Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
The world’s largest music rightsholder announced on February 20 that it is taking a 25.8% stake in Chord Music Partners, which owns stakes in some 60,000 songs, including pop hits from the likes of Ryan Tedder and John Legend, as well as smash songs from The Weeknd, Lorde, and Diplo.
And in another deal, the company is acquiring a stake in youth-oriented media platform Complex, which will give UMG an opportunity to “create a new destination for ‘superfan’ culture that will define the future of commerce, digital media, and music”.
In other (but still Universal-related) news, Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie chimed in on the dispute between Universal and TikTok over licensing fees. In contrast to many others in the music business, Ladegaillerie had kind words for TikTok, calling it a source of “valuable monetization for our artists and labels“.
Meanwhile, an appellate court in Virginia has overturned a landmark, $1-billion copyright infringement ruling against Cox Communications over its subscribers’ piracy of online music. The court ordered a new trial, in what amounts to a setback for the major labels behind the suit.
Finally, concert giant Live Nation published its financial results on Thursday (February 22) for FY 2023 – the company’s “biggest year ever”.
On February 20, Universal Music Group announced the $240 million acquisition of a 25.8% stake in Chord Music – a portfolio of around 60,000 songs (or, more accurately, cuts in songs), most of which were once owned by a sister fund of Kobalt‘s.
Chord owns stakes in a flurry of pop hits from the likes of Ryan Tedder and John Legend, as well as smash songs from The Weeknd, Lorde, and Diplo that were originally developed by Matt Pincus, Ron Perry, and Carianne Marshall at SONGS Music Publishing (before that catalog was sold to Kobalt in 2017).
As a result of the new deal, Chord Music’s assets (when their current distribution/administration deals expire) will become distributed via UMG’s Virgin Music Group and administered via Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).
However, this is just part one of this story. Part two is arguably much bigger.
UMG only has one partner in Chord Music – and it’s a partner who isn’t afraid of recognizing the value of hit music by spending large sums on it.
Dundee Partners, aka the investment office of the Hendel family, now owns the other 75%-ish of Chord Music… having teamed with UMG to buy out Dundee’s previous majority-partner in the fund, KKR…
Universal Music Group is acquiring a stake in the youth-orientated media platform Complex.
UMG will become a strategic partner in Complex alongside other investors such as Goldman Sachs, Main Street Advisors, and Jimmy Iovine, via an agreed takeover that sees live-video shopping platform NTWRK become the official owner of Complex and its networks.
Complex was sold to BuzzFeed in a deal worth USD $294 million in November 2021. BuzzFeed confirmed on February 21 that NTWRK (and its backers) have now agreed to buy Complex in a $108.6 million cash acquisition.
A press release issued by UMG stated that the NTWRK consortium’s acquisition of Complex will “create a new destination for ‘superfan’ culture that will define the future of commerce, digital media, and music”.
What will be UMG’s ‘strategic partner’ play here? A fair assumption: It will include selling music-associated ‘superfan’ products (sneakers, streetwear, collectibles, vinyl, experiences etc.) direct to Complex’s culture-savvy audience via NTWRK’s technology…
Sometimes in the music biz, it’s not exactly what someone says that matters – it’s when they say it.
Over the past few weeks, MBW has closely covered the news of Universal Music Group‘s quarrel with TikTok – primarily over the licensing sums paid by the digital service for music – as well as the reaction from various corners of the industry.
Since UMG refused to re-license its catalog with TikTok in January, the likes of Downtown, Primary Wave, the NMPA, Hipgnosis, and various pro-artist groups have come out in support of Universal’s position.
Earlier this month, A2IM – a trade body representing a coalition of premium independent labels, which has in the past rallied against action by major music companies – also stepped forward to back UMG.
However, Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie is taking a somewhat different approach…
Live Nation Entertainment President and CEO Michael Rapino told the company’s investors on Thursday (February 22) that “the live music industry reached new heights in 2023″.
Rapino’s comments arrived alongside the concert giant’s Q4 and FY 2023 earnings, which, published on Thursday, saw the company report results for its “biggest year ever”.
The promoter posted full-year revenues of $22.7 billion, up 36% YoY. Those revenues were generated across all divisions, including concerts, ticketing and advertising & sponsorship…
The major labels’ USD $1 billion copyright infringement victory against Cox Communications has been overturned.
A federal appeals court in Virginia has rejected parts of the 2019 verdict against Cox Communications, in which a jury found the cable and internet company – the third-largest provider of broadband services in the US, as of 2022 – liable for copyright infringement of 10,017 musical works by its subscribers.
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial to be held, after concluding that the $1 billion penalty against Cox was not justified.
The court said in its ruling on Tuesday: “We affirm the jury’s finding of willful contributory infringement. But we reverse the vicarious liability verdict and remand for a new trial on damages because Cox did not profit from its subscribers’ acts of infringement, a legal prerequisite for vicarious liability.”
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Virginia in 2018, included numerous plaintiffs from the music industry, including Sony Music Entertainment (the lead plaintiff), Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group…
