J&N Publishing Acquires Frantoni Santana Song Catalog

J&N has purchased the extensive song catalog of Dominican composer Frantoni Santana, including works previously signed to J&N and Nota Publishing, Billboard has learned.

The independent publisher has purchased over 140 works penned by Santana, a prolific merengue and salsa songwriter of the ’90s, including Toño Rosario’s “Ábreme la puerta,” Tito Rojas’ “Sensual,” Las Chicas del Can’s “El Cuerpecito,” Ramón Orlando and Alex Bueno’s “Gotas de Pena,” Junior González’s “Dos Te Quieros,” and many more.

Santana also composed the majority of the songs for his merengue group Mozaribe.

Founded by brothers Juan Hidalgo and Nelson Estevez in the ‘80s, J&N began operating as a one-stop distribution company that focuses on merengue, salsa, and bachata. The label has released artists including Monchy & Alexandra and Frank Reyes, and on the publishing side, it represents more than 25,000 songs, including big tropical hits like “El tiburón” and “La ventanita.”

In 2019, J&N purchased the catalog of 84 songs recorded by bachata superstar group Aventura.

“We are honored to represent these fantastic songs, and shall do so with the respect and integrity they deserve,” Hidalgo previously said to Billboard. “We have grown, but we are still a ‘ma and pa’ company with our doors always open to composers and creative people in general.”