Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we ensure that you caught the 5 greatest 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 week introduced large information from Common Music Group‘s frontline label teams within the US, as Interscope Geffen A&M and Capitol Music Group have been consolidated beneath the brand new title of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, headed up by Chairman and CEO John Janick.
Earlier within the week, MBW reported on a “thriller” purchaser excited by making a bid for France-headquartered digital music firm Imagine. The thriller didn’t final lengthy, as the potential purchaser was quickly revealed to be none aside from Warner Music Group.
Additionally this week, music royalties buying and selling platform JKBX introduced that it has obtained qualification from the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) for its property. The outcome: as of this week, buyers – together with customers aka ‘retail buyers’ – can legally buy shares within the royalty streams of hits through JKBX.com.
In the meantime, in accordance with an investor replace from Hipgnosis Songs Fund‘s board, US-based music M&A consultants Shot Tower Capital estimates the honest worth of HSF’s portfolio (as of March 1, 2024) at between USD $1.80 billion and $2.06 billion (or between $1.74 billion and $2.00 billion after contingent catalog bonuses are deducted).
Based on the HSF board, the midpoint of Shot Tower’s valuation of HSF is $1.93 billion, which represents a discount in worth of 26.3% vs. the $2.62 billion valuation from Citrin Cooperman (as of September 30).
Lastly, some sign-of-the-times information out of Okay-pop big HYBE, which held an earnings name late final month, during which CEO Jiwon Park‘s opening remarks turned out to have been delivered by an AI-powered vocal clone.
Right here’s what occurred this week…
1) INTERSCOPE GEFFEN A&M AND CAPITOL MUSIC GROUP ARE NOW OFFICIALLY CONSOLIDATED UNDER THE ‘INTERSCOPE CAPITOL LABELS GROUP’; STEVE BERMAN AND ANNIE LEE BOTH PROMOTED TO NEW ROLES
Huge information on Thursday (March 7) from Common Music Group‘s frontline label teams on the earth’s largest music market.
Interscope Geffen A&M and Capitol Music Group are actually formally consolidated beneath the brand new title of Interscope Capitol Labels Group (ICLG).
ICLG is comprised of all artists, labels, and personnel throughout the firms previously named Interscope Geffen A&M and Capitol Music Group. Interscope Capitol Labels Group is headed up by Chairman & CEO John Janick.
Beneath the brand new mannequin, Janick and Republic Data‘ Monte Lipman are growing the variety of labels beneath their command on the West Coast and East Coast, respectively.
In Los Angeles, Janick will present help and management to Blue Observe, Capitol, Geffen, Interscope, Motown, Precedence and Verve. In the meantime, in New York, Lipman will take duty for Def Jam, Island, Mercury and Republic…
2) THAT MYSTERY COMPANY INTERESTED IN BUYING BELIEVE? IT’S WARNER MUSIC GROUP.
Earlier this week, MBW informed you that there was a “thriller” firm that has begun a dialog with Imagine‘s board over a possible potential bid price $1.8 billion for the French firm.
On Thursday (March 7), mentioned firm revealed itself. It’s Warner Music Group.
In an investor launch, WMG confirmed that it approached Imagine’s board on February 21 to “to provoke discussions with respect to a possible mixture of Imagine with WMG”.
Final Tuesday (February 27), WMG then informed Imagine’s board that it thought it may worth Imagine at €17 per share based mostly on at present accessible public info. That provide values Imagine at round EUR €1.7263 billion (USD $1.872 billion).
Crucially, it will be roughly 13% larger than a €15-per-share provide that was made for Imagine final month by a consortium that brings collectively Swedish funding agency EQT, plus current Imagine investor TCV, and the music firm’s founder and CEO, Denis Ladegaillerie…
3) HIPGNOSIS SONGS FUND’S ASSETS ARE NOW VALUED AT $690 MILLION LESS THAN THEY WERE BEFORE. BLACKSTONE MUST BE LICKING ITS LIPS.
All of us knew the day was coming when Hipgnosis Songs Fund‘s portfolio can be re-valued at a smaller greenback quantity than it had beforehand. What we didn’t know was fairly how dramatic a change that will be.
UK-listed HSF has, since floating in 2018, employed US-based Citrin Cooperman/Massarsky Consulting to be its ‘unbiased valuer’.
Citrin Cooperman has naturally used its personal formulation to judge HSF’s property throughout this era – together with a much-debated ‘low cost charge’ of 8.5%. (Some felt that as rates of interest rose up to now two years, that low cost charge ought to have been larger, which might have diminished the dimensions of HSF’s valuation.)
Citrin Cooperman’s most up-to-date valuation of Hipgnosis Songs Fund concluded that the worth of HSF’s portfolio was USD $2.62 billion.
Since then, Citrin Cooperman and HSF have parted methods – whereas HSF’s board has commissioned a “strategic evaluate” of the corporate by revered US-based music M&A consultants, Shot Tower Capital.
On Monday (March 4), Shot Tower gave its personal view on what HSF’s portfolio is price within the fashionable market…. and it’s a darn sight extra conservative than Citrin Cooperman’s…
4) MUSIC ROYALTIES TRADING PLATFORM JKBX LAUNCHES – WITH REGULATORY APPROVAL FROM THE SEC
It’s induced fairly a buzz within the music enterprise over the previous 12 months. Now music royalties buying and selling platform JKBX is formally “open for enterprise”.
JKBX has introduced that it has obtained qualification from the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) for its property. The outcome: as of this week, buyers – together with customers aka ‘retail buyers’ – can legally buy shares within the royalty streams of hits through JKBX.com.
The JKBX platform soft-launched final 12 months, however whereas awaiting SEC qualification, its customers may solely ‘reserve’ (slightly than outright purchase) these royalty shares.
From Wednesday (March 6), those self same customers should buy royalty stakes in hits written and/or recorded by numerous celebrity songwriters and artists starting from Beyoncé to Ryan Tedder, Timbaland, the Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, Main Lazer, OneRepublic, Ed Sheeran, Louis Bell and lots of extra…
5) HYBE’S CEO DELIVERED SOME STRONG FISCAL RESULTS TO INVESTORS LAST WEEK. EXCEPT IT WASN’T HIM. IT WAS AN AI CLONE.
South Korea-based leisure big HYBE revealed its This fall and FY 2023 monetary outcomes on February 26.
The agency revealed that it surpassed annual revenues of 2 trillion South Korea Gained (USD $1.66bn) in 2023, led by what it mentioned on its This fall earnings name was “explosive progress in [its] album and live performance companies”.
That, although, wasn’t essentially the most shocking factor that occurred on HYBE’s dialogue with analysts that day.
On the finish of Park’s opening remarks, previous to the Q&A session the place he and CFO Kyung-Jun Lee have been grilled by buyers in regards to the firm’s efficiency in 2023.
