Finance

Roar players will be able to play music as avatars in virtual studios with other players. They’ll also be able to create, collaborate, and share their music and performances live with the rest of the Roar community. There are solo artist and band modes, as well as game-based events and campaigns.
Roar Studios’ first $7 million funding round included Galaxy Interactive, Todd Wagner, Scott Barger, and other notable investors.

Source: Roar Studios Raises $7MM to Build ‘Music Metaverse’ for Online Collab

Audioshake debuted its “on-demand A.I. platform” in July of this year, and the service deconstructs “songs into their parts (called ‘stems’) so that they can be monetized for new uses in re-mixes, samples, sync licensing, and more,” the company’s announcement message relays. Since this platform’s rollout, Audioshake says that it’s secured clients including the major labels, Primary Wave, Hipgnosis, Downtown, CD Baby, and a number of indie labels, among others yet.

Source: AI-Powered Music-Separation Startup Audioshake Raises $2 Million

As expected, the global investment firm KKR and Kobalt Capital Limited have announced that KKR, together with its co-invest partner, Dundee Partners, the investment office of the Hendel family, have purchased the KMR Music Royalties II portfolio from KCL for approximately $1.1 billion.

Source: Kobalt Sells Fund II, With Songs by the Weeknd, Lorde and More, to KKR Venture for $1.1 Billion

Galaxy Interactive has raised a massive new fund to invest in crypto projects at the intersection of finance and tech. So far, the new Galaxy Interactive fund has already invested around $150 million of its capital in companies like video game maker Mythical Games and Masterworks, which lets people buy portions of fine art and register their title on a blockchain.

Source: Crypto Giant Galaxy Raises $325M for ‘Content and Technology’ Fund – Decrypt

Netflix paid $21.4 million for the nine-episode series, which premiered four weeks ago, and the company estimates “Squid Game” will deliver more than 40 times that — an estimated $891 million — in what it calls “impact value,” Bloomberg reported Saturday evening, citing confidential internal data that someone provided to the outlet.

Source: Netflix Projects ‘Squid Game’ Will Generate $891 Million in Value, According to Leaked Data

Visa has announced it will launch a program to introduce artists to the world of NFTs. The company is partnering with former MLB player Micah Johnson, who is now a digital artist, in order to show the benefits that non-fungible token (NFT) technology can provide. Things like new markets for art creations and at the same time, close the gap between consumers and art providers.

Source: Payments Giant Visa Launches NFT Program to Support Digital Artists  – Bitcoin News

A year ago, new concert livestreaming platforms were popping up faster than we could count, each competing for attention in a dog-eat-dog environment. But now, as acquisitions seem to be happening at nearly the same pace, the crowded livestreaming sector has a new motto: If you can’t beat them, join them.

Source: Livestream Concerts’ Next Step: Consolidation

The Universal Music Group’s prospectus for the company’s successful listing on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange revealed plenty of tidbits of information, in addition to providing financial insights to educate investors about the global music giant and its worthiness to be included in their stock portfolios.

Source: Beatles Royalties & Family Conflicts: We Read UMG’s 300-Page Prospectus. Here’s What We Found

Reservoir just recently announced its participation in the multimillion-dollar Series B of Audio Up, which debuted last year and previously raised $4.5 million in a Series A led by MGM Studios, per Crunchbase. Having taken several noteworthy steps in 2021 to achieve a greater presence “outside the vehicle,” SiriusXM led Audio Up’s latest raise, as mentioned, according to a separate release from the satellite-radio company.

Source: Reservoir, SiriusXM Back Podcast Company Audio Up in $12 MM Raise

Blackstone – one of the world’s largest alternative investment houses – is pumping a billion dollars into a new private fund, Hipgnosis Songs Capital. In addition, Blackstone is investing an undisclosed amount into Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Song Management, the investment adviser that ultimately chooses how to deploy the money in Hipgnosis Songs Fund… and now, in Hipgnosis Songs Capital, too.

Source: What do Blackstone’s billions mean for Merck Mercuriadis’ mission for songwriters?