INXS manager Chris Murphy announces rights management venture

INXS manager Chris Murphy has today unveiled his latest global venture, Murphy Rights Management.

The company will handle global rights management for various acts first signing Sydney’s Lepers & Crooks. The band is this week in the studio with producer Mark Opitz, while international live dates have been scheduled for the end of 2014.

“When people refer to me as INXS’s manager, I point out that I manage their intellectual copyright,” Murphy told TMN. “I oversee their records, their publishing, their brand and their merchandising. All these have to be exploited to give their rights value. It’s surprising how so many people involved in music, film and TV don’t understand the rights involved.”

Sources suggest INXS have grossed retail activity worth $4.5 million so far in 2014. Murphy’s continued strategy for the band includes the international screening of the Never Tear Us Apart TV series accompanied by album reissues in relevant territories, followed by a Broadway-style musical based around INXS songs.

Murphy is also launching a series of three-day masterclasses intended to help musicians, artists and managers starting out in the business. “This is an integral part of this company,” he says. “Everything I achieved was by having a killer team around me, whether they had studied as lawyers or were hopefuls just coming off the street. I trained them, lead by example and sent them overseas.”

Murphy also found worldwide success with his publishing company MMA Music and world music compilation series Petrol Records.