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Warner/Chappell Music partners with Lars von Trier’s Zentropa

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Warner/Chappell’s film music publishing business is expanding again, this time with the help of “Nymphomaniac” director Lars von Trier.

The publishing arm of Warner Music Group has reached an agreement with Zentropa, the film production company founded by Von Trier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen, the companies said Thursday.

Under the deal, Warner/Chappell will manage the publishing rights for the Danish production house’s music catalog around the world.

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Warner/Chappell will license performance rights for screenings and television broadcasts of Zentropa’s films and find other ways to use the music by placing it in TV shows, other movies, commercials and video games, said Cameron Strang, Warner/Chappell’s chief executive.

“Some of this music is incredibly iconic,” said Strang, who also runs Warner Bros. Records. “We take that music and find other places where it can be used.”

The partnership includes the soundtracks for Von Trier movies, including “Melancholia,” “Antichrist” and “Nymphomaniac: Vol. I” and “Nymphomaniac: Vol. II.” Among the music and scores included in the deal are Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World,” which won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 2011, along with Thomas Vinterberg’s 2013 film “The Hunt.”

In addition, the partnership will make it easier for Zentropa to use Warner/Chappell’s songs and compostitions. Financial details were not disclosed.

This is the latest in a string of deals between the publishing company and the film industry. Almost a year ago Warner/Chappell acquired the masters and publishing rights within Lionsgate’s film music catalog, following a similar deal with Miramax in 2012.

Those partnerships have helped extend the lives of film scores beyond the movies themselves. For example, music from the Miramax movie “Finding Neverland” was used in a Delta Air Lines ad.

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Strang said the film music publishing business will probably continue to grow with additional partnerships. “I’m sure there’ll be more,” he said. “There’s a nexus between music publishing and film, and it’s a world we really like because we know it’s mutually beneficial.”

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