acquisitions
Page: 2
The consortium acquiring French music company Believe has acquired 85.04% of share capital and 73.27% of voting rights in a tender offer that ends Friday (June 21). Believe owns digital distributor TuneCore, publishing administration service Sentric and such record labels as Naive, Nuclear Blast and Groove Attack. The bidding company is a consortium led by […]
WMT Digital has acquired Aloompa, a leading mobile app provider for live event experiences.
Drew Burchfield, who co-founded Aloompa in 2008, will board WMT Digital as a vp, with his entire team also joining the company. WMT focuses on technology solutions for fan engagement, storytelling, data applications and revenue platforms.
“We started in 2012 as a tech consultancy and evolved into a tech integrator model, and then eventually a digital platform and a tech provider,” says Andres Focil, founder/CEO of WMT Digital. “The goal of the business was to think about ways that we can unlock storytelling through technology. Today platforms are going more modular, flexible and scalable and really shifting from traditional content into much more dynamic storytelling content and we spend a lot of time thinking about like finding product market fit and creating specific use cases for organizations that fit their particular market.”
Traditionally, WMT has worked in the collegiate and professional sports space while Aloompa has a major foothold in the live music and festival space.
“There’s so much cross opportunity between the entertainment space and the sports space and the larger event space,” Focil notes, pointing to one of the company’s clients, Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, as an example.
Trending on Billboard
“It’s a multi-tenant venue with four different teams that also hosts a lot of events, including concerts,” Focil says. “So when we built out their application, we were thinking about ways that we can store their tickets, if you’re a season ticket holder for a particular team or you are attending a concert, and from there we really started trying to understand how to cross-sell and upsell and then create synergies between the two. We’ve started exploring the market and found that Aloompa is the premium solution in the music space and we started having discussions” that led to an eventual deal.
“I think the thing that’s super exciting here between Andres’ vision and the greater team’s vision is that what is being built is a vertical stack of solutions for an event or for a team that puts data in the center,” Burchfield said. “For events and festivals, the power is in tools that leverage all the touch points of a fan, which is really the ultimate long-term solution. And I would say that approximately 70% of those pieces are now in place with our two companies coming together. And we’re going to be attacking the market in that way.”
Aloompa will operate as a standalone brand, based in Nashville, within the “FanOS” product category of WMT. The combined companies will continue to support existing partners and customers while bringing new offerings to market designed to solve client-related challenges.
Milk & Honey Music + Sports + Ventures has acquired VMG Sports, the boutique sports agency that’s home to Kansas City tight end, three-time Super Bowl winner and Taylor Swift love interest Travis Kelce along with 14 other NFL players. In a deal broked by Milk & Honey president/founding partner Lucas Keller and VMG agents […]
MediaCo Holding has acquired all of Estrella Media’s network, content, digital and commercial operations, the company announced on Thursday (April 18). According to a press release, the transaction — which closed April 17 — will see Estrella Media brands join MediaCo. These include the EstrellaTV network’s linear and digital video content business, Estrella Media’s digital […]
Cutting Edge Group (“CEG” or the “Group”), an investor in and manager of niche media music rights encompassing more than 2,000 titles across soundtrack albums, completed a $500 million debt refinancing with four banks led by Fifth Third Bank and Northleaf Capital Partners. The new credit facility will be used for corporate purposes as well as the acquisition of music rights from the roughly $1.5 billion pipeline of possible investments already identified by Cutting Edge.
“Cutting Edge has become a world leading music partner to the film and tv industries,” said Philip Moross, CEO of Cutting Edge Group, in a statement. “During that time, the structural trends driving our industries have accelerated exponentially, delivering a proliferation of digital platforms and content, matched by an increase in demand for media music usage. Prior to the pandemic, we identified a similar opportunity in the global wellness market, which is now projected to grow at 10% per annum to a US$7 trillion market by 2025. This refinancing will enable us to execute our growth strategy to take full advantage of these trends in our usual disciplined way.”
TikTok partnered with global ticketing platform AXS, enabling certified artists on the social platform to use its in-app ticketing feature to promote their AXS live dates while allowing fans to buy tickets for events through AXS within TikTok.
Trending on Billboard
Universal Music Greater China (UMGC) struck a new strategic agreement with TF Entertainment, the company behind Chinese idols TFBOYS and Teens In Times. Under the deal, UMGC will handle global distribution of TF’s roster, targeting markets outside Mainland China.
ASM Global Acts, the corporate social responsibility platform of ASM Global, partnered with reuse platform r.World to introduce reusable service ware — including reusable cups and food containers — in venues throughout the company’s North American portfolio, beginning with the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and select hospitality locations at the forthcoming Acure Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif.
Audacy and Super Hi-Fi, which provides AI-powered radio services for broadcast and digital media companies, announced an expanded partnership that will streamline Audacy’s digital content programming, production and broadcasting processes “while creating stickier listener environments and more opportunities for advertisers to engage with them,” according to a press release. Audacy additionally announced that five of its highest-rated HD radio stations are transitioning to use Super Hi-Fi’s program director radio operating system, allowing programmers and staff to spend less time on production. The stations include WWBX-HD2 in Boston, WLKK-HD2 in Buffalo, KILT-HD2 in Houston, KROQ-HD2 in Los Angeles and KNRK-HD2 in Portland.
Leading classical music artist agencies IMG Artists and TACT Artists Management formed a strategic alliance through which their vocal departments will work together to pool expertise and resources. With the partnership, the companies hope to ensure a broader international network for their rosters, among other benefits.
Sony Music‘s global podcast division acquired podcast production company Neon Hum, whose founder/CEO Jonathan Hirsch joins Sony Music as vp of global podcasts/head of U.S. creative. Sony will utilize Neon Hum’s production expertise to continue developing podcasts for its subscription channel, The Binge, and across its entertainment slate. Sony will also expand its work-for-hire business to provide more services beyond audio production for its client and branded podcasts. Before the acquisition, Sony made a strategic investment in Neon Hum in 2019, with the two jointly launching podcasts including Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Smoke Screen and My Fugitive Dad.
Merlin announced a licensing deal with streaming platform Audiomack, giving Merlin members access to Audiomack’s listenership. Merlin members will now also be able to claim their artists’ Audiomack accounts, enabling them to send messages to their fans and more. The deal encompasses Audiomod, a new Audiomack tool that allows fans to customize their listening experience via pre-set filters including “sped up,” “slowed down,” “nightcore” and “daycore” and/or custom listening filters they create themselves.
Secretly announced new distribution deals with Jazz Is Dead and its sister label, Linear Labs. Founded by Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Andrew Lojero and Adam Block, Jazz Is Dead is dedicated to “honoring the legacies of musical heroes and luminaries,” according to a a press release, having released albums by Rob Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith and more. Linear Labs focuses on “new progressive music” and has worked with artists including Ghostface Killah, The Delfonics and Angela Muñoz while releasing scores and soundtracks for CBS, Hulu and Netflix. Past and future releases on both labels will now be distributed by Secretly.
Image-Line — the developer of popular digital audio workstation (DAW) FL Studio and FL Cloud — acquired MSXII Sound Design, a manufacturer of sample packs and sonic tools. MSX’s more than 200G sample library is now available to FL Studio users through FL Cloud.
Udio, a new platform developed by former Google DeepMind researchers that allows users to create music using AI using text prompts and then share their creations with the app’s community of users for feedback and collaboration, has raised a seed funding round from investors incluidng a16z, Instagram co-founder/chief technology officer Mike Krieger, will.i.am, Common, Kevin Wall, Tay Keith, UnitedMasters and Oriol Vinyals, head of Gemini at Google.
Entertainment, hospitality and investment holding company Palm Tree Crew — founded by Kygo and Myles Shear — closed a strategic investment in Medium Rare, valuing the company at $50 million. Medium Rare partners with artists, celebrities and athletes to create live entertainment properties; examples include Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam and Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Tailgate. As part of the deal, Medium Rare will partner on select events and festivals within the Palm Tree Crew holding company. The two companies will also work together on developing new festivals and live experiences.
Oak View Group signed a partnership with the University of Kansas to be the stadium operator for the Gateway District — the future home of Kansas Football and convention center events and conferences — and the reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Oak View Group will additionally manage food and beverage services and suite catering for all Kansas Athletics venues. It will oversee the day-to-day operations of both the football stadium and conference center when the first phase of the Gateway District opens in August 2025, leading bookings of conference events, concerts and more. Oak View Group will additionally play a key role in the current Allen Fieldhouse upgrades, managing all food and beverage and hospitality in the arena.
AI-driven funding platform beatBread partnered with Kobalt Music Group for publishing administration in the United States and amra for digital licensing and collections internationally. The agreements allow beatBread to extend its existing funding of publishing rights to artists who are currently unpublished and under-collecting their performance and mechanical revenues.
Entertainment company NTERTAIN and The Official Latino Film Festival merged to form the NVISION Film & Music Festival. The festival will feature a mix of film screenings, music performances, art exhibitions, technology showcases and conference-style panels and presentation. It’s set to take place Oct. 10-12 at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Springs, Calif.
The city council of McKinney, Tex. approved the development of the Sunset Amphitheater being built in the town by Notes Live. The agreement includes a public-private partnership between Notes Live, the city, the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the McKinney Community Development Corporation. The project is estimated to be bringing in more than 1,300 direct and indirect jobs to the community, with an economic impact of around $3 billion to the area over the first 10 years.
Musically Fed, which redistributes surplus backstage and VIP meals to veterans and those facing homelessness and food insecurity in the United States, will once again partner with Live Nation-Hewitt Silva (LNHS) to handle surplus catering at forthcoming LNHS events at the Hollywood Bowl. The organization will also re-team with TaDa! Events to repurpose unused catering for communities in need via several L.A. nonprofits.
Feed.fm partnered with AI company Cyanite for AI-based tagging and music search to enhance discoverability on its platform. Under the deal, Feed.fm will use Cyanite’s technology to enhance the metadata Feed.fm’s compliance and recommendation engine uses to stream curated music for each listener.
The estate of Ronnie Spector, best known as the lead singer of iconic girl group The Ronettes, has enlisted Artist Legacy Group (ALG) to be its exclusive representative. Under the deal, ALG will provide comprehensive management services for the estate, including oversight of Spector’s personality rights and administration of her official digital and social media assets. ALG CEO Ashley Austin will also spearhead branded media, licensing and anniversary projects. A film adaptation of Spector’s memoir, Be My Baby, is currently in development at A24. Spector’s husband, Jonathan Greenfield, serves as managing director of the estate.
Lil Yachty launched Concrete Rekordz, a new record label joint venture with Quality Control Music/HYBE. The announcement was accompanied by “Family Business,” a new track and music video from Concrete Boys — a group composed of Lil Yachty, Karrahbooo and Camo! — that will make its home on the label. The group is slated to release its first compilation album, It’s Us Volume 1, on Friday (April 5).
Trending on Billboard
Dubai-based streaming platform OSN+ and music streaming service Anghami announced the completion of OSN+’s purchase of a majority stake in Anghami after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. First announced in November, the merger puts OSN+ parent company OSN Group’s majority stake in Anghami at a valuation of $3.69 per share. According to a press release, the deal creates a company that boasts more than 120 million registered users, around 2.5 million paid subscribers and nearly $100 million in revenue at closing while bringing together OSN+’s library of 18,000 hours of video content with Anghami’s catalog of more than 100 million songs and podcasts. The combined entity will be led by Elie Habib, co-founder/CEO of Anghami, as CEO. Joe Kawkabani will remain CEO of OSN Group.
Virgin Music Group has partnered with 3AM Entertainment, a new label founded by British-Indian artist Jay Sean, producer/executive Jeremy Skaller and Jared Cotter, manager/vp of music at Range Media Partners. 3AM will focus on artists from the South Asian diaspora of all different genres. The first release under the deal is “Heartless,” a new single from Jay Sean featuring Ikky that’s slated for release on Friday (April 5); it will be followed by an album. Skaller and Cotter will serve as co-presidents at the new label, with Cotter continuing in his role at Range. Elsewhere, Sean’s longtime manager, Thara Natalie, will be chief operations manager; Madison Bickel will serve as GM; and Mahima Sharma will serve as an A&R out of New Delhi, India. Additionally, Sean’s co-manager, Aayushman Sinha, and his team at management company Represent will consult on A&R and strategy out of Mumbai, India.
Soundmouse by Orfium was selected as the official music reporting partner for broadcasters in South Korea by the South Korean Broadcast Music Identifying System (BROMIS), a consortium led by major broadcasters including KBS, MBC, SBS and four collecting societies. Under the three-year agreement, Soundmouse by Orfium’s music cue sheet reporting and audio recognition fingerprinting technology will be used by 36 broadcasters to track music usage across 175 TV channels and radio stations in Korea. Soundmouse by Orfium’s reports will be used to inform royalty distributions to songwriter, artist, producer and rights holder members of South Korean collecting societies. The deal was supported by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Copyright Commission.
Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) acquired two music festivals: Rocklahoma and Born & Raised, both of which are held at Rockin Red Dirt Ranch in Pryor, Okla. DWP will continue working with Pryor Creek Music Festivals, the original creator of both festivals, while several remaining stakeholders will remain involved in both events in 2024 and beyond. This year’s Rocklahoma is slated to run from Aug. 30-Sept. 1 with headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Slipknot. Born & Raised will take place Sept. 13-15 with Turnpike Troubadours, Whiskey Myers, Gary Allan and more.
BMG has acquired Dr. Alban‘s recorded interests in his catalog, including ’90s Eurodance hits “It’s My Life” and “Sing Hallelujah!” The company already owned the label share of the recordings. The catalog of the Nigerian-born Swedish artist and producer, born Alban Nwapa, also includes tracks such as “Hello Afrika” and “No Coke.”
Numero Group announced a partnership with New York indie rock label Tiger Style Records. Under the deal, Tiger Style’s catalog of 40 albums and a dozen EPs have been absorbed into the Numero Group ecosystem, including works by The American Analog Set, The Appleseed Cast, The Mercury Program, Tristeza, Her Space Holiday, The Album Leaf, Rye Coalition and Ida. Formed in 1998, Tiger Style, once owned by online music retailer Insound, went on hiatus more than 20 years ago. Much of the label’s discography is now available digitally via Numero Group, with several physical LP reissues and box sets slated for next year.
Industrial-focused private equity firm Allied Industrial Partners made an investment in Celebrity Coaches, a Nashville-based provider of transportation and logistics for the live entertainment sector. Celebrity Coaches will continue to be led by its founder, Jeff Michael, who will retain an ownership stake along with other members of the company’s management team including Josh Trivett.
ASM Global signed a multi-year booking agreement with Nevada tavern and slot route operator Golden Entertainment for exclusive booking rights to the company’s Laughlin Event Center and The Edge Pavilion — two music venues located at the Edgewater Casino Resort.
Music data company Musixmatch partnered with Runway in a deal that will bring the latter’s AI-powered media generation technology to the more than 1 million artists and musicians in the Musixmatch community, which will have access to Gen-2 and other Runway models to create synchronized lyrics and videos.
WavMaker, a music licensing platform that offers a music catalog for video creators featuring songs that have been cleared for commercial use, launched with $5 million in seed funding. The company was founded by CEO Matt Arcaini, director of label services Mark Stuart and director of marketing Caleb Grimm. The funding round was led by Vicky Patel, a principal in the Nashville-based record label Wavy Records and co-founder/principal at Monarch Media. The funds will be used to expand the platform’s capabilities, hire staff and increase customer outreach.
Business-to-business music and streaming platform Tuned Global partnered with international travel media network Spafax, which provides content technology and media assets for airlines to power cleared music playlists in in-flight entertainment systems. Spafax clients include Emirates, Qatar Airways, IAG, Lufthansa Group and Air Canada. Through the deal, Tuned Global will provide music-as-a-service a content management tool for Spafax curators to generate playlists. Spafax will also benefit from Tuned Global’s integration with music rights management and reporting company Crunch Digital, which verifies musical works available for use under Spafax and airlines’ existing music licenses with record labels and publishers.
Endeavor, the sports and entertainment giant that owns agencies WME and IMG, announced on Tuesday it will be acquired by private equity firm Silver Lake in a deal that values the company at $13 billion. The move arrives three years into Endeavor’s tenure as a publicly traded company and just six months since WME’s chief rival, CAA, came under new ownership.
Silver Lake is Endeavor’s largest shareholder, having made its initial investment in WME in 2012 and purchasing IMG two years later, and plans on acquiring 100% of the remaining shares by offering stockholders $27.50 per share in cash, representing a 55% premium to the unaffected share price of $17.72 per share. Endeavor noted that was the price of shares on Oct. 25, 2023, a day before the company disclosed a review of strategic alternatives that included going private.
The company, which went public in 2021 following pandemic-era delays, currently trades as EDR on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at $25.81 on Tuesday (April 2).
Trending on Billboard
In addition to WME and IMG, Endeavor’s portfolio includes live event hospitality firm On Location, marketing agency 160over90 and sports betting data firm OpenBet. Endeavor is also the majority owner of TKO Group Holdings, formed last year to merge its martial arts league UFC with World Wrestling Entertainment. TKO is not part of the Silver Lake acquisition, however, and will continue trading on the NYSE as “TKO” and “will continue to benefit from its connectivity to Endeavor’s expertise, relationships, and significant capabilities,” the company clarified.
Led by co-CEOs Egon Durban and Greg Mondre, Silver Lake’s $102 billion in combined assets includes a portfolio of companies like Oak View Group, Fanatics, TEG, Waymo, Stripe, Plaid, SoFi and Madison Square Garden Sports, among others.
Endeavor said the transaction is fully financed through equity from Silver Lake and additional capital from partnering investors, including Mubadala Investment Company, DFO Management, Lexington Partners, and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Members of Endeavor’s leadership team, including chief executive Ari Emanuel, executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and president and COO Mark Shapiro, will also roll over their equity, and new debt financing was secured by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America and other institutions.
“Since 2012, Endeavor’s strategic partnership with Silver Lake and Egon Durban have been central to our evolution into the global sports and entertainment leader we are today,” said Emanuel. “We believe this transaction will maximize value for all of Endeavor’s public stockholders and are excited to continue to unlock and invest in the growth opportunities ahead as a private company.”
Stephen Evans, managing director of Silver Lake and a director of Endeavor, said: “The team at Silver Lake is proud of our longstanding partnership with Endeavor, marked by more than $3.5 billion of direct investment across six distinct transactions over 12 years. We are excited about what we can achieve together in this next phase, spearheaded by Endeavor’s visionary expertise across talent representation and content and ownership of truly special, marquee assets in sports.”
German concert promoter and ticketing company CTS Eventim agreed to buy French media company Vivendi‘s festival and international ticketing businesses, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday (April 2).
CTS Eventim and Vivendi have signed a put option agreement for the deal, which includes leading U.K. ticket merchant See Tickets along with Vivendi festivals Junction 2 in the U.K. and Garorock in France. The financial details of the deal, including price, were not disclosed.
CTS Eventim is the world’s second-largest provider of ticketing and live entertainment services, and acquiring the businesses could help it maintain an edge over rival Live Nation in its home market of Europe.
“The acquisition supports our internationalization strategy and will also benefit artists and their managers, as we will be able to offer even more seamless services on a global scale,” said CTS Eventim chief executive Klaus-Peter Schulenberg in a statement.
Trending on Billboard
Vivendi’s festival and ticketing businesses, housed under the subsidiary Vivendi Village, generated 137 million euros ($151.2 million) in 2023. See Tickets sold around 44 million tickets last year, generating 105 million euros ($115.8 million). It is the second-largest ticketing company in the United Kingdom and also operates in the United States and seven European nations.
The festival activities that CTS Eventim is set to acquire generated 32 million euros ($35.3 million) last year. Vivendi will retain its stake in the performance hall L’Olympia in Paris, See Tickets France and the Brive Festival.
“We at Vivendi are convinced that CTS Eventim will be the right company to bring our ticketing and festival activities to new heights, supporting See Tickets to remain a state-of-the-art company … while fostering the growth of the festivals and preserving their unique identities and audience,” said Hala Bavière, CEO of Vivendi Village, in a statement.
CTS Eventim is coming off a banner year. The Munich-based company’s revenue topped 2 billion euros for the first time ever in 2023, rising 22% to 2.36 billion euros ($2.53 billion at the average exchange rate in 2023). Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was also up 32% to 501.4 million euros ($542.7 million).
The companies said they expect to finalize the deal within a few months, pending approval from each of their employee works councils.
CTS Eventim’s stock briefly hit a new 52-week high of 83.85 euros ($90.28) following the news on Tuesday before closing at 82.70 euros ($89.04), up 0.3%.
BMG acquired the catalog of Cologne, Germany-based record label Coconut Music. The deal includes the recorded rights of singer Haddaway, whose 1993 single, “What Is Love,” became a massive global hit and reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The deal gives BMG 100% control of the track, which was also sampled in Eminem‘s 2010 hit “No Love” featuring Lil Wayne. The song was also covered in 2023 by David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray as “Baby Don’t Hurt Me.” Additionally, it was a cornerstone of the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch “Roxbury Guys” and its 1998 film adaptation, A Night at the Roxbury.
The acquisition also includes tracks by Bad Boys Blue, London Beat and Wolfgang Petry. Coconut Music was founded in 1981 by Karin Hartmann and Tony Hendrik.
Trending on Billboard
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announced a partnership with NFT marketplace OpenSea to launch Coachella Keepsakes, a series of three collections that will serve as an “all-access pass” to some of the festival’s exclusive experiences and products, according to a press release. Using the Avalanche blockchain network, each of the collections will pair collectible Coachella IP artwork with real-world benefits, including exclusive access to areas including the VIP Rose Garden and Oasis Lounge as well as limited edition Coachella merchandise, VIP passes and more. The first release in the series, dubbed the VIP Pass + Oasis Lounge Keepsake, was released on Mar. 5; it provides owners with a 2024 VIP festival pass and the new Oasis Lounge. The second release in the series, the Canvas Welcome Box Keepsake (available Mar. 25), will offer access to unique merchandise, digital content, access to the Rose Garden and more; that one will be available starting Mar. 25. The third and final drop will include an artist collaboration, with details to be revealed in late March.
A consortium led by the Persianas Group and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority — an independent investment institution of the Nigerian federation — is partnering with Oak View Group and Live Nation on a proposed 12,000-capacity arena in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. Other partners on the $100 million project include Tunde Folawiyo, managing director of the Yinka Folawiyo Group; Nigerian investment fund Adino Capital; and MBO Capital. Upon completion, the venue will become the first dedicated arena in Nigeria. It is expected to create more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs.
Warner Music Group (WMG) expanded its agreement with Tips Industries Limited (Tips Music), one of India’s leading music labels. WMG has been exclusively distributing Tips Music’s catalog since 2020. Under the new agreement, WMG will spearhead the commercial and distribution responsibilities for all of Tips Music’s frontline and catalog music, spanning 23 Indian languages and more than 30,000 songs. Tips owns the “lion’s share” of Bollywood film soundtracks from the 1990s, according to a press release.
The U.K. office of Believe signed a long-term, global label solutions deal with indie label Bella Union that encompasses new Bella Union releases and select catalog. In addition to all-format physical and digital distribution, Believe will provide services including synchronization; digital service provider and retail editorial and marketing partnerships; strategic release management; unique digital expertise and in-house technology; video and audience development; and ongoing advance funding. Bella Union’s current roster includes Beach House, Father John Misty and Ezra Furman.
Hook, a music platform that allows fans to legally remix popular songs to use on social media, extended its seed round, bringing on additional investments from Natalie Massenet and Nick Brown‘s Imaginary Ventures in addition to a group of strategic music and social media industry investors and advisors. The new investment brings the company’s total seed round to $3.5 million, adding to the original funding led by Point72 Ventures and Edgar Bronfman Jr.‘s Waverley Capital.
Collaborative music creation platform BeatConnect secured $2.25 million CAD ($1.67 million) in funding ahead of its relaunch. The round was supported by music and tech investors including Sfermion, FICC, Anges Québec and Triptyq Capital. The relaunch, slated for the spring, will amount to an overhaul of BeatConnect’s multiplayer Digital Audio Workstation (mDAW) that will incorporate gaming elements into its music production capabilities.
ADA and Warner Music Australia signed a global distribution deal with Americana label Cheatin’ Hearts Records, which is home to Australian country, folk and blues music. Founded by Luke Woods and Aaron Curnow, the label has put out albums by Henry Wagons, Melody Moko, Watty Thompson and more. The first music to be released under the deal is from Tasmanian singer-songwriter Claire Anne Taylor.
Independent digital distributor and artist and label services company IDOL has signed new deals with Le Plan Recordings and Old Soul Music. IDOL expanded its deal with New York-based Le Plan to provide global digital distribution and marketing for all of its catalog and frontline titles along with physical distribution for new releases. Its deal with North Carolina-based Old Soul, recently launched by Austin Hart (a.k.a. producer L’Orange), encompasses global distribution and marketing.
HarbourView Equity Partners, which has emerged as a leading buyer of R&B/hip-hop music assets, announced that it has acquired select songwriting and publishing assets of Full Force, the music group and production team whose credits include UTFO’s “Roxanne Roxanne;” the Backstreet Boys‘ “All I Have to Give You;” Rihanna’s “That La, La La;” and their own “Ain’t My Type of Hype.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Besides the above songs, Full Force discovered Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, which went on to release hits like “I Wonder If I Can Take You Home” and “All Cried Out” — both of which were on the latter group’s debut album, a collaboration credited to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.
Trending on Billboard
“The repertoire of Full Force defined a generation of Pop / R&B / Hip Hop with writings spanning NSync, BackStreet Boys, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam not to mention their own legacy as artists,” HarbourView Equity Partners CEO/founder Sherrese Clarke Soares said in a statement. “As exceptional songwriters, producers, and musicians, they’ve seamlessly weaved creativity and innovation into timeless tunes, collaborating with some of the most prominent icons of our generation.”
According to the announcement, Full Force’s “unique ability to seamlessly blend R&B, hip-hop, pop and dance elements in both their own performances and work with other artists…has left an enduring legacy and impact on the fabric of the music landscape.”
In a statement on the deal, Brian B-Fine George of Full Force said, “Full Force is excited to be working with Harbourview, a company with a vision that’s right on trend with the future, and very dedicated to expanding the reach of our extensive song catalog.”
HarbourView Equity’s other R&B/hip-hop acquisitions include select music assets by Nelly, Wiz Khalifa and Jeremih; and the publishing catalog of songwriting and production duo Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, better known as Dre & Vidal, among others.
The company describes itself as a “multi-strategy, investment firm focused on investment opportunities in the entertainment and media space. Its asset portfolio features thousands of titles spanning numerous genres, eras, and artists, amounting to a diversified catalog of over 28,000 songs across both master recordings and publishing income streams.”
The announcement further describes HarbourView as striving “to be the standard for excellence and integrity in investing in assets and companies driven by premier intellectual property, with experience in and around esoteric asset classes, including in music, film, TV, and sports.’’
Cynthia Katz and Heidy Vaquerano from Fox Rothschild LLP served as legal counsel to HarbourView for this transaction. Full Force was represented by Karl Guthrie at The Guthrie Law Firm and JAM at Tompkins Farm Music Inc.