Business News
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Marti Cuevas is the new president of the The Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame (LSHOF), Billboard can exclusively announce. Additionally, the organization said Mauricio Abaroa will serve as the chairman of the newly-established ‘Latin Angels’ La Musa Capital Funding Committee. The company’s former president, Delia Orjuela, will continue in her role of president emeritus. According to the LSHOF, the new additions and re-alignment “reflect the expansion of responsibilities commensurate with the continuing growth of the Latin Songwriters Hall Of Fame in membership, activities and stature.” The LSHOF’s main event each year is the La Musa Awards, which honors the world’s greatest Latin music creators and their memorable songs.
“[Marti and Mauricio] will help us continue to build and expand the world’s first organization that truly honors and celebrates the lives and music of Latin music’s greatest songwriters and composers,” added Rudy Pérez chairman and CEO of LSHOF — which he co-founded in 2012 with Desmond Child. –Griselda Flores
Rami Mohsen was appointed managing director of Sony Music Middle East, where he’ll drive the label’s overall strategy and operations across the fast-growing market. Mohsen arrives at Sony following a brief stint as Spotify’s head of music for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia — but for the bulk of the last 20 years he worked his way up to oversee operations at Cairo-based Nogoum FM, the first private radio station in Egypt and one of the largest in the Middle East. In a statement, Sony executive Shridhar Subramaniam said “Rami is well-positioned to take [SMME] to new heights,” and the company has good reason to be optimistic. A surge in recorded music revenues in the MENA market made it last year’s fastest growing region, rising by almost 24% and driven almost entirely — a 95.5% chunk — by streaming, reports the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Primary Wave Music promoted veteran creative specialist Marty Silverstone to president of global sync. Based out of their new Beachwood Canyon office in Los Angeles, Silverstone will continue to oversee a crack synch licensing department responsible for placing a number of roster songs across TV (Stranger Things, Ted Lasso), film (Elvis and The Fabelmans) and this thing called the Super Bowl (nine commercials in the three years, the company says). Silverstone is 13 years into his PWM tenure — having joined senior creative director before stepping up to svp/head of sync in 2014. Prior to Primary Wave, Marty was head of creative licensing at independent publisher North Star Media. “[Marty’s] vision for how our catalog of music can be reimagined has no bounds,” commented founder and CEO Larry Mestel. “He and his team have brought new life to our iconic and classic songs helping to usher them into the modern era.”
Veteran artist manager Christian Stavros just revived Little Operation, the Los Angeles-based agency he originally founded in 2010, bringing with him an artist roster headlined by Angel Olsen, Devendra Banhart, Best Coast, Morgan Nagler and King Tuff. Stavros’ right hand is McKenzie Rice, who’ll handle day-to-day operations while also managing Little Op client Jack Van Cleaf. The two managers previously worked together at Other Operation, the creative house Stavros co-built and launched in 2021. You can reach Stavros and Rice at info@littleoperation.com.
Other Operation’s other co-founder, Heather Kolker, announced the formation of her management company this week as well. At Dreamshop Management, she’ll continue to represent Icelandic indie folk rockers Of Monsters and Men, queer indie-pop band MUNA, and the solo projects of OMaM singer-guitarist Nanna and MUNA member Naomi MacPherson. Joining Kolker as day-to-day manager at Dreamshop is Megan Manowitz, who previously worked in booking and tour management at Ground Control Touring and most recently project managed at Mondo Mondo, a luxe brand. Kolker can be reached at heather@dreamshopmgmt.com.
ICYMI: A flurry of senior executives and staff members have left posts at Hipgnosis Song Management in recent months … The board of directors at Gibson Brands confirmed Cesar Gueikian as president and CEO.
Sony Music Nashville named Fred Rubenstein as vp of digital marketing, to be responsible for overseeing the digital marketing team and leading the strategy, execution and implementation of social media and digital marketing campaigns across the Sony Nashville roster. Rubenstein will also focus on new partner/platform opportunities to advance digital discovery, enhance artists’ brands and drive consumption. Rubenstein was most recently senior. manager of creator acquisitions & development for Amazon’s live streaming service Twitch. Prior to his role at Twitch, Rubenstein was a member of digital marketing teams at Elektra Music Group and Roadrunner Records. –Jessica Nicholson
Kobalt Music appointed Teresa Romo as senior creative director for Latin America, responsible for overseeing the independent music services company’s expansion in Mexico. She’ll remain based in Los Angeles and report to Nestor Casonu, president of Latin America, who remarked the “market is in need of someone that not only has a deep understanding of the genre but also the vibrant and fascinating Mexican culture.” Prior to joining Kobalt, Romo served as Latin head of creative for BMI, where she signed and developed a songwriter roster including Edgar Barrera, Ana Barbara, Geovani Cabrera, Kuinvi, Alemán and Carla Morrison. Earlier in her career, Romo held senior publicity and communications roles at The Recording Academy, NBCUniversal, Universal Music Latin Entertainment and Warner Music.
UTA promoted Brandi Brammer to senior vice president of global music operations, an upgrade from her previous role as vp of people and business partnerships at the mega-agency. She’ll continue to be based out of Nashville. In her new role, Brammer will lead the day-to-day operational work of UTA Music, spanning human resources, legal and business affairs, finance, facilities and technology initiatives. Before joining UTA in 2021, Brammer served as vp of human resources at WME, leading HR for the agency’s music division.
Music and culture agency Premier Music Group promoted Winslow Bright and Aaron Mercer to co-president roles in charge of its music supervision and strategy teams across advertising, film, TV, and podcasts. They’ll both report to CEO Josh Deutsch and creative director Randall Poster. Bright joined PMG in 2020 from Search Party, the music supervision company acquired by Deutsch, and Mercer arrived in 2019 after Premier snatched up Wool & Tusk. Premiere also elevated longtime music supervisor — and former Search Party-er — Meghan Currier to executive producer. “Each of them brings a new perspective to the work we do,” commented Deutsch.
The Academy of Country Music announced a round of new hires and promotions. Kris Reyes has been hired as director, finance and operations; Kortney Toney has been hired as manager, programming & community engagement; Libby Gardner has been promoted to senior manager, content & editorial; Jesse Knutson has been promoted to senior manager, publicity & media relations; Haley Montgomery has been promoted to senior manager, awards & membership; Taylor Wolf has been promoted to senior manager, ACM Lifting Lives; and Alexis Bingham has been promoted to coordinator, events. Reyes has previous experience in operations accounting at TravelCenters of America. Toney previously worked at Opry Entertainment Group and Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Knutson is a multiple Emmy winner, having served as a TV reporter in Nashville, Seattle and Harrisburg, PA, and as a producer at Los Angeles’ KNBC. Montgomery joined the Academy in 2020 as manager of awards & membership after holding a variety of multi-discipline roles across the industry. –JN
Women in Music, a nonprofit founded in 1985 that works to empower and advance women in the music industry, recently welcomed new ambassadors and advisory board members. This year’s ambassadors include: rapper Rapsody, CD Baby executive Faryal Khan-Thompson, veteran booking agent Amy Davidman, Atlanta agency owner Dina Marto, and REBEL vp Adriana Arce. WIM 2023 advisory board is: Lauren Apolito, Nikisha Bailey, Erin Barra, Cindy Charles, Liz Cimarelli, Alex Flores, Maureen Ford, Ali Harnell, Ariel Hyatt, Lauren Iossa, Sari Kohen, Bea Koramblyum, Linda Lorence-Critelli, Molly Neuman, Mayna Nevarez, Jennifer Newman Sharpe, Jessica Sobhraj, and Monika Tashman.
Former TikTok creative licensing executive Rich Sica and commercial music industry veterans Jack Bradley and Aleena Bissett have teamed up to launch Juice, a new music company focused on “speed and the ear-worm ethos” to produce short-form social and other online content for brands and creators. Sica, Juice’s advising creative director, oversaw creative music licensing across North America and LATAM during his two-plus years at TikTok. Managing director Bradley and head of production Bissett arrive from commercial music shop HiFi Project, which they’ll continue to run.
Cade Price was promoted to general manager at Play It Again Entertainment, the label and management company founded by singer-songwriter Dallas Davidson. In his new role, Price will oversee daily operations of PIAE and its roster of artists, including rising singer Dylan Marlowe, whom Price manages. The Missouri native, who is now based in Nashville, joined Play It Again five years ago and has worn many hats across publishing, marketing and A&R. “Cade Price thinks outside of the box,” said Davidson. “I love that about him. Just look at what he did with Dylan Marlowe. He took his talent and the music Dylan was making and made sure that millions of people got to hear it.”
PR firm Shore Fire Media promoted Taylor Perry to senior account executive. The Brooklyn-based publicist joined Shore Fire in 2020 as a publicity assistant and since then was upped to account executive, leading campaigns for Samara Joy, Jewel, Rhino Records and other clients.
Blue Raincoat Artists has hired veteran artist manager Amy Frenchum, who brings along her clients Ezra Collective and Yazmin Lacey to the London-based agency. BRA is the artist management arm of Blue Raincoat Music, a Reservoir company, and has a roster including Arlo Parks, The Nova Twins, Skunk Anansie, The Mysterines, Cigarettes After Sex and Phoebe Bridgers.
Nashville Bites: Ruth Todd was appointed Bonneville executive vp/chief content officer. A former TV news anchor, she was most recently senior vp/chief reputation officer for beauty and wellness company Nu Skin. Bonneville’s country stations include KNCI Sacramento, Calif., and KYGO Denver… The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. established a Music City Host Committee to assist in booking events and raise funds for the city’s newly approved stadium. Eric Church is the lone artist on the 16-member panel, chaired by former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. –Tom Roland
Spotify was the biggest contributor to the 13% increase posted by the 21 stocks tracked by the Billboard Global Music Index for the first half of 2023.
Fueled by cost-cutting and corporate reorganization, shares of Spotify gained 103.4% through June 30. While that wasn’t the largest on a percentage basis for stocks on the index, Spotify’s size — it has the second-largest market capitalization of stocks that Billboard tracks — meant the company’s improvement was the single largest factor in the index’s gain.
The Global Music Index is a float-adjusted index of 21 music stocks. Each company’s market capitalization — the value of outstanding shares — is adjusted to remove the shares of insiders, corporate owners and long-term investors. The remaining market value reflects the shares available to be bought and sold on the open market. The index does not weight stocks to balance the influence of larger and smaller companies. (MSG Entertainment is not included in the index because it wasn’t an active stock for the entire six-month measurement period.)
Only half of the index’s six streaming stocks posted gains through June 30: Los Angeles-based platform LiveOne — with a relatively small market cap of $151 million — shot up 173%, and China’s Cloud Music improved 7.1%. On the losing end, Tencent Music Entertainment, also based in China, fell 10.9%; France’s Deezer dropped 17.8%; and Anghami, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, lost 26.6%.
Outside of music, other streaming companies’ stocks also performed well in the first half of 2023 after losing ground in 2022. Netflix and Roku gained 49.4% and 60.5%, respectively, while Warner Bros. Discovery and Walt Disney Company — broader entertainment companies with streaming platforms and, lately, much C-suite drama — improved 32.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
Strong demand for in-person experiences following the pandemic helped live-music companies recover from share-price losses in 2022. Live Nation shares improved 30.6% to $91.11, and the company had the second-largest gain in adjusted market capitalization. Sphere Entertainment, CEO James Dolan’s gambit to change the live-entertainment business, gained 31.9% after adjusting for the spinoff of MSG Entertainment in April. Germany’s CTS Eventim, stung by criticism over fee transparency by a German public TV show in June, dropped 2.9%. Live Nation’s market cap overpowered CTS Eventim’s loss, and all of the live-music companies collectively accounted for 32% of the index’s growth.
The index’s 13% gain was less than closely watched indexes such as the S&P 500 (up 15.9%) and the Nasdaq composite (31.7%). Both indexes are dominated by gains from tech titans such as Nvidia (up 189.5%), Meta (138.5%), Apple (49.3%), Microsoft (42%) and Alphabet (36.3%). Of that group, only Meta has a market cap under $1 trillion. The Billboard Global Music Index easily beat the 7.2% gain of the Russell 2000, an index of small-cap U.S. stocks with a median market cap of about $1 billion.
While Spotify’s share price of $160.55 is well below its all-time high of $387.44 reached in February 2021, it shows that investors regained some belief in the company’s long-term prospects. Spotify benefited from the same pandemic boost that carried Netflix to a record-high market cap. At the same time, investors were also enthusiastic about the potential for its podcasting business to evolve the music platform into an audio entertainment hub and improve margins constrained by label licensing deals.
Diving into podcasting required large cash outlays for acquisitions, staff and content deals with Joe Rogan, former President Barack and Michelle Obama, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, among others. By March 2022, investors had become impatient for margins to improve, and Spotify’s share price dipped to $118.20. As a wave of belt-tightening swept corporations worldwide, Spotify made drastic changes: It laid off 6% of its workforce in January and cut another 2% in June entirely from its podcast division. It restructured its podcasting leadership, canceled shows and consolidated its various podcast brands — The Ringer, Gimlet and Parcast — under the Spotify Studios umbrella.
Layoffs and reorganization have been especially common in the radio business. SiriusXM laid off 8% of its workforce in March and reorganized its podcast business. After the company announced it would shutter its stand-alone podcast app, Stitcher, its share price increased 18.5% in the last week of June. Its stock was down 22.4% at the year’s midway point, hurt by soft forecasts for self-pay subscribers and the weak advertising market that led to three radio companies in the index falling an average of 32.3%. IHeartMedia (down 40.6%) and Cumulus Media (34%) have also cut costs and laid off staff.
Two South Korean companies — both a mix of label and management company — accounted for two of the biggest gains outside of Spotify and Live Nation. HYBE, home to BTS, improved 62.2%, and SM Entertainment, the company behind NCT 127, gained 39.2%. SM’s share price benefited from a takeover battle. HYBE lost out to Kakao Corp. and Kakao Entertainment, which now collectively own 40% of SM, but its stock has more than reclaimed the losses suffered in June 2022, when BTS announced its hiatus.
Outside of South Korea, label and music publishing stocks had mixed results at midyear. Universal Music Group, the index’s largest company by market cap, and Warner Music Group declined 9.6% and 25.5%, respectively.
Downtown Music‘s neighboring rights division struck deals with the Meat Loaf and Miles Davis estates. The division will represent the entire catalog for both artists. Concurrent with that announcement, Downtown Music unveiled a new royalties and rights management platform powered by FUGA technology. “We strive to give clients the best of our in-house knowledge and arm them with resources to make them aware of how they’re able to maximize collection of these rights,” said Downtown Neighbouring Rights GM Dean Francis in a statement. “The launch of our new platform will bolster this further by providing more insight as we look to continue to improve efficiencies in the administration of our clients’ exceptional catalogs.”
Create Music Group acquired Music For Pets, which creates music and entertainment for dogs and cats. Founded by Amman Ahmed and Ricardo Henriquez, Music For Pets boasts franchises including “Relax My Dog” and “Relax My Cat.” Create will invest an additional $10 million to expand Music For Pets’ reach over the next 36 months. According to a press release, Music For Pets currently serves over 20 million pets, with users listening to more than 12 million hours of music every month.
Protect the Culture, a new label founded by music industry veteran Marc Byers, signed a global joint venture with Warner Records that will focus on the African music scene. Byers will work closely with Warner Records president of A&R Steve Carless and executive vp/head of A&R Karen Kwak. The label’s first signing is Lord Afrixana, a Ghana-born, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter who has a solo project slated to drop later this year, preceded by the single “No Dey Tire.” Byers was most recently GM at Motown Records prior to launching the new venture.
Canva, an online visual communications and collaboration platform, announced partnerships with Warner Music Group (including Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music) and Merlin that will allow Canva users in many countries to use music clips in their designs, which can be shared across multiple social platforms and also utilized for internal uses like work presentations. Canva customers will be able to access music clips starting this fall in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Canada and Australia; artists will earn royalties when clips of their songs are featured in published Canva designs. At launch, the Warner Music and Merlin libraries will be available for Canva Pro, Canva for Education and Canva for Nonprofit customers, with Canva for Teams users to follow. According to a press release, Canva boasts 135 million users worldwide.
Rapper EST Gee launched a new record label, Young Shiners, in partnership with the Sony Music and Alamo Records-powered label services company Santa Anna. The label is part of EST Gee’s mission to put rappers from his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on the map. The label will be home to emerging artists including EST Lil Zoski, EST Marti, EST DonWon, and Santa Anna’s EST SkiMike and EST Lu Mike — all of whom are local to Louisville. The launch coincides with the imminent release of Young Shiners’ debut mixtape, Shiners Are Forever, which drops on Friday (July 14).
Universal Music Group (UMG) acquired the music catalog of RS Group, which is the second-largest music catalog in Thailand, according to a press release. The catalog includes over 10,000 master recordings as well as 6,000 copyright ownerships, publishing rights and licenses dating from 1981-2022 and represents the work of more than 960 artists including Dan-Beam, James Ruangsak Loychusak and Parn Thanaporn Wagprayoon. The acquisition will underpin a new strategic partnership between the two companies — one that will be 70% owned by UMG and 30% owned by RS Group — designed to allow UMG to scale in the Thailand music market. Under the deal, UMG will become RS Group’s exclusive music service partner for new releases and new music repertoire globally while receiving exclusive rights of first refusal and matching rights to acquire new releases and repertoire. According to the press release, UMG will become the second-largest player in the Thai market following the deal.
Raedio, the “audio everywhere” company founded by Issa Rae, signed a multi-year partnership with Def Jam Recordings. Under the deal, Raedio will be able to sign, market and distribute its artists through the Def Jam network.
Tuned Global partnered with Greenland-based telco Tusass to launch the first Greenlandic music streaming service. According to a press release, the partnership is designed to “promote and champion underserved local homegrown musicians and their fans by gathering them into a single service” as opposed to relying on “unofficial uploads on user-generated content sites, with varying quality and unclear connections to the artists who made the music.” The app will be available in Greenland, Denmark, Canada and the Faroe Islands, as well as in the Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), Danish and English languages. “A number of smaller and more specialized markets need ‘glocalized’ apps that offer local music lovers a catalog that’s culturally relevant and timely,” said Tuned Global senior vp/head of EMEA Rick Gleave in a statement. “Therefore, telcos are often the perfect players to launch these types of music apps, as they add significant value to their customers, as well as supporting local culture in general.”
SoundCloud partnered with EDM events company Brownies & Lemonade to highlight emerging electronic artists. The partnership includes the relaunch of Brownies & Lemonade’s Twitch livestream, Open Aux Arcade, on which submitted demos and new music will receive live feedback from Brownie & Lemonade creative director Chad Kenney and musician RamonPang. SoundCloud will serve as a presenting partner, with submissions “flowing directly” from the SoundCloud platform. The partnership will also encompass an artist spotlight series and editorial playlist consideration on SoundCloud.
Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, struck an agreement with production music leader APM Music. The deal, which marks Reactional’s first move into production music, will allow developers to search for and access the APM catalog through the Reactional platform — which will become available for commercial use later this year — as they build their games.
Janelle Genzink‘s Volara Management signed a strategic partnership with Red Light Management. The deal will provide Volara with additional resources and support to benefit her roster, which includes Sabrina Carpenter, Carmen DeLeon, Mosaic MSC and Riah.
ASM Global partnered with multidisciplinary venue strategist Forward Associates, which specializes in everything from architecture to interior design to premium seat sales and marketing. Current projects under the deal include Everton FC’s new stadium, Stockholm Live’s portfolio of venues including the Avicii Arena, the AO Arena in Manchester, England and the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Sony Music Latin formed a strategic partnership with Nexoom AG, a Swiss-based interactive entertainment company. The collaboration is aimed at “tapping into Nexoom’s innovative digital ecosystem to offer unique experiences” for Sony Latin artists and their fans.
Karta, a metaverse studio that deals with in-game experiential marketing and has delivered projects on Roblox, Fortnite and Decentraland for clients including Amazon Music, Unilever’s Sunsilk and K-pop group TWICE, secured an investment round led by GameTech Ventures and including former Hipgnosis chief catalog officer Amy Thomson, entertainment company Tokido, Sports Loft CEO Charlie Greenwood, UK Finance chairman Robert Wigley, Powster founder/CEO Ste Tompson and venture studio Big Ideas Group. The company declined to reveal the amount of the funding round.
SoundExchange added PayPal and Venmo as royalty distribution payment options for registered creators after adding CashApp and Zelle last year. The addition of these options allows creators in countries that can’t be serviced through direct deposits to receive their SoundExchange royalties without requiring a bank account. Payment via PayPal and Venmo will be immediately available to domestic and international registrants, whether they are paid as individuals and companies. To sign up for either Paypal or Venmo, creators are encouraged to use SXDirect, which provides self-service opt-ins for all payment methods.
The city of Busan, South Korea enlisted AI-assisted business-to-business marketplace SURF Music to find “thematic, Olympic-style music” to accompany their bid for the World Expo 2023. SURF’s subscription-based marketplace allows artists and music creators to manage their song catalogs via AI song tagging; organize playlists; and submit songs to fit a particular brief. After SURF submitted a playlist of unreleased music to Busan, the city chose “Welcome to World Expo” by Lee Muina. The partnership will continue through the Expo’s “judgment day” in November 2023.
Merck Mercuriadis‘ publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd reported a gross revenue decline for its fiscal year ended in March due to one-time charges and a tough year-ago comparison, but said adjusted revenues in 2022 grew on strong growth in streaming revenues and the return of live performances.
Gross revenues for Hipgnosis Songs Fund declined by 11.5% to $177.3 million for the year ending March 2023 compared to the year-ago period, mainly due to two large, non-recurring adjustments related to usage accrual and other factors. Net revenues also declined to $147.2 million from $168.3 million a year ago.
Stripping out those one-time items and taking into consideration a $16.1 million benefit Hipgnosis expects to gain from the CRB III retroactive accrual, the fund’s underlying revenues rose $12.9 million, chief financial officer Chris Helms said during an investor presentation discussing the results.
The fund’s pro-forma annual revenue (PFAR), which reflects revenue earned from royalty statements and strips out impacts from new catalog acquisitions and one-time items — the metric executives say best reflects the fund’s revenue performance — rose by 12.1% to $130.2 million for the year ending December 2022, rising strongly for catalogs aged younger and older than 10 years.
Overall, streaming income rose 14.8% to generate $52.1 million for the fund, while syncronization income rose 24.7% to make up $19.4 million and performance income rose 9% to $30.8 million, all compared to the year ago period. Mechanical income edged 2% lower to 4.9 million, while digital downloads made up $2.5 million and other publishing income comprised $3.9 million of revenues.
The fair value of the fund’s portfolio rose 4% to $2.8 billion, and the operative net asset value broken down by share price rose 3.6% to $1.9153, driven by revenue exceeding the fund’s independent valuer’s forecast.
Nonetheless, Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s operative EPS for the period is negative 7.41 cents, and adjusted earnings per share is 4.12 cents, down nearly 43% compared to the year leading up to March 2022.
Mercuriadis said this was the company’s “best revenue performance since coming to market in 2018,” reflecting the fund’s high-quality catalog and active song management.
“The songs in our portfolio we’ve bought carefully and we’ve bought well,” Mercuriadis said during the investor presentation. “We have a relatively small portfolio with a very high rate of success. We optimize revenues and collect them as efficiently and cost-effectively as we can.”
Mercuriadis pointed to major synch wins Hipgnosis had from four songs Rihanna sang during the SuperBowl Halftime Show, including “Birthday Cake,” “All of the Lights,” and “Umbrella,” which Hipgnosis from its acquisition of rights held by The-Dream, J eff Bhasker and Tricky Stewart. Other major placements included some on The Masked Singer, where Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” and “Brass In Pocket” by The Pretenders.
Billboard and The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Hipgnosis has selectively shopped around a portfolio of non-core assets, possibly with the aim of raising money to buy back shares and shore up the fund’s stock price.
Mercuriadis declined to comment on whether a portfolio was being shopped or what assets it could contain, saying the fund is exploring its options with shareholders and the board.
The fund’s adjusted operating costs were 21.2% lower for the period to $29.5 million, due to lower advisory fees “as a function of the company’s lower share price during the year,” reduced administration, legal and professional fees, and lower aborted deal costs, the CFO Helms said.
The company also recognized a $43.8 million catalog performance provision or bonus relating to 6 catalogs. The provision will be paid out contingent on performance hurdles being met by the catalogs, Helms said, declining to detail the targets, which were detailed in the acquisition agreements.
Here are the key points from HSF’s disclosure:
Gross revenues declined by 11.5% to 177.3 million for the year ending March 2023 compared to 2022, due to two large, one-off adjustments. Stripping out those two non-recurring costs, underlying revenues rose by 10.9%.
PFAR rose 12.1% to $130.2 million.
Hipgnosis operative net asset value per share rose 3.6% $1.9153
Syncronization revenues rose 24.7% to 19.4 million.
Streaming revenues rose 14.8% to 52.1 million
Performance income increased by 9% to 30.8 million
Industry veterans Chuck Rhodes and Dr. Glenn Toby have co-founded a new business venture, christened The Entertainment Alliance (TEA). Rhodes will serve as CEO and Toby as president of the full-service, multi-genre entertainment company whose main office will be headquartered in Nashville.
In addition to operating an in-house record label with global distribution by Bob Frank Entertainment, exclusively through The Orchard, TEA will house a management company, a publishing company and booking agency along with offering label services that include social media marketing and PR. TEA will also broker select movies, television series, documentaries and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) products. The new venture’s A&R services are based in New York and there’s a satellite office in Atlanta. Initial artist signings will be announced soon with an inaugural project release slated by the end of this year.
“Our tagline at The Entertainment Alliance is ‘We are equal opportunity dream makers,’” Rhodes tells Billboard. “After 38 years of working in the industry, this is a great opportunity now to step up and be a founder/owner with a partner. I’ve found my soulmate in Dr. Toby when it comes to the business world and music world. We’re chomping at the bit to present something to the business that I don’t think they’ve ever seen before.”
Adds Toby, “Rhodes is the Clive Davis of the South whether it’s country, southern blues or soul and I’ve been involved in pop, R&B and dance. We don’t care about age, race or genre; we’re bringing everybody in. The fuel for this new venture is two music industry veterans that have written, arranged, produced, performed, advised and discovered talent in our more 40 years’ of combined experience. We’ve been behind the curtains for so long that it’s time to come to the forefront.”
Rhodes has spent the last 15 years in partnership with Bob Frank Entertainment where he served as general manager for Bob Frank Distribution and the Audium Nashville label. Getting his start in the music industry as a keyboard player for Ray Charles and Cher, Rhodes later served as program director of adult contemporary KVIL- AM/FM in Dallas-Ft. Worth. A move to Nashville found him segueing into promotion and management at MCA Records and later Giant Records. Rhodes also operates his own production company, On the Rhodes Entertainment. During his career, he has collaborated with a diverse slate of artists including Daryle Singletary, Loretta Lynn, Clay Walker, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, MC Hammer and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson.
Dr. Toby is the founder/CEO of Glenn Toby Enterprises (GTE), an international holding corporation that controls companies in the entertainment, sports, technology and real estate arenas. Total Entertainment Artist Management, Total Entertainment Athlete Management, and Infinite Sports Concepts are companies under the GTE umbrella with offices in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The roster of artists, actors and athletes that Toby has worked with includes LL Cool J, Swizz Beatz, Damion Hall of Guy, David Banner. Saigon, songwriter Positive K, “Queen of House Music” Barbara Tucker, actor Lance Reddick and Green Bay Packers legend Antonio Freeman. Dr. Toby is also a noted philanthropist who founded The Book Bank Foundation, which promotes literacy.
If Helen Grant, the daughter of late Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, is selling a 10% share of the band’s music assets, as reported by Music Week and The Times, she’s in for a very nice payout.
According to that article, Grant owns not only an interest in the band’s record catalog and song publishing catalog but also a 10% share in other rights including trademarks, merchandising and other business ventures. When he died in 1995, Peter Grant, who owned a 20% stake in the band’s music assets, appears to have split that stake evenly between Helen and her brother Warren, leaving each of them a 10% share.
While Led Zeppelin originally signed to Atlantic Records back in 1968, in 1975 the band started its own record label, Swan Song, and began issuing its music under that logo beginning with its fifth album, Physical Graffiti. Like other superstar acts of its day, the band later negotiated to obtain ownership of its entire recorded masters catalog, not just the Swan Song records, according to sources.
It’s unclear if Led Zeppelin still owns the rest of the Swan Song catalog, which includes albums by Bad Company, the Pretty Things and Maggie Bell — and, if it does, whether Helen Grant has a stake in that and is offering it up for sale, too. At the very least, according to the most recent filing containing a list of shareholders for Bad Company Entertainment, the Peter Grant estate has a 20% stake in that company as well. It’s unclear if that interest is a part of any contemplated sale.
The Music Week article reports that Helen Grant has hired Ian Penman of New Media Law to shop her share of the Zeppelin assets. Penmen didn’t respond to an e-mail request seeking to confirm the potential asset sale. Warner Music Group declined to comment, while queries to other possible press representatives for the band went unanswered.
According to a list of shareholders included in the last filing from Superhype Tapes Ltd — one of the dozen or so companies affiliated with the Led Zeppelin principals that have filings in Companies House (the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. SEC) — dated July 30, 2014, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page owns 80% of the shares of Led Zeppelin music assets, while Helen and Warren Grant own 10% each. However, in the company’s July 25, 2000, filing, Page and the estate of Peter Grant were each listed as having a 50% stake in the company, while Page and fellow Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant and John Baldwin [aka John Paul Jones], as well as Joan Hudson of the band’s accounting firm, were listed as directors of the company. It’s unclear how or when the percentages changed and if it occurred through a negotiation or an earlier buyout of a portion of the Grant estate’s share in the company.
It’s also unclear which Led Zeppelin assets fall under this company, although its incorporation document, filed in October 1969, states that it was established to manufacture, produce, buy, sell, exploit and deal in gramophone records, tapes, sound recordings and other sound bearing devices and musical instruments, among other possible business lines. On the other hand, as noted, Superhype Tapes appears to be one of about a dozen companies incorporated for Led Zeppelin that have listings in Companies House, although some of those listed companies are dormant. Consequently, it’s unclear which Led Zeppelin music assets fall under the control of Superhype Tapes.
Another Led Zeppelin-affiliated company, United Blag Productions, shows Helen Grant with a 10% stake, while the other three living Led Zeppelin members each have 22.5%, as do the Bonham heirs, collectively.
According to what appears to be incorporation papers for United Blag — filed under its previous name of Langwest on Aug. 16, 1974 — around the time of the formation of Swan Song, the purpose of the company was to act as managers for singers, musicians and other creative entertainers as well as to produce and distribute sound recordings of all kinds as well as handling pictures, films and TV show appearances of all kinds.
Regardless of the incongruent ownership stakes listed for the Led Zeppelin members for Superhype Tapes and United Blag Productions, it looks like Helen Grant is selling a 10% stake in the band’s assets controlled by those two companies, which would mean she is selling a passive royalty income stream.
Still, the iconic Led Zeppelin catalog remains a considerable economic driver — averaging just over 1 million album consumption units annually in the United States alone over the last three years. As such, Billboard estimates that the band’s master recordings catalog generates about $24 million in revenue annually and that after deducting for production and distribution, the band likely reaped about $21 million of that amount. If the recordings carried a 20 times multiple, that would give the Led Zeppelin recorded masters catalog a nearly $420 million valuation — 10% of which would be $42 million.
Meanwhile, Billboard estimates that the publishing catalog averaged about $10.4 million annually over the last three years. After deducting a 10% administration fee, that would leave $9.4 million in revenue for the band, which at a 25 times multiple would be worth about $235 million.
While that valuation uses a high multiple, which some music asset traders might question, that concern would likely be offset by the upside potential for generating additional revenue through synch licensing. While synch typically can comprise about 25% of a publishing portfolio’s revenue base, Led Zeppelin has been very selective in granting licensing opportunities, which likely has depressed the band’s overall publishing revenue. Billboard’s valuation model uses a much smaller percentage than 25% of revenue for synch royalties in extrapolating overall publishing revenue.
Regardless of the publishing catalog’s valuation, it’s unclear how Grant would be paid from that considering that the principal songwriters in the band likely each own their publishing, as well as their songwriter share.
On the other hand, it’s conceivable that the band, along with Grant, collectively owns its publishing, which would divide 50% among the four band members and the Grant heirs, leaving the other 50%, or $6.35 million, for the songwriters to split; or that Grant owned 20% of the publishing and the band members owned the remaining publishing stakes in each of the songs they composed. Either way, that could leave Helen Grant with a 10% stake in the publishing, or a 5% stake in the publishing revenue, resulting in a $15 million-$16 million valuation, if the Grant estate indeed does own a stake in the band’s publishing.
But Billboard could find no mention of a Grant ownership stake in the sole Led Zeppelin publishing company that appears to be an ongoing operation, Flames of Albion Music, listed at Companies House.
The last document for that company, filed on May 11, 2016, listed Page, Plant, Baldwin and the Bonham heirs — Patricia Bonham, Jason Bonham and Zoe Bonham — as shareholders, while neither of the Grant heirs are listed.
But there is still merch revenue, trademarks and likeness and image to consider. Billboard estimates that Led Zeppelin averages about $2 million in merch each year. At a 10-times multiple, that would arrive at a $20 million valuation, with a 10% stake translating to $2 million. (Collectively, Billboard‘s valuation for Led Zeppelin’s recorded music, publishing and merch is about $670 million.)
Distribution company and payment platform Stem said on Tuesday it raised $250 million from Victory Park Capital to expand it’s popular advance check product. Stem first started offering the product in 2020 to artists at various career stages, including artists like Justine Skye, who used the capital as bridge financing when transitioning from a major […]
The board of directors at Gibson Brands has confirmed Cesar Gueikian as president/CEO of Gibson Brands. Gueikian, who previously served as brand president, was named as interim CEO following the exit of Gibson Brands’ former president/CEO, James Curleigh, in May. Gueikian joined Gibson in 2018 and has been instrumental in the resurgence of the instrument […]
Seeing is believing for some investors in Sphere Entertainment Co., the developer of the new state-of-the-art venue, The Sphere, in Las Vegas. Shares of Sphere Entertainment soared 22.7% this week after the world saw the first videos of the dazzling display created by the 580,000 square feet of programmable LED “pucks” on Exosphere, the exterior […]
Vinyl Me, Please, the ebullient record of the month club (and pressing plant) based in Denver, hired creative veterans Rob Jones and Alan Hynes to add some rocket fuel to VMP’s product line. In their new roles (Jones as executive creative director and Hynes as senior creative director), the duo will help guide VMP’s artistic direction and work alongside existing creatives on custom record packaging designs for releases. They’ll also work with studios and composers to bring movie scores to vinyl as part of its new Soundtracks offering, beginning with a new pressing of Dave Grusin’s score for The Goonies later this summer. Jones joins VMP after a successful couple of decades as co-founder of Mondo, the maker of pop culture collectibles (including vinyl records and posters) that was acquired by Funko last year. Hynes also arrives from Mondo, where he played an integral role in its design department for years — creating original record packaging for films like Fight Club, Eyes Wide Shut and others.
“Bringing joy to people through tangible, transcendent experiences with music is what VMP is about and what we’re always striving to offer our customers,” said Cam Schaefer, CEO of VMP. “The addition of Rob and Alan to the team takes us to the moon creatively and fills out a 1992 Olympic Dream Team of art and design. Their experience, mind-bending creativity, and passion for exploration will allow them to make a deep impact within VMP and help us to elevate and expand our product line for customers. We’re lucky to have them.”
Liliahn Majeed exited her post as Universal Music Group‘s first global chief diversity, inclusion and belonging officer for a similar DEI role at L’Oréal. During her three years at UMG, Majeed led a team focused on boosting the label giant’s inclusion and equity efforts, and she notably co-chaired one of the committees of UMG’s high profile “Task Force for Meaningful Change.” Before Majeed traded the globe’s No. 1 music company for the No. 1 beauty firm, she held senior marketing and diversity roles at the NBA and earlier, at Frito-Lay. Majeed moves into the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, North America role at L’Oréal following the retirement of Angela Guy.
Warner Music Latina appointed Andrés Shaq as A&R director. He’ll be based in Miami and report to Hector Ruben Rivera, senior vice president and head of A&R Latin Music. Shaq was previously senior A&R manager at Warner Music Colombia, where he spent three years and played a key role in the careers of artists like Piso 21, Mike Bahía and Blessd. He also signed notable Colombian producers such as ICON, DJ MAFF, and SOG. “Colombia and the Andean region have an abundance of incredible talent waiting to be discovered. I’m fully committed to discovering and fostering future Latin superstars,” said Shaq. –Leila Cobo
Sony Pictures Television tapped Palash Ahmed to lead new efforts to develop more music-connected projects at the studio. As head of music development — a newly created role — Ahmed will work with studio president of international production Wayne Garvie on synergistic pairings with obvious partners (Sony Music’s recorded music and publishing divisions), as well as with non-Sony artists and labels. In announcing Ahmed’s new role, studio chairman Ravi Ahuja said film and TV content with a music tie-in “comes with a built-in, highly engaged fanbase, and we are excited to begin leaning in to opportunities to develop projects with musical artist connections.” Ahmed, who is based in Los Angeles, joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2017 and most recently held the title of senior vp of corporate development.
Tim McGraw‘s management and marketing company, EM.Co, appointed Doug Phillips as vp of marketing and digital. Phillips has previously worked at companies including Q Prime South, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Nashville. Concurrently, EM.Co vice president Brian Kaplan joins McGraw’s media venture Down Home as co-founder and chief strategy officer. Down Home launched earlier this year with partners Skydance and social content studio Shareability. –Jessica Nicholson
Faryal Khan-Thompson joined Downtown-owned music distributor CD Baby as senior vice president of marketing and community engagement, responsible for strategy around the disciplines in her job title, as well as branding initiatives, artist education efforts and growing the company internationally. The NYC-based Khan-Thompson was previously vp of international at TuneCore. “I am committed to building on the great work that has been done and positioning CD Baby as the leading provider of music distribution services for independent artists,” she said. CD Baby recently made headlines by sunsetting most of its physical distribution business — namely, that it will no longer warehouse or distribute the CDs that it makes for artists.
ICYMI: Big Machine Music elevated Mike Molinar to president of the publishing company.
Justin Chacona was named vice president of brand & marketing at Stockholm-based production music company Epidemic Sound, where he’ll lead a team of 40-plus staffers working on marketing and PR initiatives, social media strategy and consumer relations as the company eyes expansion into new markets. Launched in 2009, Epidemic offers a catalog of restriction-free music for use in videos, podcasts and other content. Chacona joins from Polar Electro where he’s been group chief marketing officer since 2020. Earlier in his career, Chacona worked at Rovio Entertainment, where he led marketing efforts surrounding the video game developer’s hit movie for Angry Birds. Chacona’s appointment follows the hiring of Rob Bullough as global brand director earlier this year.
Vickie Nauman was appointed to the advisory board of Interstellar Music Services, a specialist digital rights management company. Based in Los Angeles, Nauman is the founder and CEO of music and tech consultancy CrossBorderWorks and before that held executive roles at 7digital and Sonos. Interstellar, which launched in January, works to maximize the collection of royalties via a suite of services that includes digital distribution, brand partnerships, metadata cleaning, neighboring rights, publishing administration and detailed analysis/reporting. “The Company sits right at the intersection of music and innovation,” said Nauman, “so I hope that it will benefit from my experience as it enters its next phase of growth.”
Youth-focused social media platform Zigazoo hired Joe Kelley as director of music partnerships. In his new role, Kelley will lead outreach efforts with the music industry at large as the short video app looks to build on the recent launch of its product for kids 13 and up. Kelley had plenty of experience connecting with music acts during his four years as Billboard‘s head of artist relations — booking talent for a wide swath of events and other branded franchises. After leaving Billboard, Kelley worked as an artist manager and, more recently, as head of artist partnerships at music impact events platform WithOthers.
The Royal College of Music has enlisted James Williams to be only its 11th director since the prestigious school, located in South Kensington, London, was founded in 1882. Williams will join RCM on Sept. 1, 2024, succeeding current director Colin Lawson, who is retiring. Williams is managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has held since June 2016.
Nashville Bites: Universal Music Group Nashville hired Charlene Bryant as senior vp of business development and strategy. For the last five years, she ran her own company, Riveter Management, a multigenre firm whose clients have included hip-hop artist Trippie Redd… Rachel Burleson was promoted to Big Machine Label Group director of streaming from Big Machine Records project manager… SMACKSongs promoted Sam Sarno to creative director from creative manager… Mark Turcotte starts July 18 as Nashville-based Outback Presents senior vp of marketing. He arrives from Cox Media/Atlanta, where he was general sales manager. –Tom Roland