JoJo’s earliest records now sit under a single roof. Seeker Music, the rights, publishing and recording company founded by songwriter Evan Bogart and financed by M&G Investments, announced on October 23 that it has bought both the original masters and the 2018 re-recordings of the singer’s first two albums: her self-titled 2004 debut and its 2006 successor, The High Road. The price was not made public.
Two versions, one owner
The deal resolves a long-running split in JoJo’s catalog. For years the original recordings were unavailable on streaming platforms, which led the singer to cut new versions of both albums and release them herself in 2018. The originals eventually returned to digital services in September 2021 through Blackground Records 2.0 and EMPIRE. Seeker has not said who sold it the original masters.
Under the new arrangement, the 2018 recordings will be rebranded as Clover Room Edition releases. JoJo said that bringing the two sets of albums together “feels full-circle.”
A 20th anniversary reissue first
Seeker opened its stewardship with a deluxe 20th anniversary edition of The High Road, released on streaming services the same day as the announcement. It pairs the full original album with four bonus tracks from the 2006 editions and adds a newly recorded acoustic take on the Spanish-language version of “Too Little Too Late,” titled “Acepto La Realidad (Versión Acústica).” Physical formats, including 180g vinyl, are planned, and the company says more archival audio and visual projects are in development.
Publishing ties already in place
The purchase builds on rights Seeker already controlled. It holds publishing interests in “Too Little Too Late” through its earlier acquisition of co-writer RuthAnne Cunningham’s catalog, and in “Leave (Get Out)” via Soulshock & Karlin’s catalog, acquired through Notting Hill Music. The company has already worked those songs into new releases, including Levi and Mario’s “2 Little 2 Late” and Alexander Stewart’s “The Way a Heart Breaks,” which interpolates the 2006 hit.
“Leave (Get Out)” made JoJo, then 13, the youngest solo act to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart in 2004. Seeker, which launched in 2020, says it now owns stakes in roughly 19,000 copyrights that it values at more than $400 million, and earlier this year it raised $267 million through an asset-backed securitization to fund further deals.
Source: Music Business Worldwide (additional reporting: Billboard)
Featured image: Evan Bogart, JoJo and Steven Melrose. Photo: Seeker Music, via Music Business Worldwide.