at RollingStone.com, and check out video footage from Eddie’s Smithsonian interview below: