Finance

The music rights market was on fire in 2021. MBW estimates – based on confirmed prices and information from industry sources – that at least $5.05 billion was spent on catalog and music rights acquisitions across the 60-plus big-money deals we reported on during last year. That figure includes deals for individual catalogs sold by artists and songwriters, plus acquisitions of music rights portfolios by companies from other companies.

Source: At least $5 billion was spent on music rights acquisitions in 2021. Could 2022 be even bigger?

One of the most internationalized of audiobook-led digital streaming services, Storytel’s reports are followed by some as one indicator of the direction of digital subscription, as well as streaming audio and ebooks, in world book markets. At the end of 2021, Storytel reports, it had 1.81 million paying subscribers, a 22-percent gain over 2020 and just behind the company’s predicted range of 1.82 to 1.84 million.

Source: Sweden’s Storytel Cites a 20-Percent Gain in 2021 over 2020

On January 11, fans will be able to invest in Nas’s music by buying shares in the royalties earned from streaming for two of his tracks: Ultra Black, the lead single from his 2021 Grammy Award winning-album King’s Disease, and Rare, a single from follow-up 2022 Grammy Award-nominated album, King’s Disease II.

Source: Nas to let fans buy shares in streaming royalties via NFTs on music investment platform Royal

Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, the majority owner of Warner Music Group, has struck an agreement to sell 8.56 million shares of WMG’s Class A Common Stock to Morgan Stanley. Warner Music Group itself didn’t sell any shares in the offering, and won’t receive any of the proceeds. Morgan Stanley, as underwriter, is now expected to sell on the 8.56 million shares to investors through various channels.

Source: Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries sells another $351m in WMG stock to Morgan Stanley

Decentralized blockchain video streaming network Livepeer Inc. today announced it has raised $20 million in new funding to maintain its infrastructure growth. The Series B-1 round was led by financier Alan Howard and Tiger Global, with participation from existing investors. This round follows up Livepeer’s Series B round in July, which raised $20 million, and brings the total funds raised by the company to $48 million.

Source: Blockchain-based video streaming service Livepeer raises $20M – SiliconANGLE

Symphonic – which hired former SoundExchange higher-up Ali Lieberman as VP of product last month – intends to put the $37 million tranche towards accelerating “technology development,” increasing the size of its team, expanding into new markets, and executing “acquisitions across the music and technology sectors,” higher-ups said.

Source: Symphonic Distribution Completes 37M Series B as Distributor Valuation Growth Continues

The U.S. recorded music industry is projected to exceed a 48-year revenue record set in 1999, according to RAIN’s examination of reports from the RIAA. The historical revenue high point was set in 1999 at $14.6-billion in recorded music revenue.

Source: 2021 U.S. music revenue, driven by streaming, on pace to set new record (RAIN projection) – RAIN News

BlockbusterDAO has just launched with the goal of buying the defunct video retail chain. “Our mission is to liberate Blockbuster,” declares a pinned tweet from the DAO’s official account (which already had to warn followers about impostors). The group aims to “turn Blockbuster into the first-ever DeFilm streaming platform and a mainstay of both the Web3 brands and products.”

Source: BlockbusterDAO Wants to Raise $5 Million in NFT Sales to Buy the Defunct Video Brand – Decrypt

In the wake of global box office roaring back with Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, studios executives would be financially foolish to put this year’s rich slate of event movies theatrical day-and-date on their streaming services. But as older adults remain slow to return to cinemas during the pandemic, the question becomes whether more of these types of movies, often Oscar-bait ones, will be released day-and-date or on a truncated theatrical window.

Source: With Tentpoles Bound To Surge The 2022 Box Office, The Great Theatrical-Streaming Day & Date Experiment Goes Out Like A Dud In 2021