(CelebrityAccess) – Universal Music Group (UMG) has acquired Frank Zappa’s recordings, publishing catalog of songs, film archives, and the contents of The Vault, a storage facility that houses the late Zappa’s life’s work.
UMG signed the expansive agreement with Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva Zappa (the Zappa Trust). The contents of The Vault span the four-decade career of the legendary musician, composer, guitarist, and prominent activist. The acquisition includes Frank Zappa’s name and likeness.
Catalog division Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) will now build on the company’s track record of working with the Zappa Trust to “amplify Frank Zappa’s career as a trailblazer, iconoclast, brilliant musician, and fearless artist who challenged music and culture with his unconventional and uncompromising vision and advocacy”.
Under the new agreement, UMPG has acquired Zappa’s complete publishing catalogue including Watermelon In Easter Hay, Cosmik Debris, Peaches En Regalia, Uncle Remus, Joe’s Garage and hundreds more.
The Zappa Trust said: “Ten years ago, Gail Zappa partnered with UMe to bring Frank Zappa’s music into the digital era and help expand the Frank Zappa business around the world, setting in motion a fruitful partnership that has resulted in exponential growth. UMG have more than proven their passion for Frank’s art and so the entire Zappa family – Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva – is thrilled to pass the baton to the new forever stewards for all things Frank Zappa. Old and new fans will get more of what they want – more Frank Zappa music for years to come.”
Marc Cimino, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of UMPG, said: “A powerful voice in music and culture, Frank Zappa was one of the most brilliant artists of his time. We are honoured to welcome Zappa’s influential song catalogue and that his estate has chosen UMG to uphold his artistry and to grow his immense legacy throughout the world.”
In 2012, Zappa Records and the Zappa Trust – headed by his widow, Gail Zappa – made Zappa’s entire recorded catalogue available digitally for the first time through a partnership with UMe, with half of the albums remastered from the original sources and the remaining albums retransferred and prepared from the original digital tapes for CD, streaming and download. Many albums were also remastered for reissue on vinyl.
“UMG plans to dive into The Vault for new archival projects for decades to come. Additionally, with Zappa’s name and likeness, UMG will engage existing fans and new audiences around the world with merchandise, feature films, interactive experiences, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other next-generation Web3 projects.”
Following Zappa’s death in 1993 of prostate cancer at the age of 52, there have been more than 60 posthumous releases, beginning with 1994’s Cilvization Phaze III. Zappa’s last album completed before his death, Dance Me This, was issued in 2015 as his 100th album.
Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and awarded the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 1997.
