“10 More Years” of Jimi Hendrix Music On the Way

This year, Experience Hendrix plans to release two new albums of Hendrix material and a DVD of the late guitarist’s two February 1969 gigs at the Royal Albert Hall. There will also be a “reality TV” style documentary that follows Jimi at home and around London during the month of the concerts.

The late, great Jimi Hendrix just got a new publishing company — Universal Music Publishing Group has signed a five year deal to become the exclusive administrator of his catalog, taking over for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, who’ve been in charge since 1998. However, Universal’s purview only extends outside the United States — Experience Hendrix, the company now run by the late musician’s sister, Janie Hendrix, controls the publishing rights in America.

Together, the two companies plan to band together to release “10 more years of Hendrix music,” Janie Hendrix tells Billboard magazine.

“Currently, I am in the studio transferring tapes of Band of Gypsys performances that have never been released before,” said the Experience Hendrix CEO.

This year, the company plans to release two new albums of Hendrix material, and a DVD of the guitarist’s two February 1969 gigs at the Royal Albert Hall. There will also be a “reality TV” style documentary that follows Jimi at home and around London during the month of the concerts.

Hendrix’s music continues to attract new fans, as well as the purchasing dollars of older ones. In the United States, the catalog sells about a half-million copies annually, putting worldwide sales at 1.2 million, Billboard estimates. Downloads of Jimi Hendrix tracks grew from 800,000 in the United States in 2007 to 915,000 last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

“Artists gravitate to his songs,” adds Universal Music Publishing chairman/CEO David Renzer. “He has been covered by everyone from Eric Clapton to John Mayer.”

(John Mayer – “Voodoo Chile”)