Finance

The valuation explosion we’ve seen in music rights is happening in another segment too, it seems: DIY distribution. In August, US-based DIY distribution platform DistroKid accepted an investment from Insight Partners, valuing it at $1.3 billion. Now, a rival to DistroKid, Steve Stoute’s UnitedMasters – has locked in its own princely valuation.

Source: UnitedMasters valued at $550m, after raising $50m in new funding round

Source: Sony Music and Games Q2 Growth Helped Offset Declines in Movies and TV

For the first time since the launch of Peacock last year, management didn’t provide an update on the number of sign-ups in either the earnings release or call. NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said only that the company has “added a few million more subs” and more monthly active accounts.

Source: Comcast Takes $520M Loss on Peacock, Doesn’t Disclose New Sign-Ups

In its Q3 earnings report, Alphabet shared that YouTube clocked $7.2 billion in ad revenues, up more than $2 billion over the same quarter last year. (Last year, it made $5 billion in Q3, meaning revenues have grown by 44% year-over-year). This doesn’t include revenues for YouTube’s subscription products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music Premium, or YouTube Premium.

Source: YouTube Made $7.2 Billion In Ad Revs Last Quarter, Up 44% Year-Over-Year – Tubefilter

Spotify grew its customer base to 172 million paid subscribers and 381 million total monthly active users (MAUs) in the three months ending Sept. 30, the company reported Tuesday (Oct. 27). Total revenue in the third quarter was 2.5 billion euros ($2.90 billion in current dollars), up 27% on the same period the previous year and a 7% rise on Q2’s 2.33 billion euros ($2.75 billion) tally.

Source: Spotify Hits 172 Million Paid Users as Quarterly Revenue Climbs 27%

Spotify made a “passive minority investment” in DistroKid back in 2018, but didn’t disclose the size of the investment at the time. SPOT’s new filing reveals that its stake in Distrokid was worth €16 million ($18.5m) in January 2020, which then increased to €49 million ($57m) by January 2021.

Source: Spotify offloads two thirds of its stake in DistroKid for $167m

The estate of legendary R&B singer Luther Vandross has struck a wide-ranging partnership with Primary Wave Music that sees the company acquiring a stake in the late artist’s publishing, master recording income stream, and name and likeness rights. The company will continue a long-term partnership with the estate to manage all assets.

Source: Luther Vandross Estate Strikes $40 Million Deal With Primary Wave Music (EXCLUSIVE)

What’s drawing the bigger investors now into the music space are the number of recent deals that near or exceeded the $100 million mark. Some executives believe big players like these won’t be interested in transactions smaller than $25 million; and some, like Barron International Group chairman/CEO Lisbeth Barron, think they’re aiming for deals worth $250 million or even $500 million.

Source: Big Money’s Pouring Into Music — Where Do We Go From Here?

Despite approximately 60,000 songs being uploaded to Spotify every day, unsigned and independent artists have recently found themselves with more options than ever before when it comes to financing their careers — and using that cash flow to help stand out in a crowded space.

Source: A New Crop Of Funders Are Helping Indie Artists Take Off On Their Own Terms

Concord is exploring a sale, according to a source familiar with the situation – a deal that would likely top $4 billion, based on Billboard’s estimates. If the record label and music publisher does hit the auction block, it would be an attractive target for one of the three major record companies, some industry sources say, and an acquisition by one of the smaller majors could potentially change the power dynamics between them.

Source: Indie Music Giant Concord, Worth Over $4 Billion, Eyes Potential Sale