Kenny MacPherson, Big Deal Music Co-Founder, Dies at 71
Kenny MacPherson, a music publisher who co-founded the independent company Big Deal Music, died on October 23 in Los Angeles. He was 71, according to Billboard, which reported his death on October 26.
A music publisher looks after songs. The job includes licensing them for records, films and adverts, and collecting the royalties paid each time they are used.
MacPherson was born in Largs, Scotland. He began in live music in Glasgow, managing concerts at the Apollo Theatre, and later tour-managed the comedian Billy Connolly. According to HitsDailyDouble, he also tour-managed the musician Kenny G and worked for Harvey Goldsmith Entertainment in London.
In 1989 he joined Warner/Chappell to run its New York office. He later moved to the company's Los Angeles headquarters and spent 13 years there in total. HitsDailyDouble reports that during that time he signed or developed Radiohead, Underworld, Afghan Whigs and The Blue Nile.
He then led the North American division of Chrysalis Music until BMG bought Chrysalis in 2010. HitsDailyDouble lists artists he signed or developed there, including Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket, Outkast, Beach House and St. Vincent.
In 2012 MacPherson co-founded Big Deal Music with Dave Ayers and Jamie Cerreta. The company had offices in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. The Association of Independent Music Publishers named it indie publisher of the year in 2017.
In September 2020, the Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired Big Deal Music. Hipgnosis buys catalogues, the collections of songs a company owns the rights to. Afterwards, Big Deal became Hipgnosis Songs Group, and MacPherson became its chief executive.
In October 2023, Billboard reported that MacPherson had been placed on a leave of absence from Hipgnosis Songs Fund. The leave followed a lawsuit that claimed he had committed sexual assault. Those claims are allegations.
Music publishing rarely draws public attention, but it is built on relationships with songwriters and the people who write for them. MacPherson's career ran from concert promotion to the largest publishing houses, and it touched a wide range of artists. His death leaves a long list of colleagues and writers who knew him across three decades of the business.
