Seeker Music has partnered with Blackheart, the independent company founded by Joan Jett and longtime collaborator Kenny Laguna, to acquire what is described as a “substantial share” of Jett’s publishing and recorded music rights, it was announced on Thursday. This collaboration aims to enhance the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts catalog, with plans for releasing unreleased music, reimagining classic albums and launching new campaigns tied to her global tours.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2015) has left quite a mark on rock music with hits like “Bad Reputation,” “Crimson and Clover,” “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Formed in 1979 following the breakup of The Runaways, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have achieved eight platinum and gold albums and nine Top 40 singles, including her sneering hit “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” which topped the Hot 100 for several leather-clad weeks in early 1982.
Seeker Music, founded in 2020 by M&G Investments and led by Evan Bogart, manages a diverse catalog of over 15,000 copyrights, including works by artists like Run The Jewels, Jon Bellion, Christopher Cross and others.
The partnership between Blackheart and Seeker Music represents a full-circle moment of sorts, connecting two storied rock and roll family legacies. Carianne Brinkman, Laguna’s daughter and the president of Blackheart, and Evan Bogart, son of legendary record executive Neil Bogart, who signed Jett to his Boardwalk Records, are key figures in this collaboration.
“Seeker joining forces with Joan, Kenny, Carianne and Blackheart isn’t just a partnership, it’s a personal, powerful reunion… reigniting a legacy and carrying the torch forward with the same rebellious spirit that ignited it,” said Evan Bogart.
Brinkman and Laguna echoed Bogart’s sentiment on the serendipity of the collaboration.
“I can’t imagine a better partnership that is at once completely new but a return to a shared legacy that began with the belief in Joan Jett and the Blackhearts,” said Brinkman.
Laguna added: “It’s too coincidental to be a coincidence, so I am so overwhelmed to see how fate brought Carianne and Evan Bogart at Seeker together 58 years after I had my first hit with Neil Bogart.”
The partnership was negotiated by LaPolt Law, P.C., and Reed Smith, LLP, with support from Seeker’s chief creative officer Steven Melrose and Blackheart’s head of distribution and operations Hubert Górka.
“At Seeker, our celebrated creative and innovative approach to catalog means that our focus is on super-serving Joan’s current fans, whilst growing her fandom year on year – essentially taking Joan’s music into millions of new homes globally,” said Melrose. “For a catalog as expansive and legendary as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’, we’re working on plans to release incredible archival moments, activations around her best-selling global tours, reaching new fans through global and cross-genre campaigns, and creative re-releases of beloved albums utilizing new platforms around the world.”
The companies did not disclose financial aspects of the deal, nor the specifics of the “substantial share” of the acquired catalog.
