Max Martin and Shellback, the breakout songwriter-producer duo responsible for many of the biggest hits of the past 30 years, have signed a new partnership with HarborView, the company announced Wednesday. HarborView is set to acquire the publisher’s stake in the Wolf Cousins catalog.
The catalog includes takes on hits like Taylor Swift’s “Style,” “…Ready For It?”, Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” Imagine Dragons’ “Believer,” and DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean.”
HarborView and Wolf Cousins did not disclose financial details of the agreement.
“At HarborView, we invest in culturally relevant intellectual property and the visionary creators behind it,” Sherise Clark, founder and CEO of HarborView Equity Partners, said in a statement. “Max Martin and Shellback continue to maintain their status as hitmakers in contemporary music, and through Wolf Cousins they have built an exceptional creative ecosystem that spans generations and genres. We are proud to partner with them and help steward the legacy of this incredible catalog.”
Martin and Shellback are two of the most popular hitmakers in the music industry and have worked together for decades on hits for the likes of Swift, P!nk, Usher and many more. Martin himself has the second-most No. 1 singles on the Billboard charts of all time, behind only Paul McCartney, and has helped define the sound of modern pop music as the writer of songs such as Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time,” the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” and NSYNC’s “It’s Gonna Be Me.” This continued into the late 2000s with hits like Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.”
The duo’s previous successes before creating Wolf Cousins in the 2000s do not appear to be included in the deal. Wolf Cousins’ hitmakers include Ilya Salmanzadeh, Tove Lo and Ludwig Soderbergh.
“Wolf Cousins was founded to bring songwriters and producers together in an environment built on collaboration, mentorship and creative development,” Shellback and Max Martin said in a statement. “HarborView’s long-term vision and respect for creators make them a natural partner in this portfolio.”
HarborView has been active in the catalog acquisition space recently, having just closed a deal on Chaka Khan’s catalog earlier this month, as THR Reported for the first time. The company has also inked deals with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, and Christine McVie to name a few.
