Litmus Music has acquired Randy Newman‘s music publishing and his stake in his recorded music catalog, the company announced Thursday. The deal includes both songs and film scores from throughout his entire career, which dates back to the 1960s.
Among the more famous songs in Newman’s catalog that are part of the acquisition are “I Love L.A.,” “Short People,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Feels Like Home,” “Mama Told Me Not to Come” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” His film scores include the four “Toy Story” films, “The Natural,” “Awakenings,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Cars,” “Ragtime,” “A Bug’s Life” and “Marriage Story.”
The company said it was entering a “creative partnership” with the musician. No price tag was publicly set on the deal.
Litmus launched in the summer of 2022 and made its first major acquisition the following December, buying Keith Urban’s rights to his master recordings. In June 2023, the company announced a deal with writer-producer Benny Blanco, and three months later, the Carlyle-backed company revealed it had acquired the rights to Katy Perry’s catalog, with multiple sources putting the price tag at $225 million.
“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 Dan McCarroll, co-founder and chief creative officer of Litmus Music. “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 wrote songs for other artists before becoming a recording artist himself with 1968’s self-titled “Randy Newman” album, going on to become one of the most acclaimed rock artists of the ’70s onward with albums like “Sail Away,” “Good Old Boys,” “Little Criminals” and “Land of Hope and Dreams.” Much of the material was darkly satirical in nature, and his work has found him widely hailed as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. But he eventually found what was arguably his greatest commercial success as a film scorer, starting with movies like “Cold Turkey” and “Ragtime” before he became virtually a house scorer for Pixar-Disney in the 1990s and beyond.
His songs have been covered by artists including Joe Cocker, Barbra Streisand, Three Dog Night, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Nilsson, Judy Collins, Dusty Springfield, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Marianne Faithfull and Cilla Black.
Newman’s profile is high this month due in part to the impending release of an authorized biography encompassing his entire career, written by former Los Angeles Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn, due out next Tuesday. His lone original stage musical, “Randy Newman’s Faust,” was revived at the Soraya in Northridge in late September.
A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Newman has won two Oscars (from 22 nominations), seven Grammys (out of 23 nominations) and three Emmys.
The company behind Litmus, Carlyle Global Credit, says it has invested more than $14 billion in entertainment, media and sports since 2017.
