Reservoir Media has announced its latest music rights deal. The New York-headquartered company said on Thursday (October 10) that it has acquired the producer royalties to the catalog of Grammy-winning American record producer Jack Douglas.
The acquisition includes hits by Aerosmith and Cheap Trick.
Reservoir describes Douglas’ catalog as “a cornerstone of rock music history”.
He has been recognized with several lifetime achievement awards, including for the LA Music Hall of Fame, the Sarasota Film Festival, and the Institute of Audio Research.
Born in the Bronx, New York City, Douglas began his music career at the Institute of Audio Research before engineering and/or producing on projects by Miles Davis, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Patti Smith, Supertramp, and Montrose, among others.
In 1971, Douglas helped engineer The Who’s Who’s Next and was one of the engineers on John Lennon’s second solo album, Imagine, featuring the iconic title track Imagine.
Douglas also worked with the other three Beatles during his career.
Douglas spent the majority of the 1970s focused on production, particularly playing a crucial role in many of Aerosmith’s most successful albums. He notably produced 3x-Platinum Get Your Wings (1974), 9x-Platinum Toys in the Attic (1975), 4x-Platinum Rocks (1976), and 2x-Platinum Draw the Line (1977).
Both Toys in the Attic and Rocks rank on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In the 1980s, Douglas also collaborated with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, producing the duo’s Grammy Award-winning Album of the Year Double Fantasy and Grammy-nominated (Record Of The Year) nominated single off the album (Just Like) Starting Over, as well as Yoko Ono’s Grammy-nominated (Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female) Walking on Thin Ice.
In the mid-2000s, Douglas reunited with Aerosmith to work on additional projects with the band, including 2004’s Gold-selling Honkin’ on Bobo and 2012’s Music from Another Dimension!
“Jack Douglas is a legendary producer who crafted some of the most iconic and sonically powerful rock records over the past 50 years.”
Rell Lafargue, Reservoir
Reservoir President and Chief Operating Officer Rell Lafargue said: “Jack Douglas is a legendary producer who crafted some of the most iconic and sonically powerful rock records over the past 50 years.
“We are honored to now represent titles from his extraordinary body of work, which will continue to be played and revered for the next 50 and beyond.”
He added: “With Jack’s music now joining Reservoir, we’re further solidifying our representation in iconic rock.”
This marks the latest deal for Reservoir Media. Last month the company acquired the publishing rights to the catalog of the late songwriter and guitarist Billy Strange.
Other notable acquisitions include the catalogs of rock artist Greg Kihn, members of the R&B group The Spinners, saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and songwriter Louis Prima.
Reservoir’s continued investment in iconic catalogs has contributed to its strong financial performance. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the company reported an 8% year-over-year increase in revenue to $34.3 million. Publishing revenue, which accounted for $24 million of the total, saw a 15% year-over-year rise, driven by catalog acquisitions and increased streaming revenue.
In an investor factsheet released earlier this calendar year, Reservoir said it had spent nearly $1 billion on catalog acquisitions and signings since it launched in 2007.
Music Business Worldwide