Litmus Music said Thursday that it has acquired Randy Newman’s share of his recorded music and publishing catalog.
The deal includes rights to the scores of the composer-singer-songwriter’s Oscar-winning Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. movies and his decades of hits including “I Love L.A.,” which is still heard after every Los Angeles Dodgers home win.
No deal terms were provided by Litmus, which was co-founded by former Capitol Records and Warner Bros Records president Dan McCarroll and Hank Forsythe and is backed by Carlyle Group. The company has done similar transactions with Katy Perry, Benny Blanco and Keith Urban.
“Randy Newman is a unique and brilliant songwriter, composer, and performer whose body of work has proven him to be an artist for the ages,” said McCarroll. “There is absolutely no one like him, and his influence on the music world cannot be overstated. We couldn’t be more proud and excited to acquire Randy’s catalog of beautiful, witty, and sharply observational songs.”
Newman has won seven Grammys, three Emmys and two Oscars over a career that began with 1968’s debut album, the self-titled Randy Newman. His string of hits include “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “Feels Like Home,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Short People,” “Baltimore” and “It’s a Jungle Out There” among many others.
His work in film included composing scores and writing songs behind the Toy Story franchise (its signature song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” is included in the rights deal) as well both Monsters, Inc movies, The Princess and the Frog, The Natural (for which he won his first Grammy), Awakenings, Ragtime, Seabiscuit, James and the Giant Peach, A Bug’s Life, Meyerowitz Stories and Marriage Story.
That work resulted in 22 Oscar song and score nominations; his wins came in 2002 for Original Song with “If I Didn’t Have You” from Monsters, Inc., and in 2011 in the same category for “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3.
He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Catalog sales for the biggest music stars have come with some eye-popping numbers, like Bruce Springsteen’s 2021 deal with Sony Music reportedly in the $500 million range, similar to what Sony paid for a stake in Michael Jackson’s catalog earlier this year. Litmus’ deal with Perry in September 2023 was worth a reported $225 million.
