Publishing Catch-Up: UMG Strikes a $240m Chord, Kobalt to Raise $267m From Asset Backed Security & More

Meg Adams
Feb 14, 2024
5 min read

The start of 2024 sees a lot of movement in the music publishing world. Check out the latest news, from deals and acquisitions to facts and figures, new hires and more.

Deals & Acquisitions

UMG tunes its catalog-buying strategy with $240m Chord stake (Music Ally)

The deal values Chord at $1.85bn, with UMG owning 25.8% and Dundee Partners owning the other 74.2%.

Position Music acquires part of catalog of DJ and producer Gesaffelstein (MBW)

Indie record label, publisher and management firm Position Music has acquired part of the publishing catalog of French artist, DJ and producer Gesaffelstein.

Electronica Publishing Random Noize Musick inks administration deal with Wise Music Group's Bosworth Music (MBW)

The partnership builds upon the existing collaboration between Random Musick Publishing GmbH, Random Noize Musick’s sister company, and Bosworth Music.

Kobalt inks global publishing deal with Lunick Bourgess' Umbrella Songs (MBW)

Kobalt has signed Umbrella Songs, an independent music publishing, rights management and publishing administration company, to a worldwide publishing agreement.

Primary Wave strikes deal with Village People for publishing, recorded music, name and likeness rights (MBW)

The agreement covers the group’s brand, as well as name & likeness rights, plus master recordings and publishing assets.

Spirit Music Group signs admin services deal with Downtown (Music Week)

The partnership builds upon the existing collaboration between Random Musick Publishing GmbH, Random Noize Musick’s sister company, and Bosworth Music.

Iconic Artists Group raises $1bn and buys Rod Stewart catalog (Music Ally)

While it did not announce a price, reports are coalescing around ‘nearly $100m’ as the relevant number.

Sony Music acquires half of Michael Jackson's music catalog (Music Ally)

Sony Music has just bought half of Michael Jackson’s publishing and recording catalogs, with Billboard reporting that the company will pay at least $600m – and possibly up to $750m.

Primary Wave moves into Brazilian music with stake in Nas Nuvens Catalog (MBW)

According to Bloomberg, Primary Wave has acquired a 50% stake in NNC, valuing the Sao Paulo-headquartered company at around USD $100 million.

Signings

Warner Chappell signs global deal with Jon Shave (Music Week)

The Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum selling songwriter and producer is known for his diverse catalogue.

Ultra Music Publishing acquires Wheezy's back catalog, inks new go-forward deal (MBW)

Wheezy, hailing from Mississippi, initially joined Ultra Publishing in 2018 and has since established himself in the hip-hop scene.

Morgan Wallen signs Global Publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music (MBW)

As a part of this deal, Wallen will have the ability to sign songwriters in partnership with WCM.

UMPG signs Dan Wilson to global publishing deal (Music Week)

Wilson, an established hitmaker and a lead member of Semisonic, is a three-time Grammy winner in major categories.

Downtown Music Publishing signs singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat (Music Week)

Downtown Music Publishing has signed a global music publishing deal with Grammy-winning US singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat.

Coco Jones Signs With Warner Chappell Music (Billboard)

Piping-hot R&B singer and songwriter Coco Jones signs with Warner Chappell Music, just days out from the 66th annual Grammy Awards where she’s nominated in five categories.

PROs and Royalties

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Quincy Jones jon strategic funding round for royalty platform, Salt (MBW)

Salt, a UK-based royalty processing firm described as the “music society back-office SaaS platform for processing and distributing rightsholder royalties” has raised a new round of funding.

Kobalt’s revamped royalties portal highlights the ‘collection gap’ (Music Ally)

“The royalty collection flow is a big blindspot for songwriters and rightsholders, and unlocking this data has the potential for material impact,” says CEO Laurent Hubert.

New Mountain Capital closes acquisition of BMI (MBW)

According to an update issued on Thursday (February 8), the deal has now received the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals required for closing.

Funding, Facts & Figures

Kobalt raising $267M from security backed by song catalog including YoungBoy & more (Billboard)

The $410 million, 5,000-song catalog also includes the music of AJR, Busta Rhymes and Jessie J.

Cinq Music raises $250m from parent company for acquisitions (Music Ally)

It didn’t have to look far for the cash injection - it comes from its parent company GoDigital Media Group.

Catch Point is offering upfront cash payments to acquire songwriters' PRO income streams (MBW)

The company is expanding the scope of its services to the wider songwriting community with a new program focused on acquiring PRO songwriter royalty accounts.

Duetti raises $90m in new funding to acquire indie artists' catalogs (MBW)

Duetti has built itself on the idea that music rights acquisitions aren’t just for A-list artists with a large back catalog – they can be made to work for relatively new indie artists as well.

Legal

Publishers step up the pressure in Anthropic copyright lawsuit (Music Ally)

“Anthropic concedes the critical facts of its infringement. It does not dispute that it copies Publishers’ lyrics on a massive scale to train its “Claude” AI models” claimed the latest filing.

EU AI Act headed for parliamentary vote, with some copyright provisions still unclear (MBW)

More than two years after it was introduced, and after a great deal of negotiation, the European Union’s AI Act is headed for a vote in the European Parliament.

The MLC sues Pandora for allegedly underpaying royalties and late fees (MBW)

The lawsuit claims Pandora misrepresented its streaming activity and failed to report royalties for a portion of streams on the “Pandora Free” service.

Downtown, Hipgnosis and NMPA rally behind Universal Music Group in its fight with TIkTok (MBW)

“Music is a driving force behind TikTok’s success and it is extremely unfortunate that TikTok does not seem to value the music creators that fuel its business,” said David Israelite.

People

Thomas Jamois appointed Managing Director of Wise Music Group France (MBW)

UK-based independent music company Wise Music Group has appointed Thomas Jamois as Managing Director of Wise Music France.

Sony Music Publishing expands in MENA with new Dubai office, and names Dounia Chaaban as Managing Director (MBW)

Sony Music Publishing is expanding its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with the launch of a new office in Dubai, which will be led by newly-appointed Managing Director Dounia Chaaban.

Sony Music Publishing UK makes key A&R appointments (Music Week)

Sony Music Publishing UK has unveiled a new hire and two strategic promotions across its A&R department.

Lina Tebbs named Director UK Production Music at Warner Chappell Music (MBW)

Tebbs will aim to reinvigorate the Production Music team by exploring new approaches to cater to the extensive 190,000+ catalog for UK film, television, radio, and advertising clients.