As the American Federation of Musicians and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers resumed contract negotiations Wednesday, the AFM has released statistics that shed light on the changing nature of employment for industry musicians who play on many of the films and TV shows now being made.
Finance
Kobalt Positions $267M Asset Backed Security
Kobalt Music Group will issue one class A tranche, an A-2 piece rated A- from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, with an expected final maturity in April 2024. Musical publishing rights support all of the royalties with an estimated third-party valuation finding the catalog to be worth $410 million as of September 30, 2023. The valuation included an assumption of an 8.25% discount rate for songs at least 18 months old at and 11.75% for songs between three and 18 months old at valuation.
Catch Point Launches Program to Buy Performing Royalties From Songwriters
Catch Point Rights Partners, the private-equity backed music rights acquisition firm that has purchased the publishing of such artists/songwriters and/or producers as Brantley Gilbert, Yelawolf and All Time Low, is now offering a program through which it will buy performance rights income streams from songwriters while allowing them to retain ownership and control of all of their other publishing royalties.
Source: Catch Point Launches Program to Buy Performing Rights Royalties From Working Songwriters
FuboTV Files $1B Lawsuit to Block Disney, Warners and Fox Sports Streaming Platform
The media giants teaming up on a new platform that will pool together sports streaming rights are facing an antitrust lawsuit from rival sports streamer Fubo, which alleges that it’s being forced to carry dozens of pricey, nonsports channels as a condition of licensing sports rights from the companies in a scheme to stifle competition.
Source: FuboTV Files $1B Lawsuit Seeking to Block Disney, Warners and Fox Sports Streaming Platform
UMG tunes its catalogue-buying strategy with $240m Chord stake
One of the common assumptions around the boom in music-catalogue sales is that it’s all about big investment funds piling in. That’s certainly happened, but it’s not the whole story. In fact, what may be more interesting in the future are the partnerships formed between Big Investors and Big Music. Universal Music Group’s announcement yesterday that it is acquiring a minority stake in Chord Music Partners being a case in point.
Source: UMG tunes its catalogue-buying strategy with $240m Chord stake – Music Ally
EU to fine Apple $539m for alleged violations in music streaming
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he European Union is poised to impose a €500 million (approx. $539 million) fine on Apple for allegedly stifling competition in the music streaming market. This would mark the first time the bloc has levied an antitrust fine against the tech giant. The news was reported by The Financial Times, citing five people “with direct knowledge of the long-running investigation.” The newspaper said the penalty is expected to be announced early next month.
Source: EU to fine Apple $539m for alleged violations in music streaming (report)
UK government rules out broadcast-style equitable remuneration for music
The UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published a report on ‘the potential impact of equitable remuneration on performers and the music market in the UK’. In short, the report will make labels much happier than activists. “The one key conclusion that can be drawn is that ER does not offer a simple solution to the streaming conundrum,” was its verdict. The report also gives the same warnings that labels have about ER potentially weakening their negotiating position with DSPs.
Source: UK government rules out broadcast-style equitable remuneration for music – Music Ally
Reddit signs content licensing deal with AI company ahead of IPO
Reddit has signed a contract allowing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) company to train its models on the social media platform’s content, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Reddit, which is eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) launch, has told prospective investors that it signed the deal, worth $60 million on an annualized basis, earlier this year, the report said.
Source: Reddit signs content licensing deal with AI company ahead of IPO
Inside the Funding Frenzy at Anthropic, One of A.I.’s Hottest Start-Ups
All told, the A.I. start-up hauled in $7.3 billion in a year. Its five funding deals stood out not just for their speed and size, but for their unusual structures. In one of those deals, Anthropic agreed to use technology such as chips and cloud computing services from the companies that invested in it. That meant, in effect, that some of the money it raised would be pumped back into its investors.
Source: Inside the Funding Frenzy at Anthropic, One of A.I.’s Hottest Start-Ups
OpenAI Completes Deal That Values the Company at $80 Billion
OpenAI has completed a deal that values the San Francisco artificial intelligence company at $80 billion or more, nearly tripling its valuation in less than 10 months. The deal is another example of the Silicon Valley deal-making machine pumping money into a handful of companies that specialize in generative A.I. — technology that can generate text, sounds and images on its own.
Source: OpenAI Completes Deal That Values the Company at $80 Billion