Finance

Music industry economist Will Page has been ruffling feathers with his latest report: an examination of equitable remuneration (ER) models. “The logic here sounds simple: if we consider Spotify analogous to radio, then why not treat it like radio is treated in many countries, and give the artist 50% of distributable revenue?” he wrote. “Were such ‘equitable remuneration’ implemented, the artist’s gain would be the label’s pain.”

Source: Former Spotify economist Will Page causes a stir with equitable remuneration report – Music Ally

Berlin-headquartered Enote, which arrived on the scene in 2018 and says that it boasts “an advanced AI system,” just recently unveiled the multimillion-dollar raise. Having launched an iOS app about 18 months back, the platform uses the AI technology to analyze “millions of static pages and critical findings to reconstruct a definitive digital version of each work,” according to higher-ups.

Source: Digital Sheet Music Startup Enote Announces Nearly $11MM Raise

Warner Bros. Discovery has reportedly failed to receive the desired bids for its catalog and is considering pulling the plug on the sale. This twist in the rumored catalog-sale push just recently came to light in a piece from the Financial Times, which relayed in January that higher-ups were seeking a cool $1 billion+ for the music IP. According to the outlet’s newest article on the subject, however, the HBO and DC Entertainment owner “initially hoped to receive as much as” a staggering $2 billion for the catalog.

Source: Warner Bros. Discovery Catalog Sale Comes Up Short: Report

Songtradr said in a media release March 30 that the transaction “solidifies Songtradr’s position as a key leader in the B2B music industry, establishing the company as the only one-stop music solution for digital platforms and brands worldwide”. The acquisition will see UK-headquartered 7digital‘s music delivery platform combined, under one company, with Songtradr’s “technologies, licensing pedigree, and unmatched AI music search and metadata technology”.

Source: Songtradr closes $23.4m acquisition of B2B music firm 7digital

BMG‘s annual revenues hit EUR €866 million (USD $911m) in 2022 – climbing by €203 million, or 30.6%, year-on-year. In its annual fiscal report, Bertelsmann attributed the strong growth in BMG’s 2022 revenues and EBITDA to “organic growth in its recorded and publishing businesses… supported by an investment offensive”. That “investment offensive” involved a record €509 million ($535m) being spent on the acquisition of music catalogs plus artist signings in 2022.

Source: BMG annual revenues jumped 30.6% to over $900m in 2022, as it spent $400m on catalog acquisitions

Music tech startup Turntable LIVE has secured over $7 million in a seed round of funding, which it plans to use to power its new social music platform. The company is targeting a full public launch later this year and says it is currently working with music industry partners to be “fully legal and licensed” for the upcoming launch. In a press release announcing the funding round  the company says that, “this funding will allow the platform’s originator to realize his original vision for the viral concept”.

Source: Turntable LIVE raises $7m in seed round to launch social music platform

New York State lawmakers are considering taxing streaming services as one way to help fund subways and other transportation systems around the state without raising fares. A proposal within the state assembly’s $233-billion proposed budget for the coming year would levy a 4% state tax and a 4% local sales tax on digital streaming products to help cover $9 billion in transportation and infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.

Source: Digital News Daily: New York State Mulls 8% ‘Netflix Tax’

The transaction includes master and publishing rights to a collection of film scores including the score for director Taika Waititi’s upcoming sports comedy-drama film Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender, and the score for the upcoming animated version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm from Andy Serkis. Next Goal Wins includes a score by Academy Award and Emmy-winner Michael Giacchino, who composed themes for Up, The Incredibles, The Batman and Lost.

Source: Cutting Edge acquires ‘major’ film music catalog from First Score Music in multi-million dollar deal

Nashville-based Blue Sky Group and music rights and royalty auditing firm Royalty Compliance Group (RCO) will join Armanino effective April 1, 2023. “This will make Armanino one of the only business management groups in the world that will be able to offer the full slate of entertainment services while allowing us to deepen and expand our reach into Nashville, which we view as extremely important for our growth goals,” says Craig Manzino, Partner at Armanino.

Source: Former FTX Auditor Armanino Acquires Music Firms

In addition to the decentralized custody and control of money, “it has been argued that crypto assets may provide other benefits, such as improving payment systems, increasing financial inclusion, and creating mechanisms for the distribution of intellectual property and financial value that bypass intermediaries,” the authors wrote. “So far, crypto assets have brought none of these benefits.”

Source: President’s Economic Report Blasts Crypto for ‘Ignorance of Basic Economic Principles’ – Decrypt