Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be sure you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and scale back their touring prices.
This was every week of many main personnel adjustments within the music business – so many, in actual fact, that we are able to barely match all of them into the round-up. So right here’s the super-condensed model:
First, Warner Music Group introduced that 300 Elektra Leisure CEO Kevin Liles will probably be leaving the label and its mother or father firm, WMG, on the finish of this month. A day later, WMG introduced that Warner Music Japan boss Kaz Kobayashi will probably be stepping down as President and CEO later this yr.
Then got here the announcement that Randy Goodman will probably be stepping down as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville (one among many management adjustments in Nashville of late). Lastly, we bought phrase of layoffs at WMG’s Atlantic Music Group, a part of a serious reshaping of the corporate underneath incoming CEO Elliot Grainge.
Additionally this week, MBW was the primary to report that Irving Azoff‘s US-headquartered PRO, World Music Rights (GMR), has struck a multi-billion greenback non-public fairness deal in a transaction that values GMR at USD $3.3 billion.
In the meantime,Common Music Group held its Capital Markets Day in London this week, the place Chairman and CEO SirLucian Grainge made the case for why streaming will proceed to be a serious supply of progress for the music business within the years to return.
Elsewhere, Tempo Music sued Miley Cyrus, and seemingly half the music business, over her observe Flowers, which Tempo alleges ripped off Bruno Mars‘ Once I Was Your Man.
Plus, the North Carolina man charged in a $10 million streaming fraud case has pled not responsible. And eventually, with phrase coming that Pink Floyd are in talks with Sony Music to promote their catalog for a sum believed to be within the area of GBP £400 million, MBW checked out what the long-lasting rock band is incomes today.
Look. We’ve damaged some fairly massive information of late. Correct information. However this? Measurement-of-transaction-wise, this tops the lot.
MBW has confirmed by way of well-placed sources that Irving Azoff‘s US-headquartered PRO, World Music Rights (GMR), struck a multi-billion greenback deal on Wednesday (September 18) with a brand new non-public fairness associate. The transaction, we’re advised, valued GMR at USD $3.3 billion.
It’s understood that Azoff is sustaining a stake within the firm, however TPG – his long-time co-owner in GMR – has cashed out.
It’s additionally understood that the customer is a personal fairness agency, Hellman & Friedman, which had $120 billion in belongings underneath administration on the shut of 2023…
Common Music Group hosted its 2024 Capital Markets Day in London on Tuesday (September 17) on the iconic Abbey Street Studios (which is owned by UMG).
The marathon four-hour occasion featured detailed displays by leaders from throughout the corporate’s world enterprise, highlighting UMG’s successes, present positioning, in addition to inventive and enterprise alternatives within the world music business.
The occasion was kicked off by UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, who opened his speech with a quick historical past of Abbey Street itself, which, as Grainge famous, has served as the placement of recordings from the Beatles to Fela Kuti, Amy Winehouse, and extra superstars…
On Friday (September 13) MBW despatched out a breaking information alert: we’d heard Pink Floyd have been in talks with Sony Music to promote their catalog for a sum believed to be within the area of GBP £400 million.
A couple of hours later the Monetary Instances additional substantiated the story, suggesting, by way of its personal sources, that the deal’s worth is USD $500 million.
The potential acquisition is believed to embody the band’s recorded music catalog, plus neighboring rights and ‘title and likeness’ rights.
However how has Sony (or every other potential purchaser) reached this reported half-billion-dollar price ticket…?
Tempo Music has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Miley Cyrus for allegedly copying Bruno Mars’ Once I Was Your Man to create her 2023 hit Flowers.
Tempo, the music rights-acquiring fund launched by non-public fairness large Windfall in 2019, says it acquired a proportion of the copyright in Once I Was Your Man from Philip Lawrence, one of many tune’s co-writers, in 2020.
The lawsuit not solely names as defendants Miley Cyrus and Sony Music Leisure, which owns the label on which Flowers was launched, but in addition quite a few music publishers allegedly concerned with Flowers, plus retailers and streaming companies that offered or hosted the tune.
Flowers was the biggest-selling single globally in 2023, in accordance with IFPI. It spent a complete of eight weeks at primary on the Billboard Scorching 100 and 57 weeks on the prime of the Billboard Grownup Up to date chart…
A musician indicted by the US authorities earlier this month over an alleged $10 million streaming fraud rip-off has pled not responsible.
As reported by Law360, Michael Smith, a 52-year-old resident of North Carolina, entered his plea in entrance of US District Choose John Koeltl in Manhattan on Thursday “throughout a quick continuing”.
In keeping with courtroom paperwork considered by MBW, Choose Koeltl issued an order on Thursday (September 18) setting Smith’s bail at $500,000.
Smith is alleged to have fraudulently generated over $10 million in royalties by the scheme between 2017 and 2024…
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their revenue and scale back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
