BMG buys Italian dance music publisher Off Limits

PRESS RELEASE:

BMG has acquired rights in classic Nineties dance pop hits with the acquisition of the publishing catalogue of Italian dance music specialist Off Limits.

Off Limits Music & Publishing was founded by Alfredo “Larry” Pignagnoli – previously best-known for producing hits such Easy Lady, Call Me and Every Girl And Boyfor Spagna – in the early Eighties.

The first song produced by Pignagnoli under the Off Limits banner was Saturday Night, a Number One throughout Europe and which propelled Whigfield into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first non-English artist to go straight to Number One in the Official UK Singles chart, selling over one million copies. The acquisition includes a share in Saturday Nightas well as the Off Limits share in hits such as Satisfaction(Benny Benassi), 2 Times(Ann Lee), Tu es Foutu(In-Grid) and the Benassi Brothers tracks Illusion, Hit My HeartandBest friend, performed by Madonna.

The titles further bolster BMG’s fast-growing catalogue of dance hits which includes the Strictly Rhythm (I Like To Move It, King Of My Castle) and Skint/Loaded (Fatboy Slim, X-Press 2) recording catalogues and the Talpa (Afrojack, Fedde Le Grand) publishing catalogue.

BMG Italy Managing Director Dino Stewart said, “We are delighted to welcome the Off Limits catalogue to BMG. Larry Pignagnoli is one of the pop maestros of Italy and songs like ‘Saturday Night” are part of the fun-DNA of an entire generation. After the recent acquisitions of Strictly Rhythm, Skint/Loaded and Talpa Music, we are proud to add a number of international dance classics from Italy to BMG’s growing dance/EDM repertoire.”

The Off Limits catalogue acquisition is the third deal in a week BMG has struck to expand its representation of Continental European repertoire. Last week the company announced it was acquiring Spain’s Tiempo Real Entertainment as part of a new wide-ranging relationship with Darlalata Entertainment. Meanwhile BMG France has acquired Tipping Music, which owns the catalogue of French superstar Ben L’Oncle Soul, including his Number One hit, Soul Man, named French Song of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique in 2011.

BMG EVP Continental European Repertoire Fred Casimir said, “With BMG achieving marketshare leadership in Germany for the first time, 2014 was a real breakthrough year for the company in Continental Europe. Just over six years after we launched, these three deals show our ambition to grow right across the Continent is undiminished.”

Image: Benny Benassi