US-headquartered Stifel hasn’t been shy in expressing its pessimism over HSF ever since the financial firm downgraded its view of the music company’s stock in early 2021 – via a report which led the Financial Times to surmise: “Stifel is worried that Hipgnosis Songs Fund is slipping out of tune.” Now, though, the narrative has changed a little. Stifel has today (January 19) issued a report in which it waves a not-insignificant amount of optimism in Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s direction.
Finance
Music tech startup Orfium acquires music reporting company Soundmouse
Los Angeles-based music tech startup Orfium has acquired Soundmouse, a London-based media technology company that specializes in music cue sheet reporting and audio recognition services. Soundmouse is a music reporting platform used by broadcasters and other media companies, including British broadcaster the BBC. The company also works with collection societies.
Source: Music tech startup Orfium acquires music reporting and audio recognition company Soundmouse
Dr. Dre Selling Catalog Rights to UMG, Shamrock; $200M+ Deal
Dr. Dre has reportedly sold a sizable chunk of his music rights — at a juicy multiple — to Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group. According to details emerging Wednesday evening (January 11th), Dre’s assets are reportedly being sold for north of $200 million, with Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group doing the bidding. The deals are apparently separate, though more details are expected to emerge over the next 24-48 hours
Source: Dr. Dre Selling Catalog Rights to UMG, Shamrock; $200M+ Deal
Tipalti Powers Create Music Group’s One-Month Payment Cycles
Long payment cycles have remained endemic in the music industry. While some streaming platforms like YouTube pay royalties monthly, many labels haven’t allowed that swiftness to trickle down to artists. Against that backdrop, Create Music Group is giving artists more insights and more money for their work — and paying it out faster. By partnering with Tipalti, Create Music Group has been able to modernize, centralize and consolidate payment processes with end-to-end automation.
Source: Tipalti Powers Create Music Group’s One-Month Payment Cycles
Downtown Music Acquires Four-Year-Old Curve Royalty Systems
Under the newly finalized purchase, Downtown is expected to equip Curve with “expanded resources, infrastructure, and global scale,” according to execs. Meanwhile, the just-sold company will continue to service existing clients, Epitaph Records, Ingrooves, and Cooking Vinyl among them, as it’s integrated into Downtown, the involved parties indicated.
Source: Downtown Music Acquires Four-Year-Old Curve Royalty Systems
MPA & RIAA Deployed 60+ Lobbyists in 2022, Piracy Top of The Agenda
When ensuring the profitability of multi-billion dollar industries, engaging governments at the highest level is the way to get things done. The MPA and RIAA spent almost $8 million on lobbying in 2022, with copyright and piracy at the top of the agenda. Most of the 60+ lobbyists deployed are products of the government/private sector ‘revolving door’.
Source: MPA & RIAA Deployed 60+ Lobbyists in 2022, Piracy Top of The Agenda * TorrentFreak
Round Hill Acquires Rock Producer Steve Lillywhite’s Royalty Income Stream
Round Hill Music Royalty Partners has acquired the royalty income stream of Steve Lillywhite, one of the premier rock producers of the last 45 years, in a deal that includes his share of royalties from such albums as U2’s October and War; Dave Matthews Band’s Under the Table and Dreaming and Crash; and The Rolling Stones‘ Dirty Work. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Source: Round Hill Acquires Rock Producer Steve Lillywhite’s Royalty Income Stream
Media’s Annus Horribilis: Investors Batter Shares of Disney, Netflix, WB Discovery, Amazon and More in 2022
From Disney to Netflix to Warner Bros. Discovery, media and tech stocks were pummeled in 2022 as faith in streaming waned, global subscriber growth stalled and macroeconomic concerns forced a reckoning on content spending for entertainment’s largest players. Unfortunately, the 2023 picture doesn’t look any better so far.
Round Hill: We’ve spent more than $200m across 40 acquisitions in 2022
Macroeconomic headwinds have blown multiple issues in the music industry’s direction this year, from soaring interest rates to rising inflation, plus the strength of the US dollar’s impact on global markets. But the rights acquisition space hasn’t ground to a halt. In fact, two prominent names in the rights acquisition space, that both became famous for listing funds on the London Stock Exchange – Hipgnosis and Round Hill Music – have been associated with $500 million worth of deals between them in 2022.
Source: Round Hill: We’ve spent more than $200m across 40 acquisitions in 2022
Podcast company Audio Up raises nearly $10m, plans to invest funds into music side of its business
Audio content production studio Audio Up has closed its Series C funding round at what it says is a $150 million pre-money valuation. Audio Up says in a press release that it plans to use the proceeds from the round to “continue amplifying” the music side of its business, with the latest fundraise arriving nine months after it struck a joint venture with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). That agreement with UMG has focused on signing songwriters to create music for Audio Up’s original podcast programs.