Olivier Chastan’s acquisition vehicle, Iconoclast, has acquired again.
This time, he’s taken over the music publishing catalog of Lady Gaga co-writer and producer Nick Monson, who Iconoclast says “contributed to a slew of modern blockbuster pop hits.”
Monson co-wrote and produced Lady Gaga’s third album art-popincluding the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 resounding hits Applausewho was in the Top 10 in more than 20 countries around the world, Nick Monson
He followed his success with Lady Gaga by writing, producing and collaborating with artists such as Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, Rag’n’Bone Man, Little Mix, Anne-Marie and Julia Michaels.
In 2019, Monson continued to collaborate with Lady Gaga, producing and co-writing much of the A star is born soundtrack, which topped the charts in more than 20 countries, received Gold and Platinum certifications and won four of the seven Grammy Awards for which it was nominated.
The catalog includes hit songs such as Human for Rag’n’Bone Man, which was used for a 2023 Super Bowl ad, good for you (with A$AP Rocky) and Person for Selena Gomez, Home for Nick Jonas, Invitation And Exactly like me for Britney Spears, and The treatment, Applauseand many more for Lady Gaga.
Founded in 2021 and led by music veteran Olivier Chastan, Iconoclast says it “operates at the intersection of brand management and technology to preserve and grow the intellectual property and legacy of culturally significant artists. “.
Last month, Iconoclast acquired the catalog of Mad Decent Publishing, co-founded by DJ and producer Diplo and Kevin Kusatsu.
In July 2022, veteran music manager and producer Irv Gotti (Irving Lorenzo), the founder of rap label Murder Inc, sold a stake in his master recordings at Iconoclast in a deal worth $300 million.
Olivier Chastan was previously CEO of Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, which last year catalogs acquired from the likes of the Beach Boys, David Crosby and Linda Ronstadt.
The US-based French executive quietly launched Iconoclast in fall 2021 and, Talk with MBW in February 2022, said the company had made five separate acquisitions of music rights since then.
The Iconoclast founder added that his new acquisition vehicle was “heavily focused on technology,” including immersive entertainment and blockchain, and added that “we want to drive the conversion to make legacy artists relevant to the world.” ‘future of entertainment’.
MBW sources tell us that Iconoclast is backed by Pimco, which has more than $2 trillion in assets under management. Chastan declined to comment on this suggestion during an interview with MBW in February 2022.
Ken Kraus and Devon Spencer of Loeb & Loeb, LLP represented Iconoclast, and Gillian Bar of Carroll Guido Groffman Cohen Bar & Karalian, LLP, along with Hannah Babitt of BABZ Inc and Mike Merriman and Megan Goodrich of PARR3 LLC represented Nick Monson in the transaction .The music industry around the world