Raleigh, ICM Crescendo Acquire Tim Hardin Catalog
The joint venture's first completed deal brings the rights to nearly all of Tim Hardin's songs, including "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe."
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Folk
Raleigh Music Publishing and ICM Crescendo acquired U.S. rights and certain foreign rights to nearly the entire Tim Hardin song catalog from his heirs. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Why it matters
The acquisition is the first completed under the Raleigh and ICM Crescendo joint venture formed earlier in 2026, marking an early test of the partnership. The catalog's songs have been widely recorded, giving the new owners a valuable library for licensing and royalty collection.
SecondHandSongs counts nearly 200 cover versions of "If I Were a Carpenter" and nearly 125 of "Reason to Believe," plus around 120 covers of other Hardin songs. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
The players
Raleigh Music Publishing
Raleigh Music Publishing is a music publishing company that will administer the Tim Hardin catalog and lead its royalty collection and licensing.
ICM Crescendo
ICM Crescendo is the music-rights arm co-founded with Raleigh in a joint venture, co-acquiring the Tim Hardin catalog.
Tim Hardin
Tim Hardin was a folk singer-songwriter who died in 1980, and whose songs "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe" became widely covered standards.
The details
Raleigh Music will administer the catalog and lead royalty collection, synchronization licensing, and promotion efforts. Covers of the songs by Johnny Cash & June Carter, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, Sheryl Crow, and Willie Nelson are cited among the catalog's notable recordings.
Timeline
Earlier in 2026: Raleigh and ICM Crescendo formed their joint venture.
1980: Tim Hardin died.
November 5, 2026: The acquisition of the Tim Hardin catalog was announced.
Season Trajectory
The deal extends the lasting cover history of Tim Hardin's songs, with nearly 200 SecondHandSongs-documented covers of "If I Were a Carpenter" placing the catalog among folk's most-recorded. The new joint venture's first completed acquisition signals how Raleigh and ICM Crescendo intend to build out older catalogs.
Listeners will continue to hear Hardin's songs in the same recordings and covers, since the stub does not indicate any change to availability. Licensing decisions by Raleigh Music will govern where the songs appear in film, television, and other media.
The takeaway
Older song catalogs can keep generating value long after their writers die, as the continued covering of Tim Hardin's work shows. Readers following music-rights deals can watch how the new owners license these songs over time.
Further reading
Explore more in Folk coverage for the broader tradition these songwriters helped define.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Billboard.
