Viva broadens domestic catalog with Ivory Music acquisition

RENOWNED label Ivory

Music and Video Inc., boasting a four-decade history and a robust domestic catalog, has been acquired by the Viva Music Group.

The announcement was made by Tony Ocampo, the Chief Operating Officer of Viva Records, who, alongside Vic Del Rosario Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viva Communications, successfully finalized the undisclosed sale with Ivory's President, Steven L. Tan, last week.

“Ivory makes a most prestigious addition to the Viva catalog,” said Ocampo who established Ivory label in 1983.

“Having Ivory in its catalog further strengthens Viva’s position in the entertainment industry as the leading propagator of original Filipino music,” continued Ocampo.

The deal includes Ivory’s entire catalog of recorded music and all of the songs licensed to its music publishing arm. Among these are recordings by MYMP, The CompanY, Side A, Freddie Aguilar, Zack Tabudlo, Moira Dela Torre, Join the Club, Silent Sanctuary, Wolfgang, April Boy Regino, Moonstar 88, Lokal Brown, Gary Granada, Florante, Roselle Nava, and Orient Pearl, to name a few.

Ivory is the latest investment acquisition by Viva. As of now, the music side of the multi-media enter- tainment company already includes all of the recorded music libraries of Vicor Music, Telesis Recording, Terno Records and Viva Music. Among these are recordings by Sharon Cuneta, Martin Nievera, Basil Valdez, Regine Velasquez, Andrew E, Sarah Geronimo, Freestyle, and Up Dharma Down.

Viva has also invested in start-up labels like Kean Cipriano’s OC Records which boasts of artists like Adie, mrld, and Kenenaiah; WayBettr Music of Naki Quimson and NexxFriday with artists Deny and Jin Chan; Blacksheep Records of Jaworski Garcia with artists Magnus Haven and Ferodina; and the recently launched Wild Dream Records of Marion Aunor which has Matt Wilson and Pecado under contract.

Apart from those, Viva Music Publishing is home to the works of Dennis Garcia, Rene Garcia, Willy Cruz, Louie Ocampo, Top Suzara, Jay Durias, Thyro Alfaro, Arthur Nery, and many other authors and composers.

‘Indiana Jones’ latest installment topples ‘Spider-Man’ in box office race

THE latest – and likely last –installment in the popular Indiana Jones franchise lassoed the competition at the North American box office, industry estimates showed Sunday, but analysts noted the weak debut for the fan favorite.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford in the role the archeologist he first made famous more than 40 years ago, earned about $60 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

With that, Indy booted the animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse from the top spot, but analysts said it was a weak start for the fifth Indiana Jones movie.

Pixar's animated immigrant fable Elemental, which was bumped from second to third place, raked in $11.3 million.

Also from Sony, No Hard Feelings – a throwback to the once-ubiquitous raunchy comedy genre, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence – brought in $7.5 million for fourth place.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, one of the many spinoffs and sequels dominating theaters this summer, brought in $7 million for fifth place.

AFP

Matteo reveals that G Studios will open its doors in Alabang at the end of July. He commends his wife’s business acumen, noting that she has a natural inclination toward entrepreneurship. He remains stead-