Kenny MacPherson, the veteran music publisher and co‑founder of Big Deal Music, died Oct. 23 in Los Angeles at age 71, Billboard reports — a career figure known for signing Radiohead, St. Vincent and other writers.
Billboard reports MacPherson’s death and identifies him as a longtime publishing executive who co‑founded Big Deal Music and later served as a senior figure at Chrysalis and Hipgnosis Songs Group; the piece says he died Oct. 23 in Los Angeles and was 71.
Hits Daily Double also reported MacPherson’s death on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles and called him “one of the most visible figures in the music publishing business,” listing many of the writers and acts he worked with across four decades.
MacPherson co‑founded Big Deal Music after a long career at Warner/Chappell and Chrysalis, building an independent publishing company with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville that worked with Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket, Weyes Blood and others, Hits Daily Double reports.
Billboard notes that MacPherson was a key executive in the business of developing songwriters and that Big Deal later became the U.S. base of Hipgnosis Songs Group; both sources say no cause of death was given.
Industry colleagues quoted in the Hits Daily Double obituary described MacPherson as a tireless advocate for songwriters and a popular, gregarious presence in publishing. The Hits piece includes on‑the‑record tributes from longtime partners and artists who credited him with changing careers.
How MacPherson shaped modern independent publishing
Both outlets trace MacPherson’s path from the U.K. music scene to senior roles at Warner/Chappell and Chrysalis in the U.S., where he signed and developed left‑of‑center artists and producers before launching Big Deal Music; Hits Daily Double lists Radiohead, The Blue Nile and St. Vincent among his signings.
The reporting says Big Deal was honored as Indie Publisher of the Year by the AIMP in 2017 and that in 2020 Big Deal’s U.S. operations became the base for Hipgnosis Songs Group in America, with MacPherson taking an executive role there.
MacPherson is survived, Hits Daily Double reports, by his wife Melanie Nissen, daughter Nicole Walker and other family members. Both Billboard and Hits Daily Double provide the core details of his career and the Oct. 23 death date in Los Angeles.
Sources
- Billboard — reported MacPherson’s Oct. 23 death in Los Angeles, age 71, and summarized his roles at Big Deal, Chrysalis and Hipgnosis.
- Hits Daily Double — provided a detailed obituary listing artists he worked with, Big Deal background, tributes and survivors.
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