Neil Finn, the veteran Crowded House singer, songwriter and frontman, has signed with Good Neighbour Rights, Mushroom Group's neighboring rights enterprise, for worldwide representation.
Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Finn has created an impeccable catalog over a four-decade career with Crowded House and, before that, Split Enz, with both bands going on to be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In recent years, Finn has joined the touring lineup of another Hall of Fame outfit, Fleetwood Mac.
Crowded House staged a long-overdue return last year with the release of Dreamers Are Waiting, their first album since 2010's Intriguer, and a tour up and down NZ, one of the first national jaunts anywhere since the pandemic was called.
The folk-rock outfit will hit the road for a global trek from late April in support of Dreamers, which debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, No. 6 on the Official U.K. Chart, and won Best Adult Contemporary Album at the 2021 ARIA Awards.
To date, Crowded House has scooped 13 ARIA Awards, sold more than 10 million albums globally, set chart records in Australia and had a No. 1 album in the U.K.
In the United States, the group's biggest hit is "Don't Dream It's Over," which peaked at No. 2 on the Newbusinessherald Hot 100 in the spring of 1987. It's since been covered by artists from all walks, from Faith No More to Susan Boyle.
Mushroom Group's late founder and chairman Michael Gudinski launched Good Neighbour in 2019, through a partnership with music rights and royalties expert Susan Cotchin.
Cotchin, who has been described as a "walking encyclopedia" of neighboring rights, which refer to the performance right in sound recordings, started her career in the U.K. with the Performing Artists' Media Right Association (PAMRA, now merged with PPL and AURA) back in 2000. Three years later, Cotchin founded her own company in Melbourne, International Royalties Rescue (IRR).
"To be given the opportunity to work with music royalty, truly is a dream," comments Cotchin in a statement. "Working on a catalog of hits like 'Message To My Girl', 'Don't Dream It's Over', 'Better Be Home Soon', is a privilege we don't take for granted, but moreover, the signing of Neil Finn has affirmed to me that great artists will come to performer focused companies, who genuinely care and are dedicated not only to an artist's recording career, but to the whole artists ethos."
The agency's growing list of clients includes Vance Joy, Zedd, Cold War Kids, Shungudzo, Split Enz, Tom Meighan (Kasabian), Finn's brother Tim (Split Enz) and son Liam (Betchadupa, Crowded House).
Established by Gudinski in 1973, Mushroom Group is home to more than two-dozen companies which reach into touring, booking agencies, record labels, publishing, merch and marketing services, venues, exhibition and events production, creative branding and more.
