Imagem Music Signs Chris Rea

Imagem Music, one of the world's leading independent music publishers, has announced a new, worldwide agreement with singer-songwriter Chris Rea. This new agreement will cover material featured in Rea's new album, Santo Spirito Blues, released on Rhino Records in the UK earlier this week, and will also include the singer/songwriter's catalogue from his 2002 album Stony Road onwards.

Born in Middleborough, England, Chris Rea has sold over 30 million albums worldwide during a recording career which started in 1978. He had an early hit single with ‘Fool (If You Think It's Over)' before going on to release 8 albums during the 1980's, including the classic ‘Road to Hell' and its acclaimed follow-up ‘Auberge'.

Following several further album releases in the 1990's and a well-publicizEd Battle with cancer, Rea announced his intention to return to his blues roots and released the well received Stony Road in 2002 before founding his own label Jazzee Blue in 2003 and putting out several blues influenced albums including Blue Street (Five Guitars), Hofner Blue Notes and The Blue Jukebox.

Tim Smith, Managing Director of Imagem Music UK said, "It's not often you get the chance to work with a genuine songwriting legend which is why I'm overjoyed that Chris has chosen Imagem as his publisher moving forward. Apart from his ability to write great songs as heard on Santo Spirito Blues, Chris is an innovator in the way he wants to deliver his music to his fans. It's a joy to work with somebody who is so open to new ideas."

John Knowles, Chris Rea's manager said, "We looked at a number of publishers for this new album but felt that Imagem's creative approach to marketing and their ideas of how to maximize revenue for the back catalogue put them in a different league."

About Imagem Music Group:

Imagem Music Group (André de Raaff, CEO and co-founder) is the #1 independent music publishing company in the world, unique for its leadership role in classical music (Boosey & Hawkes), musicals (Rodgers & Hammerstein), and rock & roll (Imagem Music). Founded in 2008, Imagem began by acquiring music publishing rights in a number of catalogues sold by Universal Publishing, such as Rondor, Zomba, BBC and 19 Music. This was followed by acquiring the world's leading classical music publishing company Boosey & Hawkes (representing the world's leading classical and jazz composers from Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky to John Adams, Wynton Marsalis, and beyond), and Rodgers & Hammerstein (containing the rights to the world's most popular stage and film musicals including THE SOUND OF MUSIC and OKLAHOMA!, and representing hundreds of works by writers including Irving Berlin.) Highlights from Imagem Music's ever-expanding pop catalogue include Ludacris, Phil Collins, Genesis, Anna Nalick, Temper Trap, Vampire Weekend, M.I.A., Bombay Bicycle Club, and Daft Punk. Imagem is proud to represent such a variety of writers, catalogues, and copyrights, combining the knowledge of experienced music publishers with the newest opportunities for exploitation. Imagem: Making the difference! Website: www.imagem.com.

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