Finance

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

US-based physical goods distributor and wholesaler Alliance Entertainment is going to list on the New York Stock Exchange – via a merger with a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company). Alliance has signed a definitive business combination agreement with Adara Acquisition Corp for the flotation.

Source: Music distributor Alliance Entertainment is going public via $480m-valued SPAC merger

The deal includes IAG’s purchase of a controlling interest in Stills’ intellectual property, including his music publishing catalog of 1,000-plus songs from his stints in Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY); Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN); Manassas; The Rides and The Stills-Young Band, as well as his solo career.

Source: Stephen Stills Sells Catalog to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group in Expansive Deal

Warner Music Group has joined a strategic funding round for San Francisco-based Authentic Artists, a music platform that claims to power “metaverse-native virtual artists, digital collectibles and interactive music experiences”. Authentic Artists says that its music platform uses “cutting edge deep learning, game engine and blockchain technologies”.

Source: Warner’s latest web3 move is an investment in virtual artist and metaverse platform Authentic Artists