Amber Communications Group has signed an exclusive licensing deal with K-tel International to launch seven music biography titles from Amber’s Colossus Books imprint as e-books on iTunes.
The licensed titles are Michael Jackson: King of Pop; Prince: In the Studio (1975-1995); Jay Z and the Roc-A-Fella Records Dynasty; Black Eyed Peas: An Unauthorized Biography; The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of A Super Freak; Tupac Shakur: 2Pac in the Studio (The Studio Years (1989-1996); and Red Hot Chili Peppers: In the Studio.
Tony Rose, Amber publisher and CEO, explained to PW that “The thing that appealed to us about the deal is that K-tel is known for TV commercials and has a network of distribution companies that can place product digitally, worldwide, using television as a selling point.” Over its 12 years of publishing, Amber Communications titles have also been licensed by John Wiley & sons, Black Expressions Book Club, Columbia Pictures and Trans World Japan.
The 48-year-old K-tel is best known for its TV-advertised compilation albums; the company has sold over half a billion albums and has set up a worldwide digital distribution network with iTunes. Philip Kives, K-tel president and founder, told PW that e-books are a new venture for the company. “Our main business revolves around the music industry,” he said. “ Amber Books offered a large assortment of music-related biographies, and the content matched well with our music product.”
As for Amber, Rose explained that the deal made it a good time to venture into digital publishing. “We’ve done a number of licensing deals over the years. But in the past, they have all been for selling our titles physically, in book stores, etc. This is different.”
