catalog acquisitions
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Super producer Benny Blanco sold a package of publishing and performance copyrights to Litmus Music, the private equity-backed music rights company run by industry veterans Hank Forsyth and Dan McCarroll, both groups said on Wednesday (June 28).
Litmus said the acquisition includes Billboard Hot 100 No. 1’s like “Diamonds,” recorded by Rihanna, “Moves Like Jagger” recorded by Maroon 5, “Love Yourself” recorded by Justin Bieber, and “Señorita,” recorded by Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello, plus “Eastside,” recorded by Blanco, Halsey & Khalid, “Roses,” recorded by Blanco and the late Juice WRLD featuring Brendon Urie, and others.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Investor interest in music copyrights remains at an all-time high, and while career-spanning catalogs from artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have fetched among the highest reported sums, Blanco, 35, is among a growing cadre of younger producers, artists and songwriters who are electing to sell some of their copyrights while they are still actively making music.
This is the second rights sale Blanco, whose full name is Benjamin Joseph Levin, has done in recent years. In 2019, he sold Hipgnosis partial rights to some 90 songs, including his writer’s share in “Castle on the Hill,” which Blanco co-wrote and co-produced with Ed Sheeran.
A 2013 winner of the Hal David Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and multi-time recipient of BMI‘s songwriter of the year award, Blanco said his longstanding relationship with Litmus’s Dan McCarroll was the reason he chose them to handle these rights.
McCarroll, Litmus co-founder and chief creative officer, and Blanco met when the creative was 17 and McCarroll was running East Coast creative for EMI Publishing. The pair have since worked together on projects involving Keith Urban, Gym Class Heroes and Katy Perry, among others.
“I first crossed paths with Dan as a young teenager,” Blanco said in a statement. “I feel like we’ve had so many dinners and conversations that have gone beyond music and they really helped guide and shape me into the person I am today. There’s no better home I could imagine for such a meaningful part of my catalog.”
McCarroll speaks of the pride of watching him become the “incredible writer and producer he is today. We at Litmus are honored to work with him now to support part of his incredible catalog.”
Launched in August 2022, Litmus has $500 million in backing from Carlyle Global Credit, and aims to buy the publishing and recording rights of artists from a range of genres. In December, Litmus announced it bought Keith Urban‘s master recordings for an undisclosed sum. Forsyth previously held positions as executive vp at Warner Chappell and GM of Blue Note, while McCarroll served as president of both Warner Brothers Records and Capitol Records.
The Lyric Capital Group says it raised over $800 million in new financing, closing its second fund that will be deployed in music asset investments through its publishing arm, the Spirit Music Group. The company further said that the new funding breaks out about 50/50 between equity and debt, with $410 million in equity commitments coming from existing and new institutional investors.
Overall, the company said the funding exceeded its target.
“I couldn’t be more excited about completing our latest fundraise with the participation of existing and new investors which validates our unique and collaborative approach to acquiring high-quality assets from recording artists and songwriters,” Lyric Capital co-founder/managing partner and Spirit Music Group chairman Jon Singer said in a statement. “Thanks to our relationships and proven reputation as good stewards of legendary song catalogs and recordings, we have a robust pipeline of proprietary opportunities and the capital to pursue them.”
Lyric Capital Group was formed in late 2018/early 2019 when Singer and then-Spirit vp of acquisitions and business development Ross Cameron led a buyout and recapitalization of Spirit Music.
“Since inception, Lyric Capital has transacted on over $800 million to develop outstanding catalogs of music, in partnership with artists and songwriters,” said Cameron, a Lyric Capital partner and co-founder. “Our disciplined investment approach is informed by our ownership of Spirit Music Group and supported by 25 years of proprietary music royalty data providing us with an unmatched insight when acquiring and managing copyrights. We are very pleased to close our second fund and thank our investors for their continued support of our unique platform.”
The company said it now owns and manages over 100,000 copyrights with both publishing and master recordings a part of the mix. Its catalog includes hits by The Who, Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Chicago, the Go-Go’s, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Camilla Cabello, Jay-Z, Ricky Martin, Brad Paisley, Toto, Madonna, Jason Aldean, Graham Nash, T.Rex, Charles Mingus, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Billy Squier, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Eminem, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Eminem, Salt-N-Pepa, Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty, The Traveling Wilburys and Lou Christie.
Eaton Partners served as the exclusive placement agent on the equity while Truist and Pinnacle led the debt consortium; and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel.