State Champ Radio catalog sales
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Rod Stewart has backed out of a potential catalog sale to Hipgnosis after two years worth of negotiations with the company, a representative for the singer told Billboard.
Citing that he wanted to retain the ownership of his song catalog, Stewart said in a statement, “this catalog represents my life’s work. And it’s became abundantly clear after much time and due diligence that this was not the right company to manage my song catalog, career or legacy.”
Hipgnosis declined Billboard’s requests for comment, citing a non-disclosure agreement.
Further details about the potential catalog sale are not known, including whether he intended to sell his full catalog or just a smaller piece or royalty stream. Stewart’s team declined to comment further on the deal when asked for specifics.
Two music asset buyers independently noted to Billboard that Stewart’s public statement might be a “great way to drum up business for the catalog” and “to generate calls from potential suitors,” but another source noted it seems that a star of this magnitude would not need to speak out publicly in order to gain the attention of other buyers.
A two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Stewart is one of the most celebrated and recognizable singers in pop music history. Some of his greatest hits across his more than five-decade career include “Maggie May,” “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” “All for Love,” “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” “Baby Jane,” “Forever Young,” “One More Time,” and more. He first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer for Jeff Beck’s post-Yardbirds effort The Jeff Beck Group and later as frontman for Faces, alongside fellow Beck alum Ronnie Wood.
By 1971, the raspy-toned singer had become a household name with his own solo album Every Picture Tells A Story and its surprise radio hit “Maggie May” which went on to simultaneously top the charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. From there, through the 1970s and 1980s, Stewart remained one of the mainstays on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, continuing to earn hits as he experimented with daring elements of glam, disco, new wave, synth pop and more in his work.
His impact on music has continued into the 21st century, though mainly through covers. In the early 2000s, he found renewed success though a series of albums mining American pop standards and since then has released collections focusing on soul, rock classics and more, further cementing his legacy as one of music’s great vocalists.
Beyond landmark deals that have helped it amass a catalog of over 65,000 songs and records, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the portion of the Merck Mercuriadis-founded company that is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, has struggled since last summer, with its share price declining by 27% from a year ago to 81.85 pence. “I’m not going to pretend that the current share price is anything other than disappointing,” Mercuriadis told investors in December. SONG reported its 2022 revenues rose 7.5% over the year prior.
With few levers to pull to grow Hipgnosis Songs Fund — the fund has been fully invested, meaning it has no additional funds to acquire new rights, for more than a year — Mercuriadis has struck deals with companies like Timbaland’s Beatclub to open up Hipgnosis’s catalog to more synch and sample opportunities.
Hipgnosis’ Blackstone-backed fund does not disclose its financials. While heightened macroeconomic concerns and interest rates have increased investor scrutiny for big-ticket deals, Hipgnosis and Blackstone have so far acquired rights to Justin Bieber’s catalog for an estimated $200 million in the last year. Other recent deals for Hipgnosis in general include songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. and TMS, the British songwriting trio behind hits like “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi.
With reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
When it comes to the red-hot market for music rights, the only people who may be more important than the buyers and sellers are number crunchers like Nari Matsuura.
The Ottawa, Ontario, native is the partner of Barry Massarsky and founder of the valuation division of their music economics and valuation services practice at Citrin Cooperman, one of just a handful of firms that calculate the future growth rates and discounts essential to determining a music catalog’s market value.
From 2021 to 2022, Matsuura estimates she oversaw 750 catalog valuations totaling $15.5 billion for such clients as Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Primary Wave and Reservoir Media.
But as billions have flooded the music intellectual property market, the practice of valuing catalogs has encountered unexpected controversy, with Massarsky and Matsuura’s team occasionally in the middle. Banks put considerable weight on catalog valuations when determining how much to lend to a buyer, and some question whether Citrin Cooperman’s discount rate — which has not budged since spring 2022 — ignores macroeconomic pressures, such as the rising cost to borrow, that could affect valuations. Lower valuations could lead banks to decrease the amounts they lend overall, which could have a cooling effect on the market. “The reason we did not increase our discount rate along with the rising interest rate environment is because we had originally started at a higher discount rate so that we could accommodate for that rise,” Matsuura says. “We knew that this low interest rate environment was not sustainable in the long term.”
Primary Wave Music has acquired the artist royalties of late Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and drummer Bob Burns, whose credits include recordings on the band’s first two albums, 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping, plus subsequent compilations that those tracks appear on. While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, the company said it was a multi-million deal.
In the U.S., the Southern rock band’s entire catalog has averaged 666,000 album consumption units over the last three years, according to Luminate. Of that, the band’s Second Helping album accounted for almost 182,000 units over that time period, while the historical data for the first album was unavailable from Luminate at press time. Those albums include many of their signature songs, namely “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” and “Simple Man.”
“Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first two albums are timeless and are celebrated to this day,” Primary Wave Music’s svp of business & legal affairs Samantha Rhulen said in a statement. She goes on: “To have Bob Burns’ contribution to this iconic music as part of our catalog is an incredible honor and the team at Primary Wave will ensure that his legacy is recognized by generations to come.”
Burns died in a car accident on April 3, 2015 in Cartersville, Ga. at the age of 64. The band’s last surviving original member, Gary Rossington, died earlier this month at 71.
According to Luminate, Skynyrd has garnered 27.1 million album consumption units in the U.S. According to the Primary Wave announcement, the band has been ranked on several best-of lists, including Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” — and in 2006, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Primary Wave continues to be a leading buyer of legacy rock and R&B. In the last six months, it has acquired entirely or an interest in the publishing and/or recording artist royalty income streams in the catalogs of Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, punk icon Joey Ramone, songwriter and E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt, and Huey Lewis and The News.
John Sebastian‘s songwriter interest in The Lovin’ Spoonful catalog has been acquired by AMR Songs, a music asset investment firm and music company that’s been quietly scooping up rights for the last two years. AMR also purchased all rights from Sebastian’s solo catalog, as well as the master recording catalog of reggae band Soja, among other investments.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
AMR is led by former Billboard editorial director Tamara Coniff, the firm’s founder and CEO, and private equity veteran Steve Reinstadtler, who is CFO. According to sources, the firm has raised $100 million from institutional investors. In addition to acquiring all forms of music royalties, AMR will also sign developing songwriters and work closely with established writers.
The Sebastian deal includes the writer share of his Lovin’ Spoonful catalog, including “Summer in the City,” “Do You Believe in Magic,” “Daydream,” “Younger Girl,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” and “Nashville Cats.” It also encompasses the publishing and writer share from his solo career, including the song “Welcome Back,” as well as artist royalties from his band and solo work.
“AMR’s involvement in my catalog, and specifically the enthusiasm I’m feeling from Tamara Conniff about this material, will ensure that my songs will keep singing for a good long time,” Sebastian said in a statement.
Conniff has more than 20 years of experience in music publishing. She began by managing the interests of her late father, band leader Ray Conniff, and has also held executive positions in music publishing, including as executive vp of Roc Nation Music Publishing and COO of Artist Publishing Group. Reinstadtler’s prior experience includes serving as co-head of TD Capital and as a partner in SR Capital Advisors.
“I’m ecstatic to announce the launch of AMR Songs and fully realize our vision of building a truly creative home for our artists and writers — not just acquiring rights, but proactively nurturing and marketing catalogs, signing and developing artists with frontline operations,” Conniff said in a statement. “We’ve established a stellar film and TV sync licensing team, label distribution and digital marketing support to uniquely foster new opportunities and revenue growth for our roster and catalogs.”
AMR’s team also includes Lydia Yerrick, vp of business affairs and administration, and Justin Mandel, manager of social media and royalty analysis, as well various consultants. Additional staff will be announced soon, the company said.
The AMR catalog, which numbers 1,500 songs and growing, is administered by Warner Chappell Music.
AMR’s investment in Soja’s catalog spans from the band’s inception through 2020 and covers music publishing, artist royalties and various master recordings, including the albums Born In Babylon, Strength to Survive and Amid the Noise and Haste.
“We’re passionate about the music and incredibly proud to represent and take care of these amazing works, ensuring they are exposed to new audiences for generations to come,” Conniff adds in a statement.
Other investments include the writer share of funk guitarist Ronald “Kat” Spearman’s song catalog, including Jade’s “Don’t Walk Away”; John Boylan’s producer share, which includes the first Boston album; and the publishing rights of Taylor Philips — namely Luke Combs‘ “Hurricane” and Kane Brown’s “Homesick.”
Beyond that, AMR has signed a global music publishing deal with producer and writer Erik Janson. It is also launching its own label, AMR Songs, and has signed Australian artist EJ Worland to both a recording and publishing deal.
Conniff notes that AMR is “agnostic about which rights we will buy” going forward, adding that the company has an eye on niche genres because each has its own ecosystem and brand of dedicated fans. “Reggae, rock, Christian and jazz fans are not fickle,” she says.
The Nettwerk Music Group has recapitalized, bringing in a new investor in the form of Flexpoint Asset Opportunity Fund II and additional funding from existing investors Beedie Capital and Vistara Growth. Flexpoint Asset Opportunity Fund II is a buyout fund managed by Flexpoint Ford, a private equity firm with approximately $7.8 billion of assets under management. Terms of the funding weren’t disclosed.
“The capital from Flexpoint will enable Nettwerk to invest in artists and make music catalogue acquisitions that will benefit from the fast-growing independent sector of the music industry,” Nettwerk CEO and co-founder Terry McBride said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with Flexpoint as we continue to execute on our vision of connecting artists with their fans globally.”
Nettwerk describes itself as a full-service artist development and music intellectual property brand builder with a history spanning nearly 40 years. Its current roster includes Passenger, Syml, Banners, the Album Leaf, Matt Maltese, Wild Rivers and Wrabel among many others.
“Nettwerk has been at the forefront of the evolution in the independent music sector building a compelling catalogue of music by offering white-glove services and growth opportunities to independent artists traditionally reserved for superstars,” Flexpoint managing director Mike Morris said in a statement. “We believe Terry and the team are well positioned to prosper in the rapidly evolving music industry and are excited to help the team execute their vision.”
Beedie Capital managing director David Bell added, “The team at Nettwerk are differentiated leaders in a complex industry, and we are excited to support them through continued execution of their unique, artist-centric strategy.”
Artisan served as buyside financial advisor and Latham & Watkins and Bennett Jones served as legal counsel to Flexpoint. Cooley and Morgan Daniels Slager served as legal counsel to Nettwerk.
Producer, songwriter and artist Metro Boomin – a.k.a. Leland Tyler Wayne – has sold a portion of his entire existing publishing catalog to Shamrock Capital for close to $70 million, sources close to the deal tell Billboard.
News of the sale arrives on the heels of his second album HEROES & VILLAINS, which was released on Dec. 2, 2022. The record was peppered with some of the biggest names in music, including features from Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Don Toliver, Chris Brown, A$AP Rocky, Gunna, and late Migos member Takeoff. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making it his second album in a row to hit No. 1 as an artist.
As one of rap and R&B’s most defining creatives, Metro Boomin has helped craft hits like “Bad and Boujee” by Migos, “Mask Off” by Future, “Congratulations” by Post Malone, “Bank Account” by 21 Savage, “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1” by Kanye West, “Jumpman” by Drake and Future, “Heartless” by The Weeknd, “Waves” by Kanye West, “Child’s Play” by Drake, “Tuesday” by iLoveMakonnen, and many more.
The multi-hyphenate musician has had 99 total entries on the Hot 100 chart as a producer, including two No. 1s and 10 top 10s. As an artist, Metro Boomin has 46 total entries on the Hot 100. He has spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Rap Producers chart and three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 Producers and Hot 100 Songwriters charts.
Representatives for Shamrock did not return Billboard’s requests for comment. A representative for Metro Boomin declined to comment.
Shamrock was founded in 1978 as Roy E. Disney’s family office and has since become an active, powerful buyer in the music catalog investment space. It’s most notable investment being that of Taylor Swift’s Big Machine catalog which the firm bought from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in 2020. In 2021, Shamrock expanded into the lending space with a $196 million debt fund to loan money to IP owners in entertainment.
Last month, on Feb. 2, 2023, Shamrock Capital announced that it raised $600 million in a new fund (Shamrock Capital Content Fund III) aimed at acquiring film, TV, music video games, and sports rights.
Metro Boomin’s deal, along with other recent hip-hop acquisitions — like Juice WRLD’s sale to Opus Music Group for a nine figure sum, Dr. Dre’s Shamrock and UMG deal for an estimated over $200 million, and Future’s publishing catalog sale to Influence Media Partners between $65-75 million — have proved that the genre is fueling new investor interest.
Those who have been skeptical of rap catalog sales often point to the genre’s short history, which may indicate sharper — or still unknown — decay curves from other genres like rock and pop. Decay curves, which are based on past performance of other songs in the genre, refer to when the song levels out into a predictable state of income generation.
But the 50th anniversary of hip-hop special at the 2023 Grammy awards and its continued dominance on streaming platforms may reveal that rap is ready to become another sought-after genre for buyers.
“There are certain names that have been around for a long enough period that they are now of an evergreen standard,” City National entertainment banking leader Denise Colletta recently told Billboard. “Those household names in hip-hop will continue to resonate with audiences.”
Mojo Music and Media has acquired rights to the catalogs of six different hitmakers: Warren Cuccurullo, Geraldo Sandell (Teddy Sky), Bruce Belland, Omar Lyefook, and two members of the pop band Metro Station.
A music publisher and brand/legacy management firm with offices across four continents, Mojo is home to a diverse catalog of more than 20,000 compositions, including shares of songs recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Aretha Franklin to George Strait.
Its new additions include works by Cuccurullo, a songwriter and guitarist who started his career with Frank Zappa before co-founding Missing Persons and joining Duran Duran. The deal entails Cuccurullo’s entire share of his writer and publishing rights as well as artist royalties and neighboring rights. As part of Missing Persons, he helped pen songs like “Words,” “Mental Hopscotch” and “Destination Unknown,” and as a member of Duran Duran he contributed to “Bruning the Ground,” “Ordinary World,” “Come Undone” and “Violence of Summer.” Additionally, Mojo has also signed a deal with Cuccurullo to manage and promote his solo work.
Mojo also acquired the entire publishing and songwriter interests in the catalog of Sandell, who is best known for “On The Floor” by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, “Down For Whatever” by Kelly Rowland and more.
The indie publishing house’s acquisition of Belland’s work included his complete songwriter and publishing rights and recorded music royalties. Belland is best known as the lead singer of The Four Preps, a four-part harmony troupe he co-founded in 1956. During their nine-year run, Belland and the band made hits like “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)” and “Big Man,” along with “Down By The Station,” “Got A Girl” and “A Letter To The Beatles,” and Belland also wrote singles for other popular artists at the time, including Barron Knights, Lee Hazelwood and Lutricia McNeal.
Lyefook, the English neo-soul artist and songwriter, sold his full writer’s share and majority of his publisher’s share to Mojo. His songs “There’s Nothing Like This,” “Outside,” “Keep Steppin,” “Saturday” and “Say Nothin,” became major hits in the U.K. during the 1990s, leading to collaborations between Lyefook and American singers like Lamont Dozier, Leon Ware, Angie Stone and Stevie Wonder.
Lastly, Mojo has also bought rights to the catalog of Metro Station members Blake Healy and Anthony Improgo, including the late aughts hit “Shake It” and follow-up single “Seventeen Forever.”
“As we approach our fifth anniversary, we are deeply honored that our success in thoughtfully promoting veteran songwriters and their songs continues to attract some of the most influential music makers in the world to our Mojo family,” says the company’s co-founder and CEO Mark Fried. “The Mojo catalog, now representing nearly 700 chart hits, including 250 Top 10’s spanning nine decades, is proudly one of the most diverse and hit-laden collections in the indie publishing space. We couldn’t be more excited to be representing Warren, Teddy, Bruce, Omar, Blake and Ant’s collective works, still beloved by fans everywhere, and look forward to re-energizing them via everything from faithful covers and genre-busting interpolations to trailerized remixes, ubiquitous syncs and guerilla social media campaigns.”
Reservoir Media said Wednesday it acquired the publishing and recorded rights to the catalog of jazz living legend Sonny Rollins — aka “The Saxophone Colossus.”
A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Grammys, Rollins is perhaps best known for his 1956 album Saxophone Colossus and its track, “St. Thomas,” which has been deemed “culturally, historically…significant” by the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
A regular collaborator of other jazz giants Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, Rollins continued to release music, including his 2001 Grammy-winning album This is What I Do and 2006 Grammy-winning solo “Why Was I Born?”
“I’m happy that Reservoir will be helping to maintain my musical legacy, which was created in concert with so many great musicians I’m proud to be associated with,” Rollins said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, with Reservoir adding that it includes a “mix of rights across Sonny’s entire catalog.”
Rollins catalog is a body of work spanning more than 70 years of “musical innovation,” Rell Lafargue, Reservoir president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
“I first learned of Sonny through his music, playing ‘St. Thomas’ as a young jazz student, and it’s incredibly meaningful that Reservoir and I can now commit to preserving Sonny’s musical legacy and amplifying his contributions to the artform for audiences old and new,” Lafargue said.
A new London-based buyer has entered the already crowded catalog acquisition market. Called Bella Figura Music, the company was founded by former BMG U.K. president, Alexi Cory-Smith, who will act as CEO, and former BMG global investments division leader, Neelesh Prabhu, who will act as head of investments.
According to the company’s announcement, Bella Figura Music is a “purpose-built, artist-centric music company, bringing together leading technology and a relentless focus on creative excellence.”
Over the last year, Bella Figura’s team has been quietly amassing a catalog of recording and publishing assets with financing aid from private equity fund Freshstream.
So far, Bella Figura has acquired the publishing catalog of Guy Chambers, one of the songwriters behind Robbie Williams‘ “Angels,” “Feel” and “Let Me Entertain You,” as well as David Gray‘s record label IHT, which owns and controls all of the singer-songwriter’s albums, from 1998’s White Ladder to 2019’s Gold in a Brass Age.
According to the company’s announcement, Gray is “closely involved with Bella Figura Music,” acting as an “interested party” in the catalog’s business dealings. Gray’s management team at Mick Management will remain closely involved with the catalog, new products and new initiatives. “Dave remaining involved financially and with creative controls and input intact was a key feature of us wanting to do the deal,” says Cory-Smith. “This is the kind of deal we really like.”
Other acquisitions by Bella Figura include R3HAB‘s recorded music catalog up until 2022, including “All Around the World,” “Sad Boy,” “Runaway” and “Call Me”; AWAL’s divested portfolio of rights, including shares of recordings by Gray, Placebo, The Wombats and Dashboard Confessional; songwriter-producer Darrell Brown’s publishing shares in 25 of his songs, including songs performed by LeAnn Rimes and Keith Urban.
“I view David Gray and Guy Chambers as the founding blocks on which we build the business,” Cory-Smith says. “One is records, the other is publishing — both top quality catalogues. I am very proud of what we have achieved in Bella Figura Music’s first year of business.”
Cory-Smith adds, “I’ve always wanted to have my own music company and after years in corporates, the timing to take an entrepreneurial path felt right.”
“I’ve been looking for a new partner for my music for quite some time, so when I heard about Alexi and Bella Figura I thought it had the potential to be a good fit,” says Gray. “They struck me as a company with serious ambitions, an eye for detail and a point to prove, and the fact that I had a good relationship with Alexi from her time at Chrysalis/BMG was definitely a major positive too. The world of music and technology is in a state of constant flux and it’s vital to work with people who are not only attentive to its challenges but also alert to its opportunities. I feel very optimistic that with Bella Figura I’ve found just that.”
“I’m so pleased to be working with Bella Figura,” adds Chambers. “I think Alexi is one of the most dynamic executives working in the music industry. Having Alexi at the helm of Bella Figura is an exciting prospect for what is a new and vital area for songwriters in the industry today.”
Diplo’s Mad Decent Publishing has sold its catalog to Olivier Chastan‘s music rights and brand management company Iconoclast, the company announced Tuesday (Feb. 14). Financial details were not disclosed.
Diplo launched Mad Decent with his manager and business partner Kevin Kusatsu as a record label in 2006 before branching into publishing. The deal with Iconoclast includes songs by Mad Decent Publishing songwriters Henry Agincourt Allen (professionally known as King Henry), Philip Meckseper (Jr Blender), Karen Orsted (MØ), Valentino Kahn, Clement & Maxime Picard and Dillon Francis. Songs in the catalog include Major Lazer hits like “Lean On (featuring MØ and DJ Snake),” “Cold Water (featuring Justin Bieber and MØ)” and “Know No Better (featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello and Quavo)” as well as Mark Ronson’s “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (featuring Miley Cyrus).”
Previously the head of Irving Azoff‘s Iconic Artists Group, Chastan founded Iconoclast in 2021 and has been quietly acquiring assets large and small, powered by the heft of institutional backing. In February 2022, the company bought The Band musician Robbie Robertson‘s music publishing, recorded interests and name, image & likeness rights in a deal that Variety valued at worth roughly $25 million.
In a statement, Chastan described the body of work at Mad Decent Publishing as “one of the most exciting and original catalogs where Brazilian Baile Funk and Angolan Kuduro mix with EDM and pop.
“I first became aware of Mad Decent when Kevin Kusatsu and Diplo were working on the first Major Lazer album,” Chastan continued. “The sound was completely different, the songwriting utterly original and fresh-sounding, and the production uniquely creative. Our acquisition of the Mad Decent Publishing catalog illustrates our commitment to preserving and growing culturally significant art of any era including with artists that are shaping contemporary music.”
Representing Iconoclast in the deal were Scott McDowell and Peter Paterno of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano. Mad Decent Publishing was represented by Jordan Bromley, Eric Custer and Alex Spring of Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips.
