Book-publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster’s owner will let its $2.2 billion sale to Penguin Random House collapse on Monday, opening the door for a new suitor to try to clinch a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. Bertelsmann will owe Paramount a $200 million break-up fee as a result of the transaction falling apart.
Source: Simon & Schuster’s owner to let sale to Penguin fall apart, sources say
Bob Iger has replaced Bob Chapek as Disney’s CEO, a shocking turn of events for the world’s largest media company that has been in turmoil ever since Iger stepped down as CEO in February 2020. The shakeup that caught the entertainment industry and Wall Street mostly by surprise was confirmed by Disney’s board of directors late Sunday.
Vampr, launched in 2016, dubbed itself the “LinkedIn for Creatives.” The startup claims to help creatives and artists find people to work with, create new music and monetize their work through its features including premium subscription service Vampr Pro, its distribution arm Vampr Publishing and Vampr Academy, which offers courses and practical video lessons for creatives.
Source: Downtown makes strategic investment in ‘LinkedIn for creatives’ Vampr
Reservoir Media spent $224 million on acquisitions of music rights in its previous financial year (to end of March 2022). The US-based firm is now aiming to spend another $100 million on “strategic M&A” this FY – and says wider macroeconomic concerns aren’t hampering its goal.
The China-based music streaming giant, which operates music services, QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo, generated total revenues of RMB7.37 billion (USD $1.04 billion) in Q3, representing a 5.6% year-over-year decrease. Revenues from online music services for Q3 2022 increased by 18.8% to RMB3.43 billion (USD $482 million) from RMB2.89 billion in Q3 2021. TME says that this increase was driven by strong growth in music subscription revenues.
Source: Tencent Music Entertainment reaches 85.3m paying music users, up 19.8% YoY
According to data from capital market research firm PitchBook, U.S. venture capital deal activity in “publishing” companies (defined as providers of print and internet publishing services, such as newspapers, magazines and books), was $25.2 million in Q3 2022, down from $84.4 million in Q3 2021 and $85.4 million in Q3 2020.
Source: Why media investors are saying publishing company VC funding slowdown is a good thing
Anything World, the platform designed for developing interactive 3D experiences through the power of machine-based learning, announces raising $7.5 million in the company’s “Series Seed Plus” funding round. Investors in the round include Warner Music Group, Acrew Capital, and Alumni Ventures, with an influx of capital following the company’s launch of its high-fidelity animation system.
Source: Warner Music Group Joins $7.5MM in Funding for Anything World
The Walt Disney Company added a whopping 14.6 million DTC customers globally in Q3, but saw its DTC losses widen to $1.474 billion from $630 million. With Disney’s stock price tumbling more than 12% since it revealed its steep streaming losses Tuesday, Wall Street, at least in the here and now, isn’t pleased with the conglomerate’s ambitious platform growth strategy, which calls for it to spend $30 billion on content this year.
Source: Disney Jumps to No. 1 in DTC Subscription Scale … At a Huge Cost (Charts of the Day)
According to a new Bloomberg report, the three majors, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, are currently negotiating new deals with TikTok, and they’re asking for a share of advertising revenues generated on the platform. In July, the major record companies struck so-called ‘buy-out’ agreements with TikTok, which see the platform pay a lump sum to use licensed music across its service from a major’s catalog for two-year periods.
Source: Labels asking TikTok for share of ad revenue in new deal talks (report)
The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions for the Bertelsmann and RTL Group-owned Fremantle, which has been expanding aggressively in scripted in the last year. The acquisition of 72 Films is a major coup in the non-scripted arena for the company considering the production company’s excellent track record of documentary hits.
Source: Fremantle Acquires U.K. Documentary Powerhouse 72 Films in Major Deal