Reservoir Media has acquired South African composer, arranger, co-producer and performer Lebohang Morake, known professionally as Lebo M.
Lebo is best known for his work on The Lion King franchise and for his work with Hans ZimmerReservoir also had an interest in his filmography on the soundtrack to the 1992 film the power of one person.
Following this success, Zimmer hired Lebo to score Disney’s 1994 animated film The Lion King.
Lebo wrote and sang the opening lines of this legendary song circle of lifewait. The song won Lebo a Grammy Award for Best Accompanied Instrumental Arrangement, and the “Lion King” soundtrack also won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Building on the success of the original film soundtrack, Lebo produced additional one-off soundtracks, Rhythm of the Pride Landsas well as the soundtrack to the film sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and the 2019 photorealistic remake The Lion King.
Additionally, in April this year, it was announced that Lebo would join Lin-Manuel Miranda and composed the music for “Mufasa: The Lion King,” released this month.
“The Lion King” musical has become the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time and one of the longest-running Broadway productions, running for more than 21 years with ratings as high as 100 million people.
In addition to The Lion King franchise, Lebo has contributed to several other films such as Dinosaurs, Back on the Block, The Life of Quincy Jones, Congo, and Long Night , Tears of the Sun , The Legend of Tarzan , and The Lady King . Lebo is also one of South Africa’s biggest stars.
Notably, he co-produced The Lion King South Africa in 2007, served as composer and co-executive producer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening and closing ceremonies, and founded the Lebo M Foundation and Till Dawn in South Africa Entertainment and other organizations.
“I’m proud to partner with Reservoir, a company that recognizes the power of music to unite and inspire.”
Leboan Morak
Speaking about the deal with Reservoir, Lebo said: “I’m proud to be working with Reservoir, a company that recognizes the power of music to unite and inspire.
“This partnership will allow me to continue to push the boundaries of creativity and share my music with a new generation.”
“We are extremely proud to bring the rights to their influential catalog, which reinforces Reservoir’s interest in scoring successful and culturally defining films, and we look forward to working with Lebo on the next stage of his career.”
Gornar Khosrowshahi
Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and CEO of Reservoir, added: “Lebo’s music has touched generations of film lovers, especially his contribution to The Lion King, which shaped some of the most beloved film scores.
“We are extremely proud to bring the rights to their influential catalog, which reinforces Reservoir’s interest in scoring successful and culturally defining films, and we look forward to working with Lebo on the next stage of his career.”
Reservoir’s deal with Lebohang Morake marks the latest in a series of recent deals for the music rights company. In August, Reservoir acquired publishing rights to works by the late composer and guitarist Billy Strange.
Other acquisitions over the past year include producer rights and publishing catalog 2Pac producer Big D Evansthe work of Latin music hotshot Rudy Perezand a catalog of Grammy-nominated hip-hop producers Manny Fresh.
Other noteworthy acquisitions include catalogs of rock artists Greg KeaneR&B group member this spinning machinesaxophonist sonny Rollinsand composer Louis Prima.
Reservoir’s continued investment in its music catalog contributed to its strong financial performance. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the company announced 8% Annual revenue growth $34.3 million. Publishing revenue as a share of $24 million Of the total, we saw 15% Year-over-year growth was driven by higher catalog acquisitions and streaming revenue.
In an investor fact sheet released earlier this year, Reservoir said it had spent nearly US$1 billion Since its launch in 2007, it has been dedicated to catalog sourcing and contracting.
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