Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be certain that 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 earnings and scale back their touring prices.
This was every week of many main personnel modifications within the music business – so many, actually, that we will 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 likely be leaving the label and its father or mother firm, WMG, on the finish of this month. A day later, WMG introduced that Warner Music Japan boss Kaz Kobayashi will likely be stepping down as President and CEO later this yr.
Then got here the announcement that Randy Goodman will likely be stepping down as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville (certainly one of many management modifications in Nashville of late). Lastly, we received phrase of layoffs at WMG’s Atlantic Music Group, a part of a serious reshaping of the corporate below 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 development for the music business within the years to return.
Elsewhere, Tempo Music sued Miley Cyrus, and seemingly half the music business, over her monitor 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 nowadays.
Look. We’ve damaged some fairly large 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 companion. The transaction, we’re informed, 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 client is a personal fairness agency, Hellman & Friedman, which had $120 billion in property below 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 shows by leaders from throughout the corporate’s international enterprise, highlighting UMG’s successes, present positioning, in addition to artistic and enterprise alternatives within the international 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 situation 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 Occasions additional substantiated the story, suggesting, by way of its personal sources, that the deal’s worth is USD $500 million.
The possible acquisition is believed to embody the band’s recorded music catalog, plus neighboring rights and ‘identify 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 towards 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 big Windfall in 2019, says it acquired a proportion of the copyright in Once I Was Your Man from Philip Lawrence, one of many music’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 providers that bought or hosted the music.
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 Sizzling 100 and 57 weeks on the high of the Billboard Grownup Modern 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 response to courtroom paperwork seen 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 via 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 earnings and scale back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
