acquisitions
Independent live events tech platform Fever said on Thursday it agreed to acquire the U.K. ticketing and discovery platform DICE, according to a press release.
The news comes a day after Fever announced it raised $100 million in a funding round led by L Catterton and Point72.
The tie-up will strengthen Fever’s standing as a global tech entertainment company and will help the 11-year-old DICE scale by giving it access to the 40 countries Fever operates in, the company’s executives said in a statement.
Fever, which operates a discovery platform and media reaching more than 300 million people in 40 countries, says joining forces with DICE will strengthen its global standing while helping DICE to scale. DICE says it has 10 million monthly active fans and ticket sales have doubled in the past two years, according to the press release.
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“We are strengthening our position as the leading global tech player for culture & live entertainment,” Fever’s co-founders Ignacio Bachiller, Alexandre Perez and Francisco Hein said in a statement. “We are firm believers that data and technology have the power to elevate the live music experience — making it more accessible, more personalized, and ultimately more impactful for fans, artists, and venues alike.”
Fever, which combines audience insights, ticketing and discovery tools for promoters and venues, was most-recently valued at $1.8 billion in 2023, Music Business Worldwide reported. The company partners with festivals, such as Primavera Sound, Rock in Rio Lisbon and Pitchfork, as well as independent venues like Clapham Grand.
DICE users will be able to continue using the platform “exactly as they are today,” according to the release.
LionTree Advisors LLC served as the financial advisor DICE, and Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati LLP served as their legal counsel. Fever Labs Inc. was advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Morrisson & Foerster LLP.
Reservoir Media has entered into a strategic partnership with Fool’s Gold Records, adding the A-Trak co-founded independent label to its recorded music portfolio. As part of the deal, Reservoir acquires the master rights to key catalog recordings from artists including A-Trak, Danny Brown and Low Pros. In addition, Reservoir will take on exclusive marketing and distribution responsibilities for all past and future Fool’s Gold releases through its label platform.
As part of the deal, facilitated by Fool’s Gold CFO Jorge Mejias, label manager Nathaniel Heller and A-Trak’s management team at TMWRK, Fool’s Gold joins Reservoir’s roster of influential independent labels, which includes Chrysalis Records, Tommy Boy Music and New State. The partnership also extends to a new sub-label, A-Trak & Friends, which will be distributed by Reservoir. The first release from this imprint, “Reaching” by James Juke featuring LION BABE, debuted last month.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Founded in 2007 by A-Trak (Alain Macklovitch), Nick Catchdubs, David Macklovitch, and the late Joshua Prince, Fool’s Gold has built a reputation for blurring the lines across hip-hop, dance and electronic music. The label played a pivotal role in launching the careers of artists like Kid Cudi, whose debut single “Day ‘N’ Nite” was released through Fool’s Gold, as well as Run the Jewels, Flosstradamus and Danny Brown. A-Trak’s own projects, including his duo Duck Sauce’s hit “Barbra Streisand,” are also part of the catalog now under Reservoir’s distribution.
A-Trak has also made a name for himself as a solo artist with tracks like his remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” and singles such as “Ray Ban Vision” and “Believe.” The Fool’s Gold catalog further includes music from Treasure Fingers, Hoodboi, Tommy Trash and Michael Christmas.
Reservoir president and chief operating officer Rell Lafargue said, “As both founder and artist, A-Trak has built Fool’s Gold into a genre-blurring label that has been at the forefront of hip-hop, house, and everything in between for nearly two decades. We’re proud to welcome A-Trak, Fool’s Gold, and its artists into the Reservoir family as we continue to champion culturally significant independent music.” He continued, “This multifaceted deal also highlights Reservoir’s ongoing expansion in recorded music and our team’s ability to deliver across the full spectrum of the music business.”
A-Trak added, “I’ve been thoroughly impressed by Reservoir ever since the first time we all spoke. Everyone at the company has a deep passion for quality music. A big part of what’s helped Fool’s Gold navigate 18 years in the music biz is staying very nimble and malleable. Reservoir was able to craft a creative deal with us that showed real agility — that’s exactly what we were looking for in a new partner.”
Concord Originals, the film and TV division of music company Concord, has acquired storied film studio RKO, giving the Nashville-based music company a wealth of opportunities to promote and capitalize on its publishing and recorded music catalog.
RKO is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios and produced numerous timeless films and TV productions from the ‘20s to ’50s, including King Kong, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives, It’s a Wonderful Life, Suspicion and The Woman in the Window. Legendary industrialist Howard Hughes owned RKO for a brief stretch, buying the company in 1947 and selling it to General Rubber and Tire in 1955.
The acquisition covers derivative rights for remakes, sequels, stage productions and stories — “anything that someone with creative intent and with a little bit of sweat equity could theoretically turn into a project,” Concord CEO Bob Valentine tells Billboard. Concord’s deal for RKO gives it the opportunity “to develop new and interesting projects around that original IP,” Valentine explains. Turner Broadcasting System, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, acquired the distribution rights to the original RKO library in 1987.
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RKO’s library includes what Valentine calls “some of the most seminal musicals” created in the mid-20th century, many of which have not yet been adapted for live performance. Among RKO’s musicals are films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers such as Top Hat and Swing Time. “I wouldn’t underestimate the potential for theatrical development,” he says.
RKO will continue to operate as a standalone entity within Concord Originals after the transaction. Sophia Dilley, head of Concord Originals, and current RKO president Mary Beth O’Connor will run RKO has co-presidents. RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley will stay on as lead producer and chief storyteller of active RKO projects.
Dilley’s six-person team will expand to nine after the acquisition. RKO’s Brian Anderson will work across both companies as director of contract, administration and distribution, according to Dilley. As part of a recent restructuring at Concord Originals, Wesley Adams was upped to vp of production and distribution, Charlie Hopkins was promoted to vp of development and Imogen Lloyd Webber was given the new role of executive vp of marketing and communications of Concord Originals and Theatricals.
“Our plan will be to grow strategically, because a lot of these film companies grow too fast, they have overhead too fast,” says Dilley. “Our mission is to be really frugal and careful about how we put this together so that it’s set up for success long term.”
Concord Originals was founded in 2021 as an outgrowth of Concord’s realization that it could be “a more direct beneficiary” of derivative works that involved the company’s music rights, says Dilley. Among the productions by Concord Originals are Stax: Soulsville USA, a Peabody Award-winning, four-part HBO documentary that was co-produced with Polygram Entertainment and Warner Music Entertainment, and Let the Canary Sing, a documentary about singer Cyndi Lauper produced with Fine Point Films and Sony Music Entertainment. Concord Originals is also working on a biopic on blues legend Robert Johnson, whose publishing catalog is represented by Concord Music Publishing.
In addition, Concord Originals has a partnership with Skydance Entertainment and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions to develop original projects. One such project is a limited series based on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Rogers & Hammerstein’s catalog was acquired by Concord in 2017 through its purchase of Imagem Music Group.
Private equity’s involvement in the active market for music catalogs continues to be a sore subject at one of America’s finest literary outlets.
“There are vested interests now that don’t want new music to flourish,” music historian Ted Gioia told The Atlantic. “The private-equity funds just want you to listen to the same songs over and over again, because they own them.” A similar argument — or warning — came last year from The New York Times, which bemoaned that “private equity is destroying our music ecosystem” and “gobbling up the rights for old hits and pumping them back into the present.” Gioia made the same argument in 2022 at his Substack publication, The Honest Broker, which The Atlantic later republished.
Not only are these big investors contributing to old music’s dominance, the arguments go, but record companies’ dedication to the past is hurting the music of the present — both in terms of quality and its share of listening on streaming platforms. Record labels “don’t spend any money on research and development to revitalize their business, although every other industry looks to innovation for growth and consumer excitement,” Gioia dubiously wrote in 2022.
Okay, so private equity has a bad reputation — sometimes deservedly so — for its involvement in unbridled capitalism. Think of the infamous leveraged buy-out, in which investors borrow money to acquire an underperforming company. The buyer inevitably makes drastic changes, often including mass layoffs and selling off subsidiaries. The company may be resuscitated. But if the endeavor fails, it may also go bankrupt (see iHeartMedia) or be sold for parts by the creditors (see EMI Music).
But blaming private equity for the current state of music — whatever it might be, but I’ll get to that below — shows a misunderstanding of institutional investments in music assets. Private equity firms aren’t interested in making their purchases popular — they invest in catalogs that never stopped being popular. The rise of streaming platforms made music an attractive asset class because the royalties became more predictable, and that evergreen nature of desirable catalogs fits into institutional investors’ desire for steady, low-risk returns. It’s true that new releases account for a minority of on-demand music streams. In 2024, the share of catalog — releases more than 18 months old — stood at 73.3% of on-demand audio streams, according to Luminate. That was up from 66.4% in 2020.
But, as Billboard noted in 2022, the rise in catalog’s share of streaming can be attributed to “shallow catalog” rather than legitimate oldies. Shallow catalog is relatively young music that has aged out of the current category but, with the help of streaming platforms’ playlists, remains relevant far longer than radio hits of decades past.
According to Luminate’s 2024 recap, nearly half — 49.6% — of U.S. on-demand audio streams were songs released in the 2020s, and about 90% of streams came from songs released this century, the same percentage as when Billboard ran the numbers three years ago.
To believe that old catalog is crowding out new releases, you’d have to think that the major labels’ partnerships with private equity have infected their desire to develop and break new hits. In 2024, Universal Music Group invested in Chord Music Partners, which was co-founded by Dundee Partners and KKR (the latter exited Chord last year). This year, Warner Music Group bought a majority stake in Tempo Music, while founder Providence Equity Partners retains a minority stake.
If these owners of music portfolios are trying to sabotage young artists, they’re doing a lousy job. The old catalogs prized by private equity-backed investors — music from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s — accounted for just 5.7% of streams in 2024. That’s roughly 1 in 19 streams coming from music that originated before the Gulf War.
To say that old classics crowd out new music assumes the music business is a zero-sum game with an equal number of winners and losers. It’s not. An opportunity won by an old song doesn’t necessarily equate to a loss for a younger song. A Post Malone track might work fine for an action scene in a Vietnam War-era film, but the director is going to prefer Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through the Jungle” almost every time.
Catalog valuation expert Citrin Cooperman recently ran across an example that shows music’s value isn’t finite. Between 2022 and 2024, after an older generation started streaming music during the pandemic, catalogs from the ‘80s outperformed music from other decades. But the surge in ‘80s music “has not crowded out newer music,” says Citrin’s Barry Massarsky. “It’s just added more value to the supply of music on streaming.”
The touring business offers more proof that young artists aren’t being hamstrung by their predecessors. Billboard Boxscore’s top tours of 2024 includes numerous newcomers whose careers took off after private equity fell in love with music. The No. 3 artist on the list, Zach Bryan, released his first major label album in 2022. Bad Bunny, who finished at No. 9, released his breakthrough album, YHLQMDLG, in 2020. Elsewhere in the Top 40 are several relatively young artists, including Luke Combs (No. 11), Karol G (No. 12), Travis Scott (No. 13) and Olivia Rodrigo (No. 14).
The top tours list does feature legacy acts that have — or easily could — sell their catalogs for large sums, such as Coldplay (No. 1), Bruce Springsteen (No. 5), The Rolling Stones (No. 6) and U2 (No. 7). But there’s also Noah Kahan (No. 29), who broke just three years ago, and K-pop group SEVENTEEN (No. 31), who didn’t land on a U.S. album chart until 2022.
But what about claims that the quality of today’s pop music is lacking? Since I’m not the best person to make qualitative statements about the state of pop music, I talked to some Billboard co-workers who follow trends, interview artists, review concerts and generally have their fingers on pop music’s pulse. They gave me sober assessments of current music that contrasts with The Atlantic’s naysaying.
One reason today’s pop music could seem suffocated by the past is because listening has become personalized and fractured. Numerous co-workers point out that radio- and MTV-driven hits have been replaced by countless niches and sub-genres. Dig deep enough and you’ll find innovative and meaningful music that isn’t surfaced by TikTok and Spotify algorithms.
Catalog’s apparent dominance could also be the result of newer ways to measure popularity. “Streaming has made catalog success stories more visible,” says Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz. “We can see how long the classic Christmas singles linger around the top of streaming playlists every holiday season or hear The Neighbourhood’s ‘Sweater Weather’ soundtrack more TikTok clips with every new autumn.”
And as Billboard’s Andrew Unterberger notes, the revival of old songs didn’t start in either the private equity or TikTok-streaming eras. The Everly Brothers’ 1965 hit “Unchained Melody” re-entered the Hot 100 chart due to its inclusion in the 1990 motion picture Ghost. In 1992, the movie Wayne’s World breathed new life into Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The Dirty Dancing soundtrack, filled with songs from the early ‘60s, was a huge success in 1987. People have always relived the past — especially on radio — but now it’s more obvious.
Maybe the quality of today’s music isn’t a problem in the first place. “In the last 18 months or so, I think we’re actually in the healthiest time for pop music of the last decade — definitely of the 2020s,” says Unterberger. Since the pandemic, which Unterberger believes coincided with a drought in future superstars, artists such as Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kahan and Bryan became hitmakers and arena-fillers without following traditional industry blueprints. “People like that are saying something a little different or saying something a little bit more specific to their times,” he says.
There’s some evidence that pop music was especially potent in 2024. MIDiA Research noted last week that from 2016 to 2023, the top tracks in the U.K. had a decreasing share of total audio streams, with the top 10’s share falling from 2.0% in 2016 to 0.7% in 2023 while the top 100 dropped from 10.3% to 3.7%. But both figures reversed course in 2024: the top 10 inched up to 0.8% and the top 100 rose slightly to 3.8%. What’s behind the increase? MIDiA attributes it to a particularly notable year for superstar releases (Taylor Swift, Beyonce) but also “a new class of superstars” (Carpenter, Roan, Gracie Abrams) and an A&R process that puts developing stars over signing TikTok viral hits.
It’s not a stretch to say today’s pop music isn’t as deep as, say, Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” The opening line, “They paved paradise, put up a parking lot,” provides more social commentary than the average pop song. But maybe critics like Gioia are expecting too much from stars of the current era. Billboard’s Lyndsey Havens notes that artists seem unwilling or uninterested in commenting on potentially divisive issues and are instead focusing on relationships rather than cultural or political commentary. “Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ is catchy, and it was obviously a huge hit, but it’s not saying anything,” she says.
That’s not private equity’s fault, though. That’s the era we live in. People don’t get their politics from musicians the way they did when the U.S. had only three national TV networks and people received their news from one or two local papers. In the internet age, politics and cultural issues permeate everything. Infusing controversial themes into music is like talking politics during Thanksgiving dinner — somebody is likely to feel alienated. Popular artists don’t want to divide people. At the end of the day, says Havens, pop songs “are doing their job.” Maybe the best lesson here is not to over-romanticize the past. The classic catalog sales that grab headlines don’t necessarily represent the most popular music of their day. “Big Yellow Taxi” — which Mitchell has not sold, by the way — has become a timeless classic, but was less popular than dozens of other tracks while reaching No. 67 on the Hot 100 in 1970 and No. 24 in 1975. “Even at the most innovative moments in pop music history,” says Unterberger, “there was still dreck on the charts.” Additional reporting by Liz Dilts Marshall.
The European Commission said on Friday it will investigate Universal Music Group’s planned acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings, according to a statement.
The investigation will determine whether “the transaction threatens to significantly affect competition in certain markets of the music value chain, where both companies are active, in Austria and in the Netherlands,” which requested the probe, according to an announcement by the EC. UMG is legally registered in the Netherlands and its stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam.
A UMG spokesperson said a statement that the company looks “forward to continuing to co-operate with the European Commission in the weeks ahead. We are confident that we will close this acquisition in the second half of the year, on its original timeline.”
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UMG, the world’s largest music company, announced plans late last year to acquire Downtown for $775 million. The deal would significantly expand UMG’s presence in the market catering to do-it-yourself artists, songwriters and indie labels.
New York-based Downtown is the owner of the direct-to-creator distributor CD Baby, and the direct-to-business technology and distribution platform FUGA, the administration business SongTrust, and royalty and financial services companies, including Curve.
The fast-growing sector of the music business serving artists and companies that want to maintain greater control of their works has seen a flurry of investment and acquisitions in recent years.
In addition to its bid for Downtown, UMG acquired a controlling stake in the indie label group [PIAS], an expansion of its 2022 investment in the London-based business.
IMPALA, the European association of independent music companies, which has been critical of UMG’s prior acquisitions, said it welcomed the EC’s investigation and hopes regulators will stop “UMG’s juggernaut strategy.”
“The acquisition would further entrench UMG’s position across European music markets, squeezing out competition, narrowing opportunities for independents and the artists they work with and allowing UMG to exercise more control over streaming services,” IMPALA said in a statement.
In a research note published this week, analysts at J.P. Morgan agreed the deal would increase UMG and Virgin Music’s reach, and said it would enhance UMG’s “support of independent music entrepreneurs … [and] double Downtown’s [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] over 2-3 years.”
UMG’s deal must receive regulatory approval to proceed, and the European Commission said it has asked UMG to officially report the deal.
Vobile, which provides AI-powered digital content protection and transaction services for entertainment companies, sports leagues, record labels and publishers, completed its acquisition of audio content identification platform Pex for an undisclosed amount. The team at Pex joined Vobile as part of the deal.
Live Nation Entertainment has expanded in Japan by acquiring Hayashi International Promotions (HIP), a leading live music promoter for both domestic and international artists in the country. Through the deal, the companies hope to elevate J-pop artists on the global stage while allowing international artists to gain more traction in the country. “HIP has been at the heart of Japan’s live music scene for over 40 years, and our focus has always been on delivering incredible concerts for fans,” said Kaori Hayashi, CEO at Hayashi International Promotions, in a statement. “Partnering with Live Nation allows us to keep doing this with greater scale, giving Japanese artists the opportunity to perform to new audiences and strengthening Japan’s position as a must-visit destination for major acts.”
Warner Music Group (WMG) partnered with Annual Acharia, an entrepreneur and talent strategist who founded the multi-platform production and distribution company Desi Hits! — which helped introduce Western artists like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears to South Asian audiences — to launch 5 Junction, a joint-venture label focused on discovering and developing U.S.-based artists of South Asian heritage while furthering the success of WMG’s existing artists from South Asia and its diaspora. The new label will collaborate closely with WMG’s India team, Los Angeles-based Warner Records and Toronto-based 91 North Records (a joint-venture label between Warner Music India and Warner Music Canada).
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EMPIRE signed a multi-year partnership with Cambodian music company Baramey Production. The deal will provide Baramey’s current and future roster — including its biggest star, VannDa — with global distribution, A&R support and industry connections. The Baramey roster also includes YuuHai, Vanthan, Zuana and North. “This deal is a game-changer,” said Laura Mam, CEO of Baramey Production, in a statement. “Now, Cambodian music is able to have a presence on the world stage, and EMPIRE will help us build careers for artists who have dreams to reach the international stage.”
Fan engagement platform Sesh announced it has raised $7 million in funding to date, led by Miura Global with participation from angel investors in the music and tech industries. Sesh will use the money to expand the capabilities of the platform, onboard more artists and enhance its technology. Announced simultaneously was the launch of Sesh’s “Member Card,” which lets fans “register and seamlessly download a digital pass to their phone’s wallet,” allowing them to receive direct push notifications from their favorite artists. Sesh allows artists full ownership of fan data, including email, location, name, date of birth and engagement insights, letting them cultivate their fan bases without going through third-party platforms. The company currently works with more than 250 artists, including Yeri Mua, Anitta, Alleh & Yorghaki, Mau y Ricky, Lasso, Timø, Nathy Peluso and Zoe Gotusso.
Dutch event management platform Stager signed a partnership with Spotify that will enable all users of the platform to list artists’ upcoming events at their venues and festivals directly on those artists’ official Spotify pages. According to Stager, more than 21,000 artists played a show at a venue, club or festival using the platform last year.
UnitedMasters partnered with EVEN, a direct-to-fan sales platform. Under the deal, UnitedMasters’ Partner artists (and, soon, its SELECT artists) will skip the waitlist and enjoy immediate access to EVEN resources, including direct music sales, daily payments, fan data ownership, marketing support and more. According to the companies, UnitedMasters artists such as Raheem DeVaughn, Casey Veggies, Stocks and Serayah have already enjoyed success on EVEN.
WieRok Entertainment Group acquired Christian music label Amplo Records, which was originally established in partnership with WieRok founders Lance and Tammie Wieland and Christian music industry executives Marcus Rixon and Jay Speight. Through the acquisition, singer/songwriter Nathan Sheridan, songwriters Phoebe Scott and Kolby Koloff, and songwriters/producers Andrew Barlow and Cole Tague will come solely under WieRok. The company, which launched its flagship WieRok Records label in January, also announced its expansion into the general market by establishing Wie3 Records, which signed “popera” vocalist David Ask.
Manifest Financial, a new financial solutions platform co-founded by Michael Cavallaro and Manny Alvarez that serves creators and artists, launched a business-banking mobile app and struck partnerships with music distributor Too Lost and hoo.be, an invite-only link-in-bio tool for brands and creators. “Creators face unique challenges that don’t fit conventional banking categories. That’s why we built Manifest Financial, to bridge this gap and provide the tailored financial services that the creator economy desperately needs,” said Cavallaro in a statement. Through the deal with Manifest, Too Lost founder/CEO Gregory Hirschhorn says Too Lost artists will enjoy “seamless access to smarter business banking solutions, faster payments, and financial tools designed for their careers.”
Honduran artist Key-Key’s indie label Latin Music Group — where he serves as partner alongside CEO/co-founder Neil Levine — announced a global distribution deal with The Orchard. As part of his strategic partnership with Latin Music Group, Key-Key will “now have access to a dedicated team and the resources to push his career even further, with global distribution ensuring his music reaches new international audiences,” according to a press release. “This isn’t just about making music; it’s about building something meaningful and lasting, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to turn my passion into a global and lasting impact,” the “Tengo Un Plan” singer said in a statement. — Griselda Flores
ASM Global struck a deal with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to assume the management and operation of special events at the school’s 7,637-seat Stuart C. Siegel Center. Under the agreement, ASM will work to attract outside events, including concerts, to the arena.
Titan Content formed a strategic partnership with Imperial Music (a division of Republic Records) to collaborate on its upcoming girl group, AtHeart. The group — which released a new teaser video and launched official social media channels alongside the announcement — will share a “pre-debut introduction song and video” on March 14, according to a press release. AtHeart consists of seven members: Michi, Katelyn, Seohyeon, Aurora, Bome, Arin and Nahyun. The group’s formation was led by former SM Entertainment CEO Nikki Semin Han.
Spotify began accepting audiobooks from ElevenLabs, an AI software company that provides voice narration technology. Authors can now distribute their ElevenLabs content to Spotify and other audiobook retailers via audiobook distributor Findaway Voices. According to a blog post, all digitally narrated titles will be “clearly marked in the metadata on Spotify” and other platforms, while the book description “will be prepended with the first sentence stating, ‘This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.’”
Korean entertainment group Starship Entertainment struck a copyright partnership with Chinese music platform NetEase Cloud Music. The deal brings Starship’s entire catalog, including Korean girl group IVE, to Chinese audiences. According to a press release, NetEase Cloud Music boasts 206 million monthly active users.
Universal Music Japan acquired a majority stake in A-Sketch, a Japanese artist management business and record label that boasts acts including Saucy Dog, Flumpool and Ayumu Imazu on its roster. A-Sketch is also home to Mash A&R, a rock management company in Japan that manages The Oral Cigarettes, FREDERIC and Saucy Dog. Under the deal, Universal Music Japan will acquire the stake in A-Sketch that’s currently owned by Amuse. A-Sketch will now operate as a label division within Universal Music Japan and continue to be led by A-Sketch representative director/president Nobuyuki Soma, who will report to Universal Music Japan president/CEO Naoshi Fujikura. “The acquisition will further bolster Universal Music Japan’s in-house artist management capabilities and expand its ability to drive new creative and commercial opportunities for its artists,” as stated in a press release.
Reservoir Media acquired U.K. dance and electronic label New State. The deal includes New State’s entire recorded music catalog consisting of more than 13,000 tracks by artists including Zero 7, The Beloved, Paul Oakenfold, Dirty Vegas, D:Ream, Double Trouble, Rebel MC and Congo Natty. Reservoir will continue marketing and releasing new music by New State artists via its Chrysalis Records label.
Create Music Group announced a strategic catalog acquisition and go-forward venture with Pack Records (a.k.a. Pack.), a New York and New Orleans-based indie record label, publisher and artist partnership company co-founded by Sky McElroy, Jett Wells and Gavin Chops. The companies previously established a publishing joint venture. Under the deal, Pack. and its artists will have access to Create’s proprietary technology, global distribution, data-driven marketing insights and monetization tools. Pack.’s roster includes aldn, CONNIE, Blood Cultures, daine, Dava and Godly the Ruler. Its catalog boasts recording and publishing rights “at the heart of internet and gaming culture viral moments,” according to a press release, including aldn’s “icantbelieveiletyougetaway,” Ezekiel’s “help_urself,” Godford’s “Downtown,” and Internet Girl’s “PULL UP,” as well as the CONNIE-produced “DIVE IN!” by JELEEL! and “Stupid” by Lexa Gates.
Hook, the AI-powered platform that allows users can legally remix songs and earn income for doing so, signed a strategic partnership with digital music distributor Too Lost. More than 300,000 artists and labels will be brought to Hook through the deal, including Teddy Swims, Tommy Richman, Ty Dolla $ign, Fivio Foreign, Kodak Black, Justin Beiber, Playboi Carti, James Blake, Pink Sweats and Emei. This is Hook’s fourth distribution partnership following deals with FUGA/Downtown, Revelator and Gyrostream.
iHeartMedia and the government communications office of the State of Qatar signed a multi-year partnership that aims to develop a state-of-the-art podcast studio in Qatar and release both original and existing podcast content to Arabic audiences. Under the agreement, iHeart will also offer specialized masterclasses to develop local podcasting talent and host global industry events, including annual Web Summit gatherings — the partnership was announced at this year’s Web Summit in Qatar — in an effort to position the Middle Eastern country as a regional podcasting hub.
Synch platform SourceAudio struck a deal with the Wolfman Jack estate through which the company will repurpose and discover new monetization opportunities for the radio legend’s shows. Through the AudioGenius tool on SongLab — SourceAudio’s AI-powered suite of music tools — the Wolfman Jack estate will be able to “reuse, repurpose, control, and monetize their valuable content archives across today’s digital platforms and ecosystem,” according to a press release. According to Tod Weston Smith, son of Wolfman Jack and president of Wolfman Jack Entertainment, AudioGenius “has significantly streamlined our process, allowing our Wolfman Jack team to access and retrieve clips from our extensive digital archives in seconds, rather than spending hours searching, and we are now able to generate additional revenue from previously underutilized or unused content.”
SoundCloud partnered with Ticketmaster and its self-serve event ticketing and marketing platform Universe in an integration that will allow SoundCloud’s Artist Pro users to create and manage events; sell tickets and share shows directly on the streaming platform; and enjoy amplification opportunities across SoundCloud, Ticketmaster and Universe. They will also have the ability to use Universe to manage and track ticket sales.
Sony Music Entertainment acquired Czech Republic-based record label Supraphon, furthering its expansion in Central Europe. The Supraphon roster includes recordings from artists such as Karel Gott, Lucie Bílá, Marek Ztracený, Škwor, Olympic, Hana Zagorová and Václav Neckář. A press release states that the Czech music market notched recorded music revenue of $84.1 million in 2023, with streaming boasting 60.1% of the total market with a volume of $50.5 million — an 18% increase from the prior year. The release adds that seven out of the top 10 songs and albums in the country in 2023 were put out by Czech artists. Libor Holeček will continue leading Supraphon as MD, Martin Kudla will remain as executive director and Iva Milerová, who was previously chairwoman of board of directors, will continue on in an advisory role.
Warner Music Italy and Warner Chappell Music Italy signed a deal to acquire the catalog of DWA Records, a leading Italo Disco label co-founded in 1989 by singer-songwriters and producers Roberto Zanetti and Francesco Bontempi. The agreement also encompasses the catalog of Extravaganza, DWA’s music publishing business. DWA’s catalog includes more than 250 masters including “The Rhythm of the Night” performed by Corona and written by Bontempi; “Happy” and “Uh La La” by Alexia; and “Baila” performed by Zucchero and written by Zanetti.
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MENA streaming service Anghami announced a new round of funding from OSN Group of up to $55 million, with a $12 million initial investment in a convertible note program. OSN and Anghami struck an initial partnership in April 2024, merging OSN+’s video streaming capabilities and 18,000 hours of content with Anghami’s portfolio of 100 million songs and podcasts. The companies claim video streaming subscribers grew 41% between April and October 2024. The new funds will allow the platforms to expand their content library, enhance the user experience using new technologies and strengthen their presence in the MENA region. It will additionally be used to implement innovations including AI-driven personalization.
Symphonic Distribution signed a global distribution deal with Taiwanese indie label Kafka By the Sea, whose roster includes Taiwanese rock band KST and indie-pop band Bubble Tea and Cigarettes. The first release under the pact was Sherry Z’s debut album Time.
Decentralized music community and discovery platform Audius struck a multi-territory licensing agreement with International Copyright Enterprise (ICE). The new deal establishes a pathway for more than 330,000 rights holders to receive royalties when their music is used on Audius in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific, among other territories.
U.K.-based live entertainment company ATG Entertainment acquired SOM Produce, a theater producer, operator and distributor based in Spain. Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal. SOM Produce, headquartered in Madrid, is a leading global producer and distributor of musicals and plays in the Spanish language. It manages five theaters in the center of Madrid — including Nuevo Teatro Alcalá, Teatro Rialto, Teatro Nuevo Apolo, Teatro Calderón and Teatro Amaya — and has produced more than 20 shows, including Mamma Mia!, The Book of Mormon, West Side Story, Grease, Chicago and Cabaret. ATG is majority owned by Providence Equity Partners.
Classical music label Pentatone signed a licensing partnership with Dutch promotion and distribution platform Collabhouse, which launched a pre-cleared artist music library in November. Through the deal, Pentatone will provide its entire public domain catalog to a broader community of creators, allowing composers, filmmakers, advertisers and more to work with musical works by composers including Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Vivaldi and more, “all interpreted by the most renowned artists,” according to a press release.
The Peoria Civic Center Authority and Prairie Home Alliance secured a naming-rights agreement for the 2,200-capacity theater within Peoria Civic Center for seven years. The venue will now be known as the Prairie Home Alliance Theater. Prairie Home Alliance is a locally owned and operated group of 10 home improvement companies across central Illinois. This is the first naming rights deal for the theater in its 42-year history.
Danish microphone producer DPA Microphones acquired the majority share of Vienna-based audio products company Austrian Audio. According to a press release, DPA is a leading manufacturer within several miniature microphone categories while Austrian Audio is strong in the large diaphragm microphone market. “Together, the brands provide a broader product range for discerning sound engineers in industries like broadcast, musical, theatre, live events and recording studios,” states a press release announcing the deal. “By joining forces, the brands will design and develop sophisticated, professional audio solutions that meet the evolving demands within the acoustical and digital fields, all while prioritizing the user experience.”
Boiler Room, a longstanding event and streaming series, has been acquired by European festival organizer Superstruct Entertainment. A representative for the company declined to disclose the terms of the deal.
Boiler Room was previously owned by ticketing platform Dice, which acquired it in 2021. Dice will remain Boiler Room’s official ticketing partner.
A statement on the deal notes that Boiler Room’s team will remain responsible for leadership of the business under Superstruct, “and it will retain its identity with active support for theirdevelopment through Superstruct’s global resources and expertise.”
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A representative for Superstruct confirms that Boiler Room will continue generating revenue through brand partnerships (Boiler Room has had long-term deals with Pernod Ricard and Ballantine’s), along with ticketed events and its apparel brand. While Boiler Room videos regularly rack up millions of streams on YouTube, Boiler Room makes almost nothing from this YouTube content, as it doesn’t own any rights to the music.
“As we turn 15 and enter our next stage of growth, we’re excited to be partnering with Superstruct for this chapter,” Boiler Room founder Blaise Bellville said in a statement. “We feel in good company with their roster of brands, they offer us new opportunities to grow, whilst understanding the importance of staying true to the authenticity that, at its core, is what makes Boiler Room special.”
“We are proud to welcome the talented team at Boiler Room, who have managed to consistently grow the platform over the last fifteen years whilst maintaining a distinct cultural approach,” added Superstruct Entertainment CEO Roderik Schlösser. “This partnership perfectly aligns with Superstruct’s mission to celebrate and amplify cultures through creativity, collaboration, and live entertainment. Boiler Room is in the best position it has ever been and we are excited to support them in their promising future ahead.”
In June, Billboard reported that global investment firms KKR and CVC had agreed to acquire Superstruct Entertainment from Providence Equity Partners. Superstruct — which has a portfolio of more than 80 events including the electronic festivals DGTL, Mysteryland, Parookaville, Brunch Electronik, along with Sziget, one of the largest music festivals in Europe, and the world’s largest heavy metal festival, Germany’s Wacken Open Air — was founded in 2017 by Providence and James Barton, a former Live Nation executive who also founded the Liverpool-based night club Cream. The terms of that deal were not disclosed, though the Financial Times reported that Superstruct sold for around €1.3 billion ($1.39 billion).
In the ‘00s, The Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan looked at the disruptive nature of early social media platform MySpace and saw the death of the record label. It didn’t exactly work out that way — not with MySpace, not with Facebook, not with TikTok. In fact, the major music companies became adept at using these platforms to break artists and perpetuate their market power; if there’s a breakout song on TikTok, labels rush into an old-fashioned bidding war. While social media certainly disrupted the music business, it didn’t uproot the traditional record label model.
There have been numerous other game-changers over the years that failed — on their own, at least — to radically alter how major labels do business, including independent distribution. After TuneCore launched in 2006, major labels continued to sign artists and own their intellectual property, albeit to broader “360” deals that incorporated more than recorded music rights. Nor did the advent of streaming by itself reshape the structure of major record labels. The artists with the most streaming success are involved with major labels in one way or another, be it a traditional record contract, a joint venture or, in rare cases like Taylor Swift, a distribution deal.
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Corgan may have misjudged social media’s sole impact on record labels, but he wasn’t entirely wrong about its ultimate influence. When combined, social media, independent distribution and streaming form a potent combination that has changed the balance of power and induced major labels to change how they promote music around the world. This dynamic isn’t exactly new, but it was never clearer than in 2024. This year, major labels have increasingly embraced the role of being service providers to those parties who prefer to remain independent and retain ownership of their intellectual property.
A few years ago, Universal Music Group (UMG) was pouring money into superstar acquisitions such as Bob Dylan’s and Sting’s song catalogs. More recently, the company has been focusing on its artist services model. In the last three months alone, UMG acquired indie label group [PIAS] and agreed to acquire Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million, though the proposed deal has encountered opposition from the independent music community and will need to pass regulatory scrutiny before being finalized. The company also purchased Outdustry — which has an artist- and label-services arm that focuses on China, India and other high-growth emerging markets — and bought a stake in Chord Music Partners, giving UMG distribution and publishing administration duties for the more than 60,000 songs in the investment vehicle’s catalog.
In fact, 2024 played out much like UMG CEO Lucian Grainge said it would. His January memo predicted the company would continue to expand globally and offer labels outside of mature markets a “full suite of artist services” while “acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.” To be fair, UMG was already on that path: In 2022, it acquired m-theory’s artist services company and installed its founders, JT Myers and Nat Pastor, as co-CEOs of Virgin Music Group to expand Virgin’s independent music division globally.
Warner Music Group (WMG) appears to have sensed the shifting landscape, too, as there has been a noticeable shift in messaging during Robert Kyncl’s tenure as the company’s CEO. In the Stephen Cooper era, WMG was the music community’s leading investor in Web3 startups. In contrast, Kyncl has chosen to focus on expanding WMG’s footprint globally. WMG briefly signaled its interest in acquiring Believe in March and April after the French company announced a CEO-led effort to take the company private. Notably, Believe has a global label services business and a presence in developing markets that take advantage of the “glocalization” of local markets and global streaming platforms’ ability to help music travel across borders. WMG ultimately passed on pursuing Believe, but Kyncl has followed his peers’ interest in emerging markets, purchasing stakes in Indian companies Divo and Global Music Junction.
The service model isn’t an entirely original approach. Grainge wrote that UMG is “creating the blueprint for the labels of the future,” but UMG is doing what major music companies have always done: following trends and buying independent companies that established a particular market. Sony Music already bought into the service model with The Orchard and AWAL, the latter purchased in 2022 for $430 million. Independents such as Believe, OneRPM and Symphonic Distribution have become established players by combining distribution and artist services, while investors have poured money into independents such as Create Music Group — which this year raised $165 million at a $1 billion valuation — and gamma, which is backed by $1 billion.
But the well-established blueprint was never more of a hot commodity than in 2024. In the music business, nothing signifies the relevance of a business model like the major labels’ desire to buy it and integrate it into their systems — especially when the largest music companies feel they have no choice. The holy trinity of social media, independent distribution and global streaming platforms has given artists an alternative to the much-derided major label record contract. Artists who want to own their intellectual property and have more creative control have never had more of the tools necessary to be independent. That includes financing options, such as advances from well-funded independents or royalty advances from a new breed of financial services companies. When there’s no need for radio promotion and shelf space at brick-and-mortar retailers, the independent model looks a lot more attractive — not only for artists but for the major labels that have become increasingly keen on buying into it.
Ironically, the major labels’ acceptance of the independents’ business model means the music business is becoming less independent. Trade groups such as the Association of Independent Music and IMPALA quickly spoke out against UMG’s agreement to purchase Downtown, just as they did with Sony Music’s purchase of AWAL. U.K. regulators ultimately concluded that AWAL was a “relatively small player” and that the deal did not substantially reduce competition. Time will tell if competition watchdogs feel the same about UMG’s much larger purchase of Downtown. In any case, the independents have proved that artist and label services businesses are a good fit for the modern music business. The next step was always going to be consolidation.