Kenny MacPherson, the longtime music publishing executive who co-founded independent publisher Big Deal Music, died on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles. He was 71 years old. No cause of death has been disclosed.
Over nearly four decades, MacPherson became one of the most recognizable figures in music publishing, known for his sharp ear for left-of-center talent and loyalty to the songwriters he signed. “Kenny was one of a kind,” said Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson, a friend for 50 years, in an interview with HITS Daily Double. Former Big Deal partner Jamie Cerreta, now president of Peermusic U.S. and Canada, remarked that MacPherson “was beloved by the songwriters he fought so hard for.”
Born in Largs, Scotland, MacPherson began his career in live music in Glasgow, eventually managing concerts at the city’s Apollo Theatre. There he met comedian Billy Connolly, whom he later tour-managed. It was in the London offices of Connolly’s publishers that he received advice that set his course: “You know, Kenny, if you want to be in the music business, get into publishing — it’s a gentleman’s game,” publisher Bill Martin told him, as MacPherson recalled in a 2019 interview with Billboard.
He moved to the U.S. in the late 1970s and early ’80s, working with the Manhattan Transfer and then with Supertramp’s management company, where he helped launch a publishing arm. In 1989, he joined Warner/Chappell to run its New York office. Over 13 years there, he signed or developed acts including Radiohead, Underworld, Paul Westerberg, the Afghan Whigs, and the Blue Nile.
MacPherson then took over Chrysalis Music’s North American division, where he and his team signed OutKast, My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, St. Vincent and Thom Yorke, along with producers like Ethan Johns and Dave Sitek. He led the division until BMG acquired Chrysalis in 2010.
In 2012, MacPherson co-founded Big Deal Music with longtime colleagues Dave Ayers and Jamie Cerreta. “I wanted to build a place that was culturally significant and great for people to work at, where manners, courtesy and high touch are important,” he told Billboard in 2019. With offices in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, the company reunited him with past signings like LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket and St. Vincent while adding Blake Mills, Weyes Blood, Kamasi Washington, Sharon Van Etten, Sylvan Esso, Sleater-Kinney and hitmaking writers Teddy Geiger, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. It regularly ranked among the top 10 U.S. publishers by market share and was named indie publisher of the year by the Association of Independent Music Publishers in 2017.
In September 2020, Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired Big Deal Music, which became Hipgnosis Songs Group with MacPherson as CEO.
MacPherson was an outspoken advocate for songwriters, arguing that writers deserved seats on industry boards and supporting the idea of a publisher-funded health care fund for songwriters. “A world without songs would be a very dull place,” he told Billboard.
He is survived by his wife, photographer Melanie Nissen; daughter Nicole Walker; granddaughter Kate Land; sister Anne Cowgill; and extended family.
