Word Collections, a first of its kind performing, reproduction rights and copyright collection agency for comedians and other spoken word performers, completes Series A investment from Black Squirrel Partners
Word Collections adds licensing and collections for Bill Engvall, Robin Williams Estate; George Carlin Estate; Margaret Cho, Muhammed Ali Estate, Waddie Mitchell and many more
WG&S Founder Eric Wasserman joins board of directors
New York, NY — April XX, 2021 – Word Collections launched in 2020 by Jeff Price –the former CEO of music industry disrupting companies TuneCore and Audiam—has announced a completed round of fund raising from Black Squirrel Partners.
Currently representing copyrights and works by the Robin Williams Estate, George Carlin Estate, Margaret Cho, Bill Hicks Estate, Louie Anderson, Bill Engvall, Muhammad Ali Estate and many more (see below for larger list). Word Collections licenses legally required, non-musical Literary Workrights in spoken word comedy and other performing arts for streaming services such as Spotify, YouTube, broadcast radio (digital and terrestrial)and others. It then collects owed royalties to and gets the money into the pockets of comedians and other spoken word performers.Word Collections also recovers eligible past royalties, including global streams on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more.
Paul Donahue, managing director of Black Squirrel says: “We believe comedy unites us. It can be a shared experience that brings us together in a way few other things can. We have known Jeff since his days running TuneCore, and then with Audiam. There is no one better to ensure that thosewho bring us joy through laughter now have an advocate and platform for the quick and fair collection of royalties owed. Word Collections will bring to the spoken word community what those in the world of music have enjoyed for decades.”
Black Squirrel was founded in 2020 by former Morgan Stanley executive Paul Donahue, Metallica and its in-house leadership team (Tony DiCioccio, Marc Reiter, and Vickie Strate), WG&S founder Eric Wasserman, and Artist Management firm Q Prime. Noted music industry veteran Rick Krim and Matt Janopaul, the former President and COO of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, are also partners of Black Squirrel.
Price, who irrevocably upended the global music industry, getting over $1.5 billion into the pockets of artists, songwriters and publishers when he founded TuneCore in 2006 and Audiam in 2013, is founder and serves as CEO. Also serving as an advisor, and a Word Collections client for his company Laugh.com, is copyright attorney Bob Kohn, author of industry and academia bible “Kohn on Music Licensing,” founder of the first on-line digital music service EMusic as well as RoyaltyShare and Norm Laviolette, the Co-Founder and CEO of renowned Boston and New York comedy institutions Improv Asylum and Laugh Boston. With over 25 yearsin the comedy business, Laviolette has overseen the development of several multi-million-dollar comedy ventures.
Current list of Word Collections clients: Bill Engvall, Margaret Cho, Robin Williams Estate, George Carlin Estate, Bill Hicks Estate, Dane Cook, Muhammed Ali Estate, Robert Schimmel Estate, Andrew Dice Clay, Waddie Mitchell, Jim Breuer, Sinbad, Louie Anderson, Tommy Tiernan, Paul Mecurio