Wise Music Group has acquired leading Italian indie publisher Baby Angel Music.
The BAM catalogue, which contains over 15,000 songs, has been built over a period of 25 years by Max Moroldo, who will continue as a music publishing consultant and head of A&R to Wise Music Italy.
Among the catalogue’s many titles is the evergreen Freed From Desire, originally recorded by the singer and songwriter Gala in 1996 (pictured), which became a huge hit all over the world. It has subsequently been covered and adapted on numerous occasions.
Freed From Desire is certified double platinum in the UK with sales of 1,209,220, according to the Official Charts Company. It has 170 million Spotify streams.
BAM owns shares in international hits such as I Know You Want Me (recorded by Pitbull) and Seek Bromance (Avicii), as well as Italian hits including Occidentali's Karma and Amen (by Francesco Gabbani, both winners of the Sanremo Festival), Come Neve (Giorgia and Marco Mengoni), Credo (Giorgia), Potremmo Ritornare (Tiziano Ferro), Crepe (Irama), and Il Coraggio Di Andare (Laura Pausini and Biagio Antonacci).
Wise Music’s Chris Butler said: “Max has lovingly built a large and enduring catalogue over many years, and it is our privilege to be the new owners of such a wonderful collection of songs. We look forward to a long relationship with Max as we build our company in Italy and around the world.”
Max Moroldo, who will continue to run and own the Do It Yourself label, said: "All the songs in the BAM catalogue have been like children to me: I’ve seen them grow over time and today I couldn’t be more happy and proud to see them join the global family of Wise Music, with whom we are building something significant and important. I’d like to thank all the authors, composers, sub-publishers and partners I have worked with over the years who have had the strength and the courage to support my often crazy ideas!”
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