By Staff Reporter
news@alexreporter.co.za
“Good things come to those who wait,” says Neill Solomon. Undoubtedly, one of the finest composers and singer songwriters in the country, Neill boasts a music catalogue any music publisher would be envious of, and these prolific works have found themselves a new home at Sheer Publishing Africa.
A multiple award-winning film, theatre, television soundtrack composer, songwriter and musician, Neill has made an indelible mark on the music industry.
With his distinctive vocal style and musical agility, fronting Neill and the Uptown Rhythm Dogs through him and the Passenger years, he remains a visionary in the creative realms.
Excited about their new partnership, Neill says, “It’s been on the cards for quite some time. Sheer Publishing Africa undoubtedly offers the space and creativity for their members to thrive. I have high expectations of the industry, my craft and myself and Sheer Publishing Africa respects this.”
Sheer, who spent the better half of the last year pursuing Neill and his works, are proud to announce that they have acquired his Passage One production music catalogue.
Additionally, they will also be administering his commercial music catalogue.
Thando Makhunga, Managing Director at Sheer Publishing Africa says, “Sheer works to build relationships with key clients and customers throughout the industry.
” And when opportunity arose to partner with Neill, we were excited and ready to pursue an agreement.
“We strive to work with the best creators on the continent and Neill is most certainly a premiere composer.”
Neill is well known for his pioneering work in the 80’s and 90’s with his bands, which saw the rise of albums such as The Occupant, Rule of the Swallow and The Gathering of the Beasts, which produced several chart singles.
The Occupant was reviewed as one of the best albums of the year in the top American music trade magazine “Billboard”.
Neill’s versatile and individual sound has taken him on a musical journey around the world, working with many musical talents.
He has scored the music for many internationally recognized film and theatre productions such as the acclaimed Jock: A True Tale of Friendship and Gavin Hood’s A Reasonable Man.
Neill also successfully scored the music for six years for the daily South African soapie Isidingo.
Knowing his works are in safe hands, Neill celebrates this new union, stating, “Collaboration is the ability to work with dynamic, powerful and adventurous creatives, advancing a common cause and a vision to determine success.
“This is exactly what the Sheer Publishing Africa team encompasses. It will give me options to explore and create in all spheres with other artists. This is what I am most excited about.”
He continues, “This way, I can continue my conversation with music. There is a great deal of value in sharing these conversations with others and seeing where the conversation leads.”
Eager about their plans for the future, Thando sets forth, “The catalogue will be part of the Skhumba library of production music which includes catalogues from the best composers in the country and is accessible on our recently launched production music portal search.sheer.co.za.
Sheer Publishing Africa is the largest independent music publisher in Africa. It is a subsidiary of Downtown Music Services – a modern global music company with over 20 million music assets from hundreds of countries across six continents.
Sheer Music Publishing functions as a standalone business within Downtown’s portfolio of global music publishing, distribution, monetization, artist and label services businesses.