MakersPlace, a digital art platform specializing in non-fungible tokens, is shutting down amid a sharp drop in the NFT market. The company, launched in 2018, announced its closure on Jan. 15 after six years of operations. “Ongoing market challenges and funding difficulties have made it impossible to sustain operations while fulfilling our mission,” MakersPlace’s content manager, Brady Evan Walker, said in the announcement.
Source: Digital art venue MakersPlace shuts down amid NFT market decline
Universal Music Group (UMG) announced Wednesday (January 15) that Pershing Square Holdings, led by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, has requested a secondary listing of the music company on a US stock exchange. Under a previously disclosed agreement, UMG will facilitate an underwritten offering for Pershing Square to sell a portion of its shares by September 15, 2025.
Blackstone’s rumored SESAC sale has an over $3 billion price tag and multiple prospective purchasers, according to new reports. Blackstone reportedly began entertaining private equity offers for SESAC after Hellman & Friedman took a majority stake in Global Music Rights (GMR) late last year. SESAC Music Group’s portfolio includes Audiam and the Harry Fox Agency, to name only a couple.
Source: Possible SESAC Sale Has $3 Billion Price Tag, Reports Suggest
Blackstone Inc. has hired financial advisers to explore the sale of song rights, including music from Bob Dylan, Adele and Ariana Grande, that it expects to fetch $3 billion or more, people with knowledge of the matter said. A handful of financial firms, including Apollo Global Management Inc., Warburg Pincus LLC and Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned investment firm, have expressed interest in the assets.
Source: Blackstone Seeks $3 Billion in Sale of Bob Dylan, Adele Song Rights
The music industry funding landscape delivered several key trends during 2024. First, 2024’s music industry funding would have decreased substantially from 2023 if not for a few massive capital disclosures on the catalog side. Hipgnosis led the pack with its almost $1.5 billion asset backed securitization, followed by an over $1 billion funding confirmation from Iconic Artists Group and then an $850 million ABS from Concord.
Source: Music Industry Funding Data Provides Insights As 2025 Ramps Up
Anthropic is in advanced talks to raise $2 billion in a deal that would value it at $60 billion, more than triple its valuation from a year ago. The funding round is being led by the venture firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, people familiar with the matter said. The $60 billion valuation includes the money Anthropic plans to raise in the round.
Source: AI Startup Anthropic Raising Funds Valuing It at $60 Billion
The stock photo industry has been gasping for air, struggling to adapt to a market that continues to be extremely challenging. Over the past two decades, licensing prices for rights-managed (RM) images have plummeted by 20–50%, while royalty-free (RF) prices have dropped even more sharply, by 50–80%. The rise of microstock and subscription models has driven licensing fees as low as $0.27 per image.
Source: The Shutterstock-Getty Images Merger: A Bold Move in a Shifting Landscape – Kaptur
Investments in generative AI, which encompasses a range of AI-powered apps, tools, and services to generate text, images, videos, speech, music, and more, reached new heights last year. According to data from financial tracker PitchBook compiled for TechCrunch, generative AI companies worldwide raised $56 billion from VCs in 2024 across 885 deals.
Virgin Music Group, the global independent music division of Universal Music Group, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Downtown Music Holdings LLC (Downtown) for cash consideration of $775 million (approximately €737 million). The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
Source: Universal’s Virgin Music Group to buy Downtown Music for $775 million
Of note, Murray said that audiobooks continue to outsell e-books in terms of total revenues and are helping to offset declines from lagging e-book sales. In terms of AI, the CEO declined to discuss specifics of licensing deals, like the one it signed with Microsoft for AI model training, citing NDAs, but stressed that it’s early days for AI licensing, calling it a “fascinating time” in the industry.
Source: HarperCollins CEO touts Spotify’s audiobooks entry, AI’s impact on publishing