Finance

Universal Music Group takes step closer to US listing, filing draft registration with SEC

The world’s largest music rights company confirmed in a press release on Monday evening (July 21) that it has “confidentially” submitted a Form F-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, “relating to a proposed public offering in the United States of the company’s ordinary shares held by certain shareholders”. Monday’s press release did not disclose the timing, pricing, or venue of UMG’s proposed US listing.

Source: Universal Music Group takes step closer to US listing, filing draft registration with SEC

UK government reveals streaming reforms – focusing on label commitments

Today’s announcement is of several commitments that aim to improve the income for legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians. For the artists, all three majors have committed to ‘disregarding’ unrecouped balances – advances they haven’t paid off – for artists signed before the start of 2000, with this date rolling forward every year.

Source: UK government reveals streaming reforms – focusing on label commitments

Blackstone exits consortium for TikTok deal as divest-or-ban deadline looms (report)

Private equity firm Blackstone has pulled out of the investor consortium looking to buy TikTok’s US operation, Reuters reported Friday (July 18), citing a source familiar with the matter. The withdrawal comes as TikTok’s presence in the US remains uncertain, with multiple deadline extensions on the divest-or-ban law. Blackstone had reportedly been slated to take a minority stake in the platform’s US business alongside other consortium members.

Source: Blackstone exits consortium for TikTok deal as divest-or-ban deadline looms (report)

EU to launch ‘full-scale’ investigation into UMG’s Downtown deal, Reuters reports

The European Commission is planning to open a “full-scale” investigation into Universal Music Group‘s proposed acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings. That’s according to a report published by Reuters, citing “three people with direct knowledge of the matter.” UMG’s Virgin Music Group revealed in December that it had agreed to buy Downtown Music Holdings LLC in a $775 million deal.

Source: EU to launch ‘full-scale’ investigation into UMG’s $775m Downtown deal, Reuters reports

Comcast, CAA Invest in ‘Ethical’ AI Video Start-Up Moonvalley in $84 Million Funding Round

Moonvalley, an AI research company that says it is developing “ethical” foundational AI video models trained exclusively on licensed content, announced $84 million in additional funding led by existing investor General Catalyst. The round includes strategic investments from CAA and Comcast Ventures, as well as AI cloud company CoreWeave.

Source: Comcast, CAA Invest in ‘Ethical’ AI Video Start-Up Moonvalley as Part of $84 Million Funding Round

Concord prepares to issue $1.75bn in bonds backed by 1 million music copyrights

The bond issuance is backed by the master recordings and compositions from artists such as Creed, R.E.M. and Phil Collins, American Banker reported, citing data from Kroll Bond Ratings Agency (KBRA). According to ratings agency Moody’s, the proceeds will be used to repay a bond issuance that Concord completed in 2022. At the time, it was described as “the largest asset-backed securitization offering of music rights in the industry to date.”

Source: Concord prepares to issue $1.75bn in bonds, in ABS transaction backed by 1 million music copyrights

Universal Music’s Downtown Deal Warrants In-Depth EU Investigation, Critics Say

A group of independent music companies and trade associations called on the European Union to launch an in-depth investigation into Universal Music Group’s acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings, saying the deal threatens competition if antitrust officials let it go ahead. Universal entered into a definitive agreement in December for its Virgin Music Group label to buy Downtown for $775 million in cash.

Source: Universal Music’s Downtown Deal Warrants In-Depth EU Investigation, Critics Say

UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

Internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare is now blocking all AI scrapers accessing content by default in an industry first. The move has been backed by more than a dozen major news and media publishers including the Associated Press, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Conde Nast, DMGT, Dotdash Meredith, Fortune, Gannett, The Independent, Sky News, Time and Ziff Davis. Cloudflare said its default setting for new domains is now to block AI crawlers that don’t have permission or provide compensation.

Source: UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping

Cloudflare, a cloud infrastructure provider that serves 20% of the web, announced Tuesday the launch of a new marketplace that reimagines the relationship between website owners and AI companies — ideally giving publishers greater control over their content. It’s called Pay per Crawl, and Cloudflare is launching the “experiment” in private beta on Tuesday.

Source: Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping | TechCrunch

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