Finance

Continuing its foray into digital art, Christie’s Auction House launched its own venture capital firm July 18. Called Christie’s Ventures, it will fund emerging and financial technology companies relevant to the art market. The firm has already invested in LayerZero labs, a startup focused on easing the movement of assets across blockchains.

Source: Despite an NFT Downturn, Christie’s Just Launched a Venture Fund to Improve Technology in the Arts

London-based Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd. said Thursday that revenue for its fiscal year ended March 31 jumped 24.7 percent, partly due to the catalogue acquisitions during the period. “Despite the macro-economic environment, the attractiveness of the music streaming proposition continues to grow,” said Merck Mercuriadis. “It is the lowest-cost entertainment subscription service.”

Source: Hipgnosis Songs Annual Revenue Jumps 25 Percent, Founder Touts Streaming Outlook Despite Economic Clouds

Is the music business sleepwalking into a generational mistake in its deals with TikTok? According to Bloomberg, TikTok generated revenues approaching $4 billion globally in 2021. TikTok is expected to triple this figure to $12 billion in 2022. As a percentage of that total 2021 turnover, the amount TikTok is estimated to have paid recorded music rightsholders ($179m) therefore works out at4.5%.

Source: So… how much did TikTok actually pay the music industry from its $4bn in revenues last year?

The startups—part of what has been called Web3—allowed users to play virtual games and collect digital assets, and the companies’ growth was hinged on interest from people eager to wade into blockchain-based assets. The broader cryptocurrency downturn this year is causing a downturn in users in many Web3 companies, and players and investors are re-evaluating the utility of token-based business models.

Source: Crypto Rout Deflates Some Web3 Startups Buoyed by Push Into Digital Tokens

It’s been a month since Jeff Sagansky’s fiery speech at a NATPE event proclaimed that “we are in a golden age of content production and the dark age of creative profit sharing.” The issue of vanishing backend, to the tune of as much as $1.5B of lost income a year for creative talent, is expected to be front and center in the looming WGA and other unions’ negotiations with the studios on new a film and TV basic agreement.

Source: Jeff Sagansky Says New Streaming Business Model “Has To Be Relegated To The Dust Bin” Now

The music streaming service made its stock market debut in its home country of France on the Euronext Paris this morning (Tuesday July 5), after combining its business with I2PO, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) based in France. The company’s public listing comes seven years after the plug was pulled on its previous attempt at an IPO.

Source: Deezer goes public: Spotify rival makes stock market debut on Euronext Paris

The company says the backing has come from a group of investors including Shiv Prakash (former VP of Investment, Hipgnosis Song Fund),  Aligned Ventures, Kristina Tunkrans (former Chief of Music, Epidemic Sound), Marcus Konstantino (Partner, HDR Partners), Gustav Nordlindh (Founder and CEO at Royal Streaming), Kim Fai Kok and Dara Gill (Framtid).

Source: Licensing platform Freshsound raises $1.33m, recruits ex-Sony and Warner exec Helen McLaughlin to lead catalog expansion

The company has today (June 30) announced in a very short statement that it has “confidentially submitted” a draft S-1 filing with the SEC in the states “relating to the proposed public listing of [Triller’s] Class A common stock.” Other details are thin on the ground (hence the “confidential” submission), but Triller adds: “The public listing is expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.”

Source: TikTok rival Triller files to go public on Nasdaq via ‘the largest creator IPO in history’

UMG has acquired Frank Zappa’s recordings, publishing catalog, film archive, and the complete contents of The Vault, the storage facility that houses the late Zappa’s life’s work. The acquisition also includes Frank Zappa’s name and likeness. With the acquisition, UMG says that its global catalog company Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) will now “build on the company’s already successful track record of working with the Zappa Trust to amplify Frank Zappa’s career”.

Source: Universal buys Frank Zappa recordings, song catalog and complete contents of ‘The Vault’ housing 1,000+ hours of film and video

A tough first half of the year for U.S. media stocks has come to a merciless end. Stock sell-offs and analyst downgrades have been a regular feature of the year to date for media and entertainment giants. And Netflix’s surprise first-quarter subscriber decline has only raised questions about whether broader Hollywood’s streaming pivot will pay off over time.

Source: Many Hollywood Stocks Underperform Broader Market in First Half of Year