Universal Music Publishing Group has acquired Criterion Music Corporation and its affiliated entities, it was announced today by Zach Horowitz, Chairman & CEO, UMPG, and Bo Goldsen, President of Criterion

The company will relocate to UMPG’s global headquarters in Santa Monica, CA, where Bo Goldsen will continue to serve as President of Criterion.

Criterion’s catalog of pop, country, jazz, Hawaiian music stretches back some 7—years and includes songs written by Charlie “Bird” Parker (“Ornithology”), Lee Hazlewood(“These Boots are Made for Walkin’”), Lyle Lovett (“If I Had a Boat”), Rodney Crowell (“Shame on the Moon”), Rosanne Cash (“Seven Year Ache”), Jackson Browne (“Doctor My Eyes”), and many others. It also includes 13 No. 1 country hits and one of the largest collections of Hawaiian and Polynesian music
“Over seven decades, the Goldsen family has built one of the finest collections of songs in contemporary music publishing” said Horowitz in a statement. “We are privileged that they have entrusted their legacy to UMPG. We are delighted that Bo Goldsen will continue to run Criterion as its President and work with us to write the next chapter in the company’s history. ”

“I am excited to take Criterion into the future, under the wing of UMPG, and the great enthusiasm for the catalog shown to me by Zach Horowitz, Lance Freed, and Evan Lamberg,” Goldsen stated.

Criterion dates back to 1943 when music publishing veteran Mickey Goldsen joined the newly founded Capitol Records to create its publishing division, then called “Capitol Songs.” Many of the earliest publishing copyrights were recorded by Capitol’s recording artists, including Nat King Cole (“Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You”), Peggy Lee (“It’s a Good Day,” “Mañana”), The Pied Pipers (“Dream (When You’re Feeling Blue)”), and Stan Kenton (“I Told You I Love You (Now Get Out)”), to name a few. In 1950, Goldsen purchased the publishing assets from Capitol and started Criterion Music Corporation.

Loeb & Loeb represented Criterion Music in the transaction. Munger Tolles & Olson represented UMPG. [Billboard.biz]