catalog sales
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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.
Influence Media has acquired the publisher’s share of a big chunk of the song catalog of Harry Styles collaborator Tyler Johnson. While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, the acquired catalog includes all songs Johnson co-wrote on Styles’ first two solo albums, as well as tunes recorded by Meghan Trainor, Sam Smith, Maren Morris, Keith Urban, Diplo, Miley Cyrus and John Legend.
According to the ASCAP/BMI SoundView song platform, Johnson is credited with writing or co-writing 197 songs. The 67 songs included in the catalog acquisition cover those he wrote from 2012 through 2020, according to the announcement.
“Influence Media is committed to partnering with the secret weapons behind some of music’s modern classics, and Tyler Johnson is at the top of that list for his work with Harry Styles alone, along with fellow superstars like Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor and Miley Cyrus,” Influence Media partner and founding advisor Rene McLean said in a statement. “We are so proud to represent Tyler’s works and look forward to introducing them to even wider audiences.”
Influence Media, which is partnered with Black Rock and Warner Music Group, previously acquired the master recording catalog of Blake Shelton for his records issued between 2001 and 2019 as well as Future’s song publishing catalog, among other music investments.
“It has been a pleasure working with the trusted team at Influence Media on my song catalog,” Johnson, a Grammy winner and five-time Grammy nominee, said in a statement. “These songs are very important to me and I feel our deal reflects the value of this catalog that I have built over the last 10 years.”
According to Influence Media, it formed the collaboration with Johnson “as part of its investment strategy built on ‘modern evergreens,’ songs and artists with a strong potential for long-term impact on pop culture.”
“Rene and I have been doing business with various clients for a while now, he’s a straight shooter,” said Johnson’s manager Nathaniel Cochrane in a statement about the deal. “It was a pleasure to get this deal over the line together and I look forward to building with Influence.”
Johnson was represented in the deal by Francois Mobasser, Audrey Benoualid and Andrew Paster at Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light. Influence Media Partners was represented by Lisa Alter, Katie Baron and Jaclyn Felber at Alter, Kendrick & Baron.
A majority stake in late rapper Juice WRLD‘s rights and income streams quietly sold to Opus Music Group in early 2022 in a nine-figure deal, according to a source close to the acquisition. Opus now owns 90% of Juice WRLD’s interest in master recording income and 90% of his share of publishing ownership.
The prolific Chicago-born talent’s deal includes his “hundreds” of unreleased tracks as well as his full released music catalog. Ownership of his master recordings remains with his label partners, Grade A Productions and Interscope Records.
Opus Music Group is financially backed by Elliott Management, a New York-based investment management company with one of the largest activist funds in the world. According to Opus Music Group’s website, the firm represents three artists: Juice WRLD, Rauw Alejandro and Maluma.
Juice WRLD boasts five top five-charting albums on the Billboard 200, encompassing the entirety of his charting releases. Two of those albums, Death Race for Love and Legends Never Die, finished at No. 1 on the tally. The late rapper has also charted nine songs on the Billboard Hot 100. He’s earned 16.3 million equivalent album units in the United States for his solo albums as well as his collaborative set with Future, according to Luminate. He also has 26.2 billion on-demand official streams in the U.S. for his catalog of songs where he’s billed as the primary artist, including those credited to Future & Juice WRLD from their collab set, according to Luminate.
Opus Music Group, which would not comment on deal terms, emailed the following statement to Billboard: “To represent the body of work of Juice Wrld – whose cultural significance and generational influence can’t be overstated – is an honor and a responsibility.”
A representative for Juice WRLD declined to comment.
Born Jarad Anthony Higgins, Juice WRLD died in 2019 following a seizure when he was 21 years old. He is best known for his hit “Lucid Dreams,” a melodic, emo-tinged rap track that brought the Soundcloud Rap subgenre to mainstream airwaves in 2018 and reached No. 2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. The emotive, catchy track was the focal point of his debut album, Goodbye and Good Riddance (2018), a record which also included “All Girls Are the Same,” his first song to gain serious traction, as well as “Lean wit Me,” “Wasted” and “Armed and Dangerous.” That same year, he released the collaborative mixtape with Future called Future & Juice WRLD Present…Wrld on Drugs. One year later, he released his second album, Death Race for Love, which featured the song “Robbery” and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Juice WRLD was also known for featuring on other artists’ tracks, often crossing traditional genre lines in the process. Some of his collaborators included Lil Uzi Vert, Benny Blanco, Trippie Redd, Ellie Goulding and BTS.
Posthumously, Juice WRLD has released even more music, starting with the 22-track record Legends Never Die (2020) and Fighting Demons (2022).
Los Angeles-based private equity firm Shamrock Capital raised $600 million in a new fund aimed at acquiring film, television, music, video games and sports rights, the company announced Thursday (Feb. 2).
Founded in 1978 as Roy E. Disney‘s family office, Shamrock now says it has $4.4 billion of total assets under management, including $2 billion in its content strategy, thanks to the close of this new fund, the Shamrock Capital Content Fund III.
Shamrock has become a powerful force in music catalog investment space, which continues to draw in deep-pocketed Wall Street investors, like Brookfield Asset Management.
Shamrock made headlines in 2020 when it bought Taylor Swift’s Big Machine catalog from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. (Braun’s firm acquired the master recordings as part of its acquisition of Big Machine in 2019.) Last month, Shamrock bought a portion of Dr. Dre’s music income streams and some owned music assets alongside Universal Music Group. Its other investments include Stargate’s publishing catalog, the trade publication AdWeek and the fantasy sports platform FanDuel.
“We are truly grateful to our existing and new investors for their commitment to this fund and our strategy overall,” said Patrick Russo, partner at Shamrock. “The closing of SCCF III continues to build on our multi-product platform and long-term strategy of owning and financing premium content and media rights. Our track record of successfully investing in these sectors stands out and uniquely positions Shamrock to capitalize on the trends, changes, and opportunities across the global media and entertainment landscape.”
In 2021, Shamrock expanded into the lending space with a $196-million debt fund intended to loan money to intellectual property owners across music, film, TV, games and sports. Shamrock’s Capital Debt Opportunities Fund raised the money from both existing and new limited partners and is managed by Shamrock partners and other investment professionals, including pension funds, foundations and financial institutions.
Reservoir Media has purchased the catalog of Bronx-born talent Dion Francis DiMucci, better known as Dion. The deal includes his publishing catalog and future works as well as synchronization rights to his master recordings.
Best known for releasing defining, R&B-infused rock in the 1950s and ’60s, Dion’s catalog includes “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer,” “Ruby Baby” and “Dream Lover,” which he released with his band Dion and the Belmonts. Over the course of his career, he has accrued 11 top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.
Despite his many decades of success, Dion continues to tour and release music today. In 2021, he released the album Stomping Ground featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler and more.
Dion’s songs have continued to permeate pop culture, particularly via their placement in films and TV shows, including Diner, Peggy Sue Got Married, Little Big League, The Sopranos, Behind Enemy Lines, The West Wing, The Wire and Ozark. Additionally, his life and songbook inspired the creation of The Wanderer, a musical that had a successful pre-Broadway run at Paper Mill Playhouse in April 2022.
“I am most pleased to enter into this great new relationship with Reservoir,” Dion said in a statement. “I know how much the Reservoir team appreciates my work, and I am looking forward to some exciting times ahead with them. I want to thank the entire Reservoir team for helping to make it happen, particularly Rell Lafargue, Jonathan Sturges and Faith Newman. I also want to thank Marvin Katz, my attorney, who introduced me to Reservoir and represented me in the transaction.”
Reservoir’s executive vp of A&R and catalog development, Faith Newman, added, “Dion is a pillar of early rock and roll music and wrote and recorded songs that are universally loved and recognized. He continues to make music with and inspire the genre’s biggest names today. It’s an honor to support both his evergreen catalog and future hits.”
Concord Music Publishing has acquired the majority of country songwriter-producer Corey Crowder‘s catalog and signed him to a co-publishing deal that also includes his future works. He was formerly signed to Tree Vibez.
The acquisition of Crowder’s catalog includes Chris Young’s two-times platinum single “Famous Friends” (featuring Kane Brown) and other hits from Young, Florida Georgia Line and Chase Rice, among many others.
“Corey is a proven, consistent, country hit-maker,” says Brad Kennard, senior vp of A&R at Concord Music Publishing in Nashville. He adds that the signing and acquisition represent “a big leap forward for Concord’s footing within the active country market. We are committed to representing significant real estate in the format. Further evidenced by locating Concord global headquarters here, we aim to continue our aggressive growth in Nashville.”
Kennard adds that Crowder’s catalog “stacks up with the best of the best and fits perfectly” alongside the company’s existing roster of country songwriters, including Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Andy Albert, Josh Miller and Russell Dickerson.
Crowder, a Georgia native, relocated to Nashville in 2010 and has built a catalog of songs that also includes Young’s Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers “I’m Comin’ Over” and “Think of You” featuring Cassadee Pope (neither of which is included in the acquisition). He’s also a co-writer on the Florida Georgia Line hits “Long Live” and “I Love My Country,” as well as the duo’s Rice collaboration “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” In 2022, Crowder earned the Country Music Association’s Triple Play award for his role in writing three chart-topping songs within a 12-month period. He’s spent a total of four weeks atop Billboard‘s Country Songwriters chart.
As a producer, Crowder’s credits include work on Florida Georgia Line’s Life Rolls On album, Justin Bieber‘s “Yummy (Country Remix),” LoCash‘s “One Big Country Song” and the Chris Tomlin/Lady A collaboration “Who You Are to Me.” He’s also enjoyed placements on TV shows including Nashville, One Tree Hill and The Real World.
“The Concord team has such a great vision and passion for great songs and songwriters,” adds Crowder in a statement. “I’ve known a lot of the team and their writers for some time now. So, it felt like a natural fit.”