New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Downtown
Music Publishing has announced a worldwide publishing agreement with Codigo Music, the parent company of historic Latin label Fania Records, covering their complete music publishing catalog. The agreement was announced by Downtown CEO Justin Kalifowitz.
Founded by composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964, the Fania label quickly grew into the titan of Latin music around the world. Fania's roster featured such seminal artists as Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, Larry Harlow, Ray Barretto, Ralfi Pagan, Luis "Perico" Ortiz,
Bobby Valentin,
Ruben Blades,
Hector Lavoe, and Cheo Feliciano among many others.
Last year the label celebrated its 50th anniversary with more than 50 events throughout New York City and released several digital compilations from its classic catalog as well as a series of remixes.
"Fania was a New York City institution," said Kalifowitz. "Their investment, promotion and celebration of some of New York's greatest talents played an enormous role in the development of our city's diverse musical heritage. I am honored that we can play a small part in promoting this incredible piece of New York City history."
As part of the agreement, Downtown will market and promote Fania's song catalog for film, television, advertising and other media opportunities and serve as the global custodian of its song copyrights. Downtown's royalty collection technology, which monitors usage and collects royalties from over 20,000 sources covering 90 countries, will license and monetize the catalog across multiple platforms.
Titles in the Codigo/Fania publishing catalog includes classics penned by the prolific tropical songwriter Tite Curet Alonso such as "Anacaona", "Periodico de Ayer", "La Tirana" and "Las Caras Lindas" along with
Hector Lavoe's "Aguanile", Celia Cruz's "Quimbara", and more recent hits such as
Christina Aguilera's "
Ain't No Other Man" and Shakira's "
Hips Don't Lie" -- both of which sampled songs controlled by Codigo/Fania.
To kick off the partnership, Downtown and Fania will be hosting a launch event celebrating the company's impact on NYC from their launch in 1964 through the Fania All Stars' historic sold out show at Yankee Stadium in 1973. This invite- only event will cover Fania's classic era with music by legendary recording artist Joe Bataan and DJ Turmix, artwork, news clippings, a photo exhibit and more.
