Peter Jansson, who since 2014 has served as senior manager of international music publishing within Disney Music Group, acknowledged the far-reaching financial effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in a message to his “fellow Music Publishers,” according to a copy of the comments that is circulating on social media.
Source: Disney Music Group Says Russian Sanctions Are ‘A Big Blow For Us’
UMG’s latest catalog deal comes just over two weeks after Sting sold his entire song catalog to Universal’s publishing division UMPG in a deal one expert industry source tells MBW reached a final acquisition fee north of $300 million. UMG hasn’t disclosed the price of the deal with Neil Diamond.
Source: Neil Diamond sells complete song catalog and all master recordings to Universal
Back in October of 2021, Spirit Music Group owner Lyric Capital launched a $500 million catalog fund with Northleaf Capital Partners. Now, Spirit Music has acquired the song rights of country artist Jason Aldean in an estimated $100 million deal. The transaction encompasses 90 percent of the five-time Grammy nominee’s recorded catalog as well as “neighboring rights and SoundExchange royalties,” according to New York City-headquartered Spirit.
Source: Jason Aldean Sells Catalog to Spirit Music In Reported $100 Million Deal
Spotify’s once-heady stock has now tumbled below its opening price in 2018, with potentially further downward pressure ahead. In Wednesday (February 23rd) trading, Spotify stock (SPOT) dropped below its symbolic $147.92 valuation, established on the company’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The drop means that Spotify stock has lost an astounding $16.57 billion in market cap in 2022 alone.
Source: WSJ News Exclusive | BlackRock, Warner Music Invest $750 Million in Female and Diverse Artists
Netflix has reached a deal with the French cinema guilds that will see the streaming giant invest at least €40 million ($45 million) in at least 10 French and European films over the next three years, all of which will get theatrical releases in France. The deal, unveiled Tuesday, marks the first agreement of its kind in France with a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service.
Source: Netflix to Invest $45M in French, European Films in Deal That Could Pave Return to Cannes
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. The addition of Podsights and Chartable will help make the audio-streaming giant a more attractive partner for advertisers and publishers to do business with, according to Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer. “We believe we’re still in the early chapters of digital audio and the opportunity for advertising in this space remains significant,” Ostroff said in a statement.
Source: Spotify Buys Podcast Analytics Firms Podsights and Chartable
Last July, Round Hill’s publicly-traded UK fund raised USD $86.5 million in C share placing, exceeding its minimum target of a $50 million raise. Round Hill’s share issue saw it place 86.5 million C shares in Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited (RHM) at $1.00 per share. On Friday, the firm revealed that the net proceeds of that C Share issue have now been fully invested and will be converted into Ordinary Shares.
Source: Round Hill’s UK fund has acquired 5,600 songs since July, paying an average multiple of 17.9x
The Walt Disney Co. beat Wall Street expectations in its latest quarterly earnings report. The company reported revenue of $21.8 billion and net income of $1.1 billion, with earnings per share of $1.06. Wall Street expectations were for revenue of $18.78 billion and EPS of $0.58.
Source: Disney Crushes Wall Street Expectations, Disney+ Soars to Nearly 130M Subs
For the current quarter, the company plans to up its spending on direct-to-consumer programming by between $800 million and $1 billion versus the comparable fiscal 2021 quarter, CFO Christine McCarthy said during Disney’s fiscal Q1 2022 earnings call Wednesday. On the linear network side, content spend is expected to go up by approximately $500 million.
Source: Disney to Boost Content Spending by Up to $1 Billion This Quarter