Hipgnosis spent over $1 billion to acquire 84 catalogs in FY 2021, while earnings came in at $138 million and debt approached $500 million. Hipgnosis revealed these and other operational specifics in its 2021 annual report. Spanning a staggering 172 pages and featuring everything from financials to creator interviews and a breakdown of the 35-employee company’s environmental impact to a complete list of IP holdings
Source: Hipgnosis Spent Over $1 Billion to Acquire 84 Catalogs in FY 2021
Sales of non-fungible token collectibles throughout January through May 2021 were massive. But a new report suggests sales in every single category is drying up. In fact, sales of NFTs seem to have peaked in May, when $102 million were sold in a single day. Data analyzed by Protos shows that only $19.4 million in NFT sales have been processed in the past week.
Source: Music NFTs Were Huge In March, But Has the Bubble Popped?
Following on its announcement earlier this month that it would allow rightsholders to sell off their royalty streams as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), online music royalties marketplace Royalty Exchange has partnered with A Tribe Called Quest to auction off a 1.5% share of the sound recording royalties from the hip-hop group’s first five studio albums.
Source: A Tribe Called Quest to Auction Off Portion of Royalty Streams as NFT
The funding will support the Palace Project, a nascent partnership between LYRASIS and the Digital Public Library of America to “develop and scale a robust suite of content, services, and tools for the delivery of e-books, audiobooks, and other digital media to benefit public libraries and patrons.”
Source: Knight Foundation Invests $5 Million in ‘Library-Centered’ Digital Platform
After the artist has sold or otherwise transferred the NFT, it could continue to produce taxable income for the artist and generate taxable income for its new owner. For example, subject to the intellectual property license terms of that particular NFT, the owner can collect payments from viewers of the NFT; “smart contracts” embedded in the blockchain technology underlying this item can automatically channel to the creator a specified share of those fees.
How we monetize fandom in an increasingly online world is a question that doesn’t just exist in music, but also in sports. As such we can learn from each other. Brand new American football club Inter Miami just launched a video strategy that is all about engagement. Let’s see what they’re doing, how they do it, and what it means for those monetization strategies.
Source: Livestream monetization strategies, or what we can learn from Inter Miami CFR
Much of Pershing Square’s three-hour, 128-slide presentation Wednesday — which included a 15-minute intermission and 45 minutes for financial details and a Q&A session — served as a necessary primer on copyright, intellectual property, the intricacies of royalty payments and the state of music in the age of streaming and smartphones.
Source: Bill Ackman Makes Case for Universal Music Investment, The Future of Music
Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) are set to unveil the legislation at a press conference tomorrow afternoon, the lawmakers announced in a joint release. Additionally, “artist advocates” including New Jersey-born singer Dionne Warwick and Miami-born Sam & Dave co-founder Sam Moore will appear at the event.
Source: American Music Fairness Act Aims to Set AM/FM Radio Recording Fees
The Federal Trade Commission will be the agency to review Amazon.com’s proposed acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM, according to people familiar with the matter, just as the commission gets a new chairwoman who has been critical of the online giant’s expansion.
Source: WSJ News Exclusive | Amazon’s Planned Purchase of MGM Faces FTC Scrutiny
SoundExchange distributions grew 4.3% to $947 million in 2020 from $908 million paid out a year earlier to artists, record labels and other creators with points on master recordings. Overall revenue collections totaled $1.003 billion in 2020, a 4.2% increase over $963 million pulled in for the prior year.