Improving service levels, better aligning the interests of music companies with the artists and songwriters they serve is the single most important transformational opportunity offered by streaming. The first phase of that transformation focused on fairness and transparency, a recognition that the historic relationship of music companies to musicians was unbalanced and often unfair.
Source: How best to spend the fruits of the music streaming boom?
The ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund has acquired manager Albert Grossman’s commission stake in works from Janis Joplin and Gordon Lightfoot. Higher-ups at the ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund, which arrived on the scene in 2020 and is based out of Calgary, just recently unveiled the purchase. Strategically, ICM CMRF has made clear its objective of “acquiring entertainment rights that generate revenue generated from streaming platforms such as YouTube, Spotify and Pandora.”
Source: Gordon Lightfoot, Janis Joplin ‘Commission Rights’ Sold to ICM
BMI’s cuts came just a few days after Bloomberg reported that the company stopped exploring the possibility of a sale. A sale “is no longer an avenue we are considering,” the company said in a statement earlier this month. “We’ve been clear from the start that as we explored strategic opportunities for BMI, we were going to evaluate all options that would support our affiliates and grow the value of their music.”
Tencent Music Entertainment, which operates China’s biggest music streaming platforms, ended the second quarter of 2022 with 82.7 million paying music users. Online music streaming subscribers paid RMB 2.11 billion (USD $315 million) for TME’s music streaming services including QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music in the quarter to end of June.
Source: Tencent Music rakes in $315m from music streaming subs in Q2, adds 2.5m paying users
MetaSing, a ‘decentralized music platform,’ has revealed the completion of a $3 million seed round. In terms of the funding’s uses, MetaSing unveiled a far-reaching roadmap earlier this month, communicating therein that it intends to debut an app on the Play Store and the App Store (besides pursuing a “record label collaboration”) in Q4 2022 before launching a music NFT marketplace as well as a series of “in real life” concerts in 2023.
Source: MetaSing Raises $3MM, Plans ‘Fairer Redistribution’ For Artists
Hipgnosis Song Management has moved into asset-backed securities with a $222 million bond offering powered by catalog royalties. HSM’s arrival into the music-bond space – where the likes of KKR and Northleaf Capital Partners have debuted in recent months – came to light in a formal release and report from the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA).
Source: Hipgnosis Moves Into Asset-Backed Securities With $222MM Bond
Last month, Spotify published its Q2 results for the three months to end of June, and within its SEC filing, the company printed precisely what it paid for recent acquisitions Findaway, Podsights and Chartable, and Sonantic. This information, combined with disclosures in Spotify’s annual report for 2021, paints a clearer picture of Spotify’s acquisition spending specifically on companies in order to grow its podcast business.
Source: Spotify has spent $1.2bn+ on companies to scale its non-music business over the past 3 years
Hamburg’s ROBA Music Publishing and the AP Music Royalties Fund have announced their acquisition of GERIG, which execs say “consists of more than 20 owned and administered music publishers” as well as some 30,000 compositions and “thousands” of masters. Founded 53 years back, ROBA bills itself as “the best home for songwriters, repertoire owners and artists in the digital age,” with its website displaying publishing partners including Reservoir Media and Round Hill Music.
Source: ROBA Music Publishing Buys Germany’s GERIG In $10MM+ Deal
Since launching in November 2020, beatBread claims to have made advances to almost 400 artists and labels “across multiple genres, six continents, and a broad range of career stages.” BeatBread says that its ChordCash tech engine evaluates artists’ streaming and social data to generate advance offers which – when combined with a “streamlined” verification and documentation process – leads to advance funding landing in artists’ bank accounts within days.
Warner Music Group, helped by strong growth in its Warner Chappell Music publishing segment, improved its revenue 12.1% at constant currency (6.9% as reported) to $1.42 billion in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, the company announced Tuesday (Aug. 9). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation decreased 7% to $263 million.
Source: Warner Music Posts $1.42B Revenue in Quarter Boosted By Publishing Growth