In this month’s music publishing catch-up we look back at the latest news, from key deals and acquisitions to new hires, legislation and more.
Deals & Acquisitions
Peermusic Acquires Entire Earl Scruggs Song Catalog, Majority Of Gary Scruggs Catalog (Music Row)
Through this deal, Peermusic acquires the U.S. rights it was previously administering for Earl, as well as some of the songs that were previously controlled by the Scruggs estate.
Primary Wave acquires portion of ‘Final Countdown’ writer’s publishing catalog (MBW)
Primary Wave Music has struck a deal with Joey Tempest, the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe, acquiring what it says is a portion of his music publishing catalog, encompassing five albums.
CTM Outlander acquires catalog of country music hitmaker Shane McAnally (Music Week)
In its biggest deal to date, CMT Outlander has acquired the publishing catalog – including the writer’s share – of songwriter and producer Shane McAnally.
Seeker Music acquires publishing catalog of Future Cut (MBW)
UK production duo, Future Cut, have sold their publishing catalog to Seeker Music of which financial terms have not been disclosed. They have had over 35 million album sales, 3 no.1 hits and an array of international chart-toppers.
Hasbro secures exclusive global admin deal with Sony Music Publishing (MBW)
Toy and game company Hasbro has signed an exclusive worldwide administration deal with Sony Music Publishing – comprising thousands of tracks from franchises like Peppa Pig, Transformers, and My Little Pony etc.
Anthem expands Timbaland publishing deal, invests in producer’s Beatclub marketplace (Billboard)
The company also acquired additional publishing interests in some of Timbaland’s back catalog, including cuts with Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z.
CMOs and Royalties
Sacem’s revenues jumped 34% YoY to $1.49bn in 2022. How did that compare to other leading PROs? (MBW)
The world’s oldest royalty-collecting cooperative says it brought in EUR €1.413 billion(USD $1.489 billion) in royalties in 2022, a 34% YoY increase.
SESAC Music Group acquires Music Services (MBW)
he music licensing/collection society SESAC Music Group has acquired the music administration organization Music Services and will continue to function as a standalone business within the Group.
US live industry appeals BMI royalty rate increase (CMU)
Live Nation and AEG, along with the North American Concert Promoters Association, have filed notice to appeal the recent ruling in the American rate courts that increased the royalties they need to pay collecting society BMI.
ASCAP unveils initiatives around AI (MBW)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has announced a series of new initiatives revolving around AI designed to help music creators navigate the future while protecting their work.
Concord renews multi-year partnership with ICE (Music Week)
Concord has been a member of ICE Core since 2018, reporting significantly increasing royalties with an average YOY rise of more than 34% since 2020.
European Parliament working on music streaming market report (MBW)
A member of the European Parliament is championing a campaign to regulate Spotify and other music streaming services.
Signings
UMPG signs Niall Horan to global deal (Music Week)
In a worldwide publishing agreement UMPG has signed former One Direction member Niall Horan. His latest album ‘The Show’ features co-writes from UMPG songwriters Jimmy Napes and Tobias Jesso Jr.
Bucks Music and Mushroom sign Joshua Epithet to JV publishing deal (Music Week)
Bucks Music Group and Mushroom Music have signed Manchester-based artist and producer Joshua Epithet to a joint venture exclusive publishing deal for the world.
Warner Chappell signs RiotUSA (Music Week)
Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with rising producer, songwriter and recording artist RiotUSA.
Karl Michael Signs Global Publishing Deal With Peermusic (Music Row)
British recording artist and songwriter Karl Michael has signed an exclusive global co-publishing deal with Peermusic Nashville.
Funding, Facts & Figures
The US recorded music industry grew by $500m on a wholesale basis in 2022. The US music publishing industry grew by nearly double that amount (MBW)
Digital services were ordered to hand over bagfuls of cash to music publishers for the retrospective use of their music in the five years from 2018-2022.
Entertainment and sports focused ESH acquisition corp prices $100m IPO (MBW)
Blank check company may pursue “record labels, music and television streaming services, production companies and publishing houses.”
Legal
Music publishers sue Twitter for $250m+ alleging ‘rampant infringement of copyrighted music’ (MBW)
The majors alongwith 17 independents are suing Twitter for over $250 million in damages for hundreds of thousands of alleged infringements of approximately 1,700 works.
Dua Lipa ‘Levitating’ copyright infringement lawsuit dismissed (MBW)
A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Dua Lipa’s song Levitating ripped off an earlier song by reggae outfit Artikal Sound System, concluding that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.
What does the EU’s new AI act mean for tech startups and rightsholders? (MBW)
Rightsholders such as publishers will likely find something to like – and tech companies may find something to dislike – in the EU’s AI Act.
People
Warner Chappell promotes A&R execs Wallace Joseph and Jon Chen (Music Week)
Warner Chappell Music has promoted Wallace Joseph to senior vice president, A&R, and Jon Chen to vice president, A&R.
UMPG appoints Annette Gentz as general manager GSA, Classics & Screen (Music Week)
Based in Berlin, she will report to Thomas Vidovic, MD of UMPG Germany and Natasha Baldwin, executive vice president, UMPG Classics & Screen.
Interesting Reads
“Sync’s never static”: Concord sync execs discuss the global market and new trends (Syncblog)
We recently caught up with Brooke Primont and Adam Gardiner to discuss the state of the market in 2023 and the secrets to Concord’s sync success.
Reliving the Taylor Swift catalog sale saga (and following the money…) (MBW)
Music Business Worldwide looked back at the Taylor Swift catalog sale and followed the money to explain what really happened and why it happened.
The New Golden Age Of The Music Business – Bob Valentine Op-ed (Forbes)
“Moving forward, it is more important than ever for the executives, investors and entrepreneurs reaping the benefits of this golden age to ensure that investment in new bands, artists, songs and technology doesn’t fade…”
Interview with Wale Davies, Sony Music Publishing’s Head of A&R for Africa (MBW)
Here, Wale Davies tells us about his career in music, Sony Music Publishing’s strategy in Africa and his predictions for hip-hop from the African contintent…
AI is an ‘iPhone moment’ for the music biz, and 3 other things we learned from Guy Oseary’s interview at the NMPA’s annual meeting (MBW)
Four things we learned from Oseary’s chat with NMPA President and CEO David Israelite.
