Downtown Music Publishing has signed a global publishing agreement to represent the entire catalog of legendary jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis. The long-term agreement signed with the Miles Davis Estate covers Davis’ entire songbook—more than 250 compositions—including songs from iconic albums such as Jack Johnson, Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, and Kind of Blue, which remains the best-selling jazz record of all time. The announcement follows the recent London premiere of Miles Davis: Birth of Cool, the critically-acclaimed documentary chronicling his life directed by Stanley Nelson.
In addition to catalog marketing, licensing, and royalty collection, Downtown will collaborate with the Miles Davis Estate on a range of events and other special projects that highlight not only Davis’ compositions and musicianship, but his contributions more broadly as a cultural and style icon whose influence extended to visual art, fashion, film, and design.
Using everything from tape-loops and splice edits to large format orchestration to electric instruments, he altered how jazz musicians approached tone, texture and improvisation, and drew a line straight to other genres, creating bonds with rock, soul, and ultimately hip-hop that still remain. Davis helped to launch the careers of Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Jimmy Cobb, Lenny White and many more and has influenced a broad range of musicians across all genres. Lady Gaga, Nas, John Legend, Dr. Dre, Sonic Youth, the Grateful Dead, Mike Watt, and Lucinda Williams are just a few of the myriad artists that cite Miles Davis as a key influence on their own creative pursuits.
In addition to the complete works of Miles Davis, Downtown Music Publishing manages the works of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, George Gershwin, John Prine, among others.
