Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia Acquires Sound Pollution Songs Catalog

Photo Credit: Calle von Schewen (SPS), Johnny Tennander (SMP), Johan Hargeby (SPS), Johan Haller (SPS), Johan Lundblad (SMP)

Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia announces its acquisition of the rights to Sound Pollution Songs’ catalog of approximately 5,000 works.

Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia has announced its acquisition of the rights to Sound Pollution Songs’ existing catalog of approximately 5,000 works. The deal represents one of the largest recent catalog sales for a Swedish indie publisher.

The Sound Pollution Songs catalog includes works performed by artists such as Bonafide, Elaine, Foredoom, Srexoria, Sabaton, Twilight Force, and Wormwood, among others.

Additionally, Sony Music Publishing and Sound Pollution Songs have entered into a long-term administration agreement covering future works. Neither party publicly disclosed the financial terms.

“Sony Music Publishing has been an important part of building our rights catalog for a long time. This is a natural next step. For our artists and authors, this means greater resources and better conditions going forward. Within our genre, artist and author are often the same person, and we continue to collaborate with most of them. This deal gives us the financial capacity to make new investments and develop the business further,” said Johan Hargeby, Managing Director, Sound Pollution.

“We have worked closely with Johan, Calle, and Johan, and the team at Sound Pollution for many years now, and as Johan [Hargeby] says, this feels like a natural step for both parties. Sound Pollution has a very nice history and stands for something unique in the Swedish music industry, so this is something that we are proud of, and it is a great honor to build on what they have created,” said Johnny Tennander, Managing Director, Scandinavia and SVP International, Sony Music Publishing.

Sound Pollution Songs AB is a Swedish music publisher connected to the Sound Pollution sphere, with a focus on hard rock, punk, and metal, which administers music rights and catalogs for independent artists and record labels. Part of the broader Sound Pollution business, the company describes itself as one of Scandinavia’s largest independent music distributors.

Founded and owned by Johan Hargeby, the Stockholm-based company has been running a record store in the city since the early ‘90s. The group also runs in-house labels such as Black Lodge Records and Wild Kingdom, a mail-order business, a retail store, and a promotion department.