CARLIN TO SELL TO ROUND HILL IN POSSIBLE $250M DEAL: REPORTS

Carlin Music, the catalog-rich publisher that oversees copyrights associated with Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, Carole Bayer Sager, Barbra Streisand, George Jones, Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, James Brown, Jim Steinman, AC/DC and countless others, is reported to be on the verge of a sale. Bloomberg has reported (and Music Business Worldwide claims to have corroborated) that Carlin may sell its 100k or so song holdings to Round Hill Music, possibly for as much as $250m.

The NYC-based Carlin was founded by publishing pioneer Freddy Bienstock in the mid-60s. Bienstock legendarily acquired Chappell Music in 1984 and then sold it to Warner.

Round Hill, meanwhile, launched in 2011 by Josh Gruss, holds copyrights for several Beatles songs, works recorded by Katy Perry and catalog from Neil Sedaka, Eddie Holland, Ted Nugent, Big Loud Shirt and more. The company, which has offices in NYC, L.A. and Nashville, has been buying up catalog steadily over the past several years; in 2014 it raised more than $200m in funding.