Warner Chappell Music announced today that it has entered into a global publishing agreement with the legendary Quincy Jones. The administration deal covers Jones’s genre-crossing songwriting catalog, as well as all current and future material. The pact, which encompasses over 2,000 compositions, also includes work by several songwriters under the umbrella of Jones’s company, including the Brothers Johnson, Siedah Garrett, and others.
In a career spanning seven decades, Jones has been a major player in the world of music — as a composer, record producer, artist, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, label executive, film & TV producer, magazine founder and multi-media entrepreneur. From his post-swing era jazz arrangements to his film soundtracks, from a category-melding series of albums to top-charting hits, his influence on the global music community – fans and fellow artists alike – is deep and far-reaching.
Jones has earned a record 80 Grammy Award nominations, including 28 wins across an unparalleled array of categories: jazz, R&B, pop, rap, spoken word, children’s, cast album, instrumental arrangement, music film, and music video, not to mention Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Producer of the Year.
Beginning with his seminal work in the ‘50s and ‘60s with greats such as Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Count Basie (with whom Jones won his first Grammy in 1963), Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Cannonball Adderley, LaVern Baker, Leslie Gore, and Frank Sinatra, Jones’ ever-expanding career grew to embrace such landmarks as his collaborations with Michael Jackson, and his producing and conducting of the record-breaking charity single, “We Are the World.”
Among his many boundary-breaking accomplishments, when Jones was named vice president of Mercury Records in 1961, he became the first high-level black executive of an established major record company. In 1980, he founded his own Qwest Records, a joint venture with Warner Records that boasted such important artists as New Order, Tevin Campbell, Andre Crouch, Patti Austin, James Ingram, Siedah Garrett, Gregory Jefferson, and Justin Warfield. The label also released a series of successful soundtracks, including “Boyz n the Hood,” “Sarafina!” and “Malcolm X.”
Warner Chappell Music Co-Chair & CEO Guy Moot and Co-Chair & COO Carianne Marshall said: “A creative genius and a cultural icon, there is no figure in modern music who has accomplished so much across so many generations; who has broken so many musical and social barriers; and whose impact has been so wide-ranging as that of Quincy Jones. As a composer, Quincy has embraced and blended nearly every genre to create a unique, incredibly rich and diverse body of work. Whether it’s driving people onto the dancefloor or propelling the narrative of a film, Quincy’s music transcends race, style, and age. We are thrilled that he has chosen to return to Warner Chappell, and it’s an honor to represent the work of a true master.”
Nancie Stern, Vice President of Quincy Jones Music Publishing, added: “We are so excited to be working with Warner Chappell again. They have an exceptional creative and administrative team, and I know we will have a long and successful relationship working together. Quincy started his journey in the publishing business with Warner Chappell and built our incredible catalog during those crucial years, so it seems right that we have returned to where it all began.”