AceShowbiz -

The Rolling Stones has just entered into a new publishing deal with German record company Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) to represent their extensive music catalog. BMG is the latest outside company to sign a publishing deal with the Stones since EMI Music Publishing, who owned the band's songs from 1971 to 1983, before the band subsequently took over.

"We look forward to a fresh and fruitful long-term business relationship with all the team at BMG," said founding members, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who share credit for writing many of the band's greatest hits. Effective July 1, BMG will be responsible for publishing the songs written by the duo since 1983.

Under their publishing deal, BMG will handle the marketing and licensing of Stones' songs to the film, TV and advertising sectors. The company is also tasked with ensuring that the songwriters are compensated accurately and promptly for the use of their work on digital platforms.

Although the decision to pick BMG is something that some industry observers have questioned given that the company is the smallest of the big four music publishers, BMG is confident that they can pull it off. According to chief executive Hartwig Masuch, "This deal is incredibly important for BMG. Keith and Mick have clearly created one of the most outstanding song collections in rock 'n' roll history. They could sign to any company they wanted to. We will justify their trust in us."