Reservoir Media Agrees to Acquire Rights to José Feliciano's Recordings
Reservoir Media has agreed to acquire rights to the recorded music catalogue of José Feliciano, the company announced on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. The deal also includes non-exclusive rights to his name, image and likeness, meaning the rights can be used alongside other parties' rights rather than being held alone.
A catalogue is the collection of songs or recordings a company owns or controls, and buyers earn money from it through streams, radio, sync licences for films and adverts, and other uses. Reservoir, a music company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, did not disclose the financial terms. It also did not say which of Feliciano's recordings are included, according to Music Business Worldwide, which reported the news.
The deal is anchored by one song that many people hear every December. Feliciano wrote and recorded "Feliz Navidad" in 1970. The Recording Academy, which runs the Grammy Awards, inducted the original recording into its Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010. In May 2026, the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry, a list of sound recordings the United States government considers culturally, historically or aesthetically important. The song reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, the main US singles chart, on the chart dated 2 January 2021.
Feliciano's career goes well beyond one holiday hit. His 1968 recording of "Light My Fire" peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. At the 1969 Grammys he won Best New Artist and Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Male, the second for "Light My Fire." He had signed with RCA Victor by 1964, and in 1968 he sang the US national anthem at the World Series, the annual championship of Major League Baseball.
He was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, and grew up in Spanish Harlem in New York City. He was born blind. The Library of Congress's National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled has described him as a guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for "Feliz Navidad," "Light My Fire" and "Hi-Heel Sneakers."
Feliciano was represented in the deal by broker Denny Marte of MPA Advisors, by Jay Stollman of Jay Stollman Entertainment, and by attorney Brett Green. Reservoir's founder and chief executive, Golnar Khosrowshahi, leads the company. Donna Caseine, its executive vice president and global creative director, is also named in the announcement.
Reservoir has been buying catalogues for some time. In 2023 it announced a deal for the catalogue of Latin songwriter and producer Rudy Perez, whose credits include tracks for Christina Aguilera and Julio Iglesias. Music Business Worldwide has also reported that Luis Miguel's catalogue was among Reservoir's acquisitions in the year before a 2024 report on its quarterly revenue.
What the deal means for listeners will depend on details not yet public, including which songs are covered and what Reservoir plans to do with them. For now, the announcement settles the buyer and the seller, and the rest will show up in future filings and statements.
