Amsterdam – March 09, 2023 – Netherlands based Pythagoras Music Fund (PMF) has acquired the worldwide publishing rights to Barton Music and its affiliated catalogues. The repertoire includes many American Songbook Standards, made famous and popular by Frank Sinatra’s performances and those of other major international stars. The compositions have been used extensively in commercials, motion pictures and TV programs to this day, including The Voice, The Masked Singer, Dancing With The Stars and America’s Got Talent. 

Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Etta James, Sarah Vaughan, as well as contemporary artists such as Plácido Domingo, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Bublé, Westlife and Robbie Williams have all recorded compositions that are part of the Barton Music catalogue. Dean Martin’s performances of “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” and “Everybody Loves Somebody” are legendary, but the artist who has undeniably made the most significant contribution to the popularity of the Barton Music repertoire is Frank Sinatra. His original performances of songs like “Come Fly With Me,” “Love & Marriage,” “(Love is) The Tender Trap,” “Time After Time,” “All The Way,” and “High Hopes” have become timeless monuments in modern music history and are part of America’s musical heritage.

Film and television

Adding to the status and importance of the Barton & Affiliates repertoire are the many songs used in movie classics and popular TV series which helped define American cultural identity for decades. These timeless standards can be heard in the motion pictures ‘A Hole In The Head’, ‘From Here To Eternity’, ‘The Tender Trap’, ‘The Joker Is Wild’, ‘The Man With The Golden Arm’, ‘It Happened in Brooklyn’, ‘A Bronx Tale’ and ‘Goodfellas.’ In both 1957 and 1959 songwriters Sammy Cahn and James van Heusen won Academy Awards in the category ‘Best Song’ for ‘All The Way’ and ‘High Hopes’.

Over the years these songs have been licensed for documentaries, film, television and commercials; including the use of “Everybody Loves Somebody” by McDonald’s and “Come Fly With Me” in the Ralph Lauren Polo Blue campaign.

Hein van der Ree on behalf of Pythagoras Music Fund: “These beautiful songs will forever be part of popular music culture around the world. Pythagoras is building a collection of music rights of the highest quality and we are delighted with the acquisition of Barton Music and affiliated catalogues.”

About Pythagoras Music Fund

Pythagoras Music Fund is a Dutch investment fund, financed by private and institutional investors. PMF managing partners are John Ewbank, Hein van der Ree, Rob Hendriks and Michiel Boere. John Brands is co-founder and consultant.