Big Deal Publishing co-founder Kenny MacPherson dies at 71

By Grace Kim

Kenny MacPherson, the Big Deal Publishing co-founder and former Hipgnosis Songs Group chief executive officer, died Friday in Los Angeles at 71. Hits and other media reports stated that “no cause of death was announced.”

MacPherson was a Scottish-born music publishing (the administration and licensing of songs) executive and artist manager. Hits and other media reports linked him to Radiohead, Supertramp, Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket, the Blue Nile and St. Vincent.

From the Apollo Theatre to music publishing

MacPherson began his career at Glasgow’s Apollo Theatre and eventually managed the venue, according to Hits and other media reports. The position brought him to London with concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith Entertainment, where the Manhattan Transfer hired him and brought him to Los Angeles.

He managed Supertramp after arriving in Los Angeles and then branched into music publishing, the reports said. This combination of artist management and publishing shaped his subsequent executive career.

The Warner/Chappell and Chrysalis years

MacPherson joined Warner/Chappell in 1989, according to Hits and other media reports. During the following decade-plus, he signed or worked closely with:

• Radiohead
• Underworld
• Paul Westerberg
• Afghan Whigs
• the Blue Nile

He became president of Chrysalis’ North American operation in 2002, the reports said. At Chrysalis, MacPherson worked closely with another group of artists:

• Outkast
• Ray LaMontagne
• My Morning Jacket
• the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• St. Vincent
• Thom Yorke
• TV on the Radio

Building Big Deal through consolidation

BMG acquired Chrysalis in 2010, after which MacPherson moved to BMG, Hits and other media reports said. In 2012, he co-founded Big Deal Music and brought many of the artists named above with him.

Big Deal was acquired by and effectively merged with Hipgnosis Songs Group in 2020, with MacPherson serving as CEO, the reports said. Sony Music acquired Hipgnosis in 2025. MacPherson had also launched Oh Aye Music in 2021.

A lawsuit left without a reported resolution

MacPherson faced a 2023 lawsuit from a former Chrysalis employee who sued him for sexual misconduct, according to Hits and other media reports. A mediation (a formal attempt to settle a dispute without trial) was scheduled for “next month,” although the report did not supply a calendar date.

The reporting did not connect the lawsuit to his death or describe an outcome. It presented the case as an unresolved part of MacPherson’s record rather than an established explanation for his death.

What does his death change for Big Deal, Hipgnosis and Oh Aye Music?

No immediate corporate change was reported. Big Deal had already been acquired and effectively merged with Hipgnosis Songs Group in 2020, and Sony Music had acquired Hipgnosis in 2025. The reports named no successor at Oh Aye Music.

On the evidence available, the death does not reset the ownership sequence already reported. The practical questions left concern leadership of the 2021 Oh Aye Music venture and the status of the 2023 mediation. Neither had an answer in the available reporting.