Rodgers & Hammerstein's legacy sold to Imagem

22 April 2009

The estates of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II – the duo who composed and wrote Big Band musical classics like The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, The King and I, and South Pacific - have sold the rights to their songs and musicals to Imagem Music Group. Imagem is controlled by the Netherlands-based Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, the world's third-biggest pension fund.

Imagem, the music publishing investment fund set up last year by ABP and CP Masters BV, will buy the rights to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organiation's collection of more than 12,000 songs and 900 concert works, which includes the production of artists like the memorable Irving Berlin.

The the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, which held the catalogue rights for the legendary pair's opuses, is under the active control of heirs Mary Rodgers Guettel and Alice Hammerstein Mathias. The sale represents a transfer of power over one of America's most famous song catalogues and the licensing rights for future productions of the musicals.

The price of the deal remains undisclosed, but Imagem has announced that it is retaining the organisation's management, led by its president and executive director, Theodore S Chapin.

Chapin said that Imagem was committed to maintaining high artistic standards for both future productions and the commercial licensing of specific songs. Guettel and Hammerstein Mathias will also remain involved as part of an advisory committee.

''I would say with some modesty that there is a way that I've run RHO, with Mary and Alice, that is appealing to Imagem, and they want to keep me here, and I won't be changing my approach,'' he added.