New Songs Administration Ltd is owned by music industry executive and music publisher, John Fogarty.
Fogarty began his music industry career as an accountant, then a tour accountant, and later a director at Gaff Management (Rod Stewart & The Faces, Status Quo, Rory Gallagher). Subsequent to his position at Gaff, Fogarty moved to the London accounting firm, Goldberg Ravden, where he handled the accounts for The Bay City Rollers and Hot Chocolate.
Leaving accounting for the world of concert promotion, Fogarty then promoted major tours by Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick and others in Japan. During this time and through his work with The Bay City Rollers, Fogarty made significant contacts in Japan and gained extensive knowledge of the country’s various venues.
In the early 1980s, Fogarty formed music publishing company, Minder Music, with partner Beth Clough. Throughout Minder’s impressive history, the company acquired copyrights in works recorded by funk and soul legends like The Gap Band, Fatback Band, Yarbrough & Peoples, Jimmy Castor, Chaka Khan, and The Impressions. Minder also represented classic works recorded by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Bobby Vee, The Beatles, Rod Stewart, Santo & Johnny, and others.
In addition, Minder’s catalogue was heavily sampled by the likes of Madonna, The Spice Girls, P. Diddy, Eve featuring Alicia Keys, George Michael, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, with Dr. Dre’s sample being used without permission. The infringement led to a jury trial in Los Angeles that resulted in a $1.5 million judgement in favour of Minder Music.
In 2015, Fogarty sold Minder to Bertelsmann-owned, BMG Music Rights. As a condition of the deal, Fogarty retained a portion of the catalogue to become part of New Songs Administration Ltd. The New Songs Administration catalogue includes works recorded by Rod Stewart, including the classic “In A Broken Dream” which A$AP Rocky incorporated into his 2015 song “Everyday” on his platinum album “At.Long.Last.A$AP”. That same year, Rod Stewart and A$AP famously performed the song together on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke segment from “The Late Late Show with James Corden”.
New Songs Administration is also the co-publisher of the mega-hit “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. In October 2016, BMI presented New Songs Administration with a special recognition award for 3 million performances of “Uptown Funk” after only two years from the song’s creation.
Fogarty also continues to represent the catalogue of Aaron Schroeder who wrote seventeen songs for Elvis Presley, thirteen of which are represented by New Songs Administration Ltd. outside of the USA.
Aside from administration and licensing of New Songs Administration’s current catalogue, Fogarty continues to expand the company’s repertoire and remains a fierce defender of song rights. He also enjoys retelling stories of his infamous tour experiences with Rod Stewart and The Faces with a wry smile.
Mark Ronson with John Fogarty