Ole Acquires Rush Catalog

L-R: Robert Ott (Chairman & CEO of Ole),
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson (Rush), Ray Danniels
(Rush manager, SRO/ANTHEM and owner of Core)

Today Ole, one of the world's 10 largest music publishing companies, announced the acquisition of the Rush music publishing catalog.   While the Ole press release doesn't disclose the terms of the sale, according to Billboard.com, it is rumored that "sources estimate that the Rush catalog, which includes the band's entire output, had net publisher's share, or gross profit, of about $1.5 million-$2 million and fetched about $25 million."

The Rush catalog was administered by Core Music, a division of Anthem Entertainment Group. Core has been the exclusive publisher and administrator for the band's entire career.

“With the changing times in the music business, the responsibilities of a publisher have become much more complex," said SRO/Anthem president Ray Daniels, who has been Rush's manager since the band's beginning back in the early-to-mid 1970's, said in a statement. "This deal will allow me to devote my time and energy to managing the live touring and recording aspects of Rush’s ongoing career."

As part of the ole-Core deal, Pegi Cecconi, who has overseen the administration of Core Music since inception, will continue to work at SRO/ANTHEM, but will also take on a consulting role to ole for the Rush catalogue.