Who owns the rights to Arc Records these days?
February 19, 2014 3:16 PM   Subscribe

How would I go about finding out who owns the rights to albums and songs released by a long-defunct music company? Specifically, a Canadian label named Arc Records. The article I linked to states that Arc came under the control of Ahed Music Corp Ltd in 1969 and that both companies ceased operations in 1986, but I haven't been able to track down any information beyond that.
posted by The Card Cheat to Work & Money (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Anne Murray's debut 1968 ARC album "What About Me" is now distributed by EMI Music Canada; 3109 American Drive; Missisauga Ontario L4V 1B2. You might contact them.
posted by Carol Anne at 3:29 PM on February 19, 2014


I think this could vary a lot from artist to artist, depending on how their contracts with Arc/Ahed were structured and how Ahed disposed of its assets when it ceased operations. Recording contracts & rights can be tricky and complex things.

So maybe your best shot would be to approach this the other way 'round and start with the recording artists/songwriters/publishing companies that you're interested in and see if they know what happened to the material they released under Arc or Ahed.

I also found entries for Arc and Ahed at rateyourmusic.com. There are "current addresses" listed for both companies, but of course I've no idea if they're actually valid.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:32 PM on February 19, 2014


Best answer: Do you mean the publishing rights, or the master recordings? For publishing I would first check BMI and ASCAP (search by title first, as the artist field isn't necessarily populated).

MeMail me a list of albums, songs, or artists and I can look into it further at work-- the answer is quite likely my company. It would help to know why you want to know or how you hope to use the music.
posted by acidic at 9:36 PM on February 19, 2014 [3 favorites]


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