After a Hard Day’s Night of talks, Universal Music Group’s Bravado division has reacquired merchandise rights for The Beatles.
The deal sees the legendary band’s merchandise rights coming back to UMG, which is also the longstanding home for its music catalog.
Apple Corps Ltd. and brand management company, Bravado, announced today that they have once again partnered to develop new merchandise opportunities for The Beatles across retail, licensing and e-commerce in North America.
“Bringing The Beatles back to Bravado was a top priority of mine – not only as a fan of their music but as someone who is inspired by the creative and cultural impact they continue to have around the world,” said Bravado president Matt Young. “The responsibility of representing such an iconic and beloved brand isn’t lost on me and we look forward to working with Jeff Jones and the Apple Corps team to continue to bring The Beatles’ vision to life.”
Apple Corps was founded by The Beatles in 1968 to oversee the band’s own creative and business interests. As part of its management of The Beatles’ entire intellectual property canon, the London-based company administers the legendary band’s recorded catalog along with film, theatrical, and book publishing rights.
Bravado says the new partnership agreement critically reunites the legendary band’s merchandise business with their recorded music catalog, for a unified brand strategy across music and merchandise offerings. Bravado intends to work with Apple Corps to continue to expand The Beatles’ presence in the region by leveraging the company’s retail and licensing partnerships and its robust ecommerce network to supercharge direct-to-consumer efforts.
UMG has been home to The Beatles’ iconic recorded music catalog since 2012, a decade in which UMG and Apple Corps have worked closely to find innovative projects and campaigns to further introduce the band’s music to new generations of fans around the world.
From their arrival on streaming platforms in 2015, award winning documentaries and active, engaging presence on social media platforms, The Beatles remain one of the world’s most popular bands in the history of music.
The agreement also calls on Bravado to host and manage the Beatles’ online ecommerce portal. That portal opened for business on Sept. 1 at https://usastore.thebeatles.com/