Finance

A growing number of fans want to interact with music, remixing it or mashing it up for use on social media. But the licensing deals are sometimes having to catch up with this behaviour. A new startup called Hook is launching with $3m of funding to try to build a legal model around the trend. The company has built a service to enable fans to “remix their favorite songs quickly, easily and legally and share them with the world.”

Source: Hook raises $3m for licensed fan-made remixes on social media – Music Ally

This morning (October 16), UK-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund informed its shareholders that Citrin Cooperman had now “materially reduced its expectations of industry-wide retroactive payments in relation to the US Copyright Royalty Board’s decision in relation to royalties payable to songwriters for the period covering 2018-2022 (‘CRB III’) for its valuation of [HSF’s] portfolio.”

Source: Citrin Cooperman reduces CRB III royalties windfall estimate for Hipgnosis Songs Fund by $11.8m, causing HSF board to halt October’s interim dividend

Elton John and David Furnish have invested $5 million in Audoo, the developer of a tool that identifies song plays in public establishments. Having raised a total of over $22 million since arriving on the scene in 2018, according to higher-ups, Audoo now counts as investors CISAC president Björn Ulvaeus, Paul McCartney’s MPL Ventures, Edinv, and others.

Source: ‘Audio Meter’ Developer Audoo Draws $5M Elton John Investment

The Financial Times pointed to “significant investor opposition” to the suggested selloff, with the floated price tag driving much of the pushback. A “top 10 investor” communicated that the sale “‘might make sense’” if the involved value was 30 percent higher and touched upon a perceived lack of transparency concerning transactional costs, according to the report. “‘I’d be stunned if it doesn’t get voted down,’” another shareholder summed up of the possible $440 million sale.

Source: Hipgnosis Shareholders Reportedly Oppose $440M Catalogs Sale

Starting Thursday, customers of investing platform Public will be able to purchase a slice of the rights to the score of the “Shrek” film franchise and receive quarterly payouts. While royalty payments fluctuate depending on content consumption, the “Shrek” composition rights generated an annualized dividend yield above 8% in 2022 and 2021, according to Public.

Source: WSJ News Exclusive | You Can Now Invest in ‘Shrek’ Music Rights the Same Place You Buy Stocks

Epic Games is slashing its workforce by 16%, laying off about 830 employees, as it looks to cut costs. The cutbacks were announced in an internal memo from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. In addition to the layoffs, the company is selling Bandcamp the music store and community platform it acquired in 2022, and will spin off most of SuperAwesome, the kids’ digital marketing company Epic bought in 2020.

Source: Fortnite Developer Epic Games Axing 16% of Staff, Laying Off 830 Employees, and Sells Bandcamp

OpenAI is talking to investors about a share sale that would value the artificial-intelligence startup behind ChatGPT at between $80 billion to $90 billion, roughly triple its level earlier this year. The startup, which is 49% owned by Microsoft, has told investors that it expects to reach $1 billion in revenue this year and generate many billions more in 2024, people familiar with the discussion said.

Source: WSJ News Exclusive | OpenAI Seeks New Valuation of Up to $90 Billion in Sale of Existing Shares

Amazon on Monday said it will invest up to $4 billion in cash in the high-profile startup Anthropic, in its effort to compete with growing cloud rivals on artificial intelligence. In a joint interview, the CEOs of Amazon’s cloud division and Anthropic said the immediate investment will be $1.25 billion, with either party having the authority to trigger another $2.75 billion in funding by Amazon.

Source: Amazon steps up AI race with up to $4 billion deal to invest in Anthropic

The case appears to have sent a shockwave through the expanding ecosystem of film and television projects seeking to leverage NFTs to raise funds directly from loyal fan bases, instead of depending on the hyper-centralized studio system for financing and distribution. “It’s pretty awful and has me super worried,” the creator of an upcoming independent television series backed by NFTs told Decrypt on the condition of anonymity.

Source: Will SEC’s ‘Stoner Cats’ Action Have a Chilling Effect on NFT Media Projects? – Decrypt

BMI is looking for “a partner who can help us take advantage of new opportunities and provide a new level of investment and technological expertise,” according to a Sept. 5 letter from CEO Mike O’Neill to creators groups published on BMI’s website. New Mountain Capital, which is in an exclusive period to negotiate a deal with the performance rights organization, could be such a partner, executives familiar with the private equity sector suggest.

Source: A BMI Sale Has the Music Industry On Edge — But Could It Benefit Songwriters?