Independent music publishing company pigFACTORY Music, whose roster includes recordings and songs recorded by artists such as Jordin Sparks, Fatboy Slim, Iggy Pop, and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, has just signed Phil Collen of Def Leppard to a worldwide publishing administration deal. The announcement was made today by Keatly Haldeman, CEO, pigFACTORY Music.
The new deal allows pigFACTORY to exclusively administer the publishing for all songs that Phil Collen writes with songwriting partner CJ Vanston. Earlier this year, pigFACTORY signed Vanston, a multi-Grammy Award nominated producer, film composer, keyboard player and songwriter. Among many accomplishments, Vanston produced the music for Spinal Tap and serves as the keyboardist in the band.
Together Collen and Vanston penned the song “It’s All About Believing” on Def Leppard’s recent release “Mirrorball’ and they have an upcoming cut on Risa Hirako’s new album on Avex Records. In addition, Vanston’s song "Telephone" has been released on Japanese superstar TVXQ’s new album "Tone," which recently sold over 200,000 units in its first week of release.
Said Haldeman, “Phil Collen is a world-class superstar musician and songwriter in every sense of the word. His success with Def Leppard holds him in rarefied air. We are thrilled to be collaborating with him as he and CJ continue to co-write terrific material covered by a variety of artists around the world.”
About PHIL COLLEN
Influenced by such guitar players as Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Ronson, Phil Collen developed a flashy, aggressive style of guitar playing at a young age. He joined Def Leppard in 1982, during the group’s “Pyromania” album recording sessions, playing guitar solos on the hits “Photograph,” “Foolin’,” and “Rock of Ages.” “Pyromania” was Def Leppard’s breakthrough album and turned the band into rock superstars virtually overnight. “Pyromania” sold in excess of 10 times platinum.
Def Leppard’s next album “Hysteria” was their best seller to date, with seven singles being released including “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Love Bites.” The album sold over 12-million copies in the U.S. alone, placing Def Leppard in the album sales category at the level as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and Van Halen. During 1992, the Def Leppard album “Adrenalize” was the top album in the U.S. for a time. Other ’90s top sellers from the band were “Slang” and “Vault,” Def Leppard’s greatest hits album, which achieved quadruple platinum status.
Expanding their reach, Def Leppard later collaborated with two country superstars: Tim McGraw was featured on their “Sparkle Lounge” single “Nine Lives,” and Taylor Swift teamed with them on CMT’s “Crossroads.” Collen also performs as lead vocalist and lead guitarist with the band Manraze. That band’s debut album “Surreal” was released to rave critical reviews. Manraze has released its second album ‘Punkfunkrootsrock’ earlier this year and contains a Vanston produced track “I, Superbiker.” Collen was the only artist to play twice during 2009’s Download Festival, having performed with both Manraze and Def Leppard.
About CJ VANSTON
CJ Vanston is a multi-Grammy Award nominated producer, film composer, keyboard player and songwriter. He has written with songwriters such as Desmond Child, Paul Williams, Barry Mann, Bernie Taupin, Tony Jo White, Kool Kojak, Amy Powers, Michael Jay and Chesney Hawkes, along with a wide range of other co-writers. CJ has attended many writer camps around the world, including Miles Copeland’s Marouatte Castle and Icefusion in Iceland.
CJ has composed music for all four of Christopher Guest’s suite of movies; “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best In Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” and “For Your Consideration,” in addition to scores for “Almost Heroes,” “Slingshot,” and songs for “Sweet Home Alabama,” and many others. He is also the producer and keyboard player in the legendary group Spinal Tap.
About PIGFACTORY MUSIC PUBLISHING
pigFACTORY Music Publishing specializes in the international placement of music in film, television, film trailers, advertising, and videogames, and in the collection of publishing royalties, worldwide. To that end, the company leverages an advanced digital publishing system to proactively exploit its clients’ music catalogs and track music publishing royalties on a global scale. The company represents top songwriters, artists, record producers, labels, and publishers, with a roster of over 250,000 songs, including an extensive selection of classic hits.
pigFACTORY is one of the only highly proactive independent publishers in the international marketplace to affiliate directly with a large number of royalty societies throughout the world. Via its direct memberships and partnerships, and by using state-of-the-art royalty software, pigFACTORY quickly and accurately registers its clients’ song catalogues with the publishing rights societies, and collects ‘at source’ in most major international territories.
The U.S. headquarters of pigFACTORY is 8075 W. Third Street, Suite # 540, Los Angeles, CA, 90048. The phone is 323/653-1200, and the website is www.pigfactory.com.
