Influence Media Partners raises $360m in debt financing led by Goldman Sachs

Rights-backed securitization deals are becoming increasingly common in the music industry.

Today (January 29) brings the latest news from this space. Influence Media Partners has confirmed that it has secured approximately $360 million in debt financing through an inaugural private securitization, collateralized by music royalties from its portfolio of music rights.

Influence was founded in 2019 and led by Lylette Pizarro, Lynn Hazan, Rene McLean, and Jon Jashni.

In early 2022, it announced a $750 million fund to invest in what it calls “high-value compositions from diverse artists” with backing from BlackRock Alternative Investors and Warner Music Group.

Influence Media has invested in several music catalogs to date from Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated artists.

Amongst those deals are with artists such as Enrique Iglesias, Blake Shelton, Julia Michaels, Tyler JohnsonLogic, Ali Tamposi, Future and more.

The latest round of capital also follows the launch of Influence’s new independent frontline record label, music publishing and distribution company, SLANG.

The issuance announced today attracted funding from what Influence Media calls “premier investors” including, but not limited to, Nuveen, PPM America, Aflac, Pacific Life, and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners.

The transaction was led by Goldman Sachs and Truist Securities, acting as co-structuring and joint placement agents, as well as BlackRock as a Joint Placement Agent.

Lynn Hazan, Co-Managing Partner at Influence Media, oversaw this effort on behalf of the company.

Prior to joining Influence, Hazan spent more than 20 years as part of the C-suite of Sony Music as GM and CFO.

Attorneys who advised Influence Media in the transaction include Latham & Watkins serving as Securitization Counsel, Schulte Roth & Zabel (SRZ) as Corporate Counsel, and Alter, Kendrick & Baron (AKB) as Music Counsel.

“Securing this funding is a testament to Influence’s thoughtful, disciplined and highly strategic vision that prioritizes artist partnership and strong collaboration.”

Lynn Hazan, Influence Media

Lynn Hazan, Co-Managing Partner Influence Media, said: “Securing this funding is a testament to Influence’s thoughtful, disciplined and highly strategic vision that prioritizes artist partnership and strong collaboration.

“Our strategy has allowed us to amass an exceptional roster of catalogs and artist partners who are the heartbeat of Influence Media.

“This new round of financing will enable us to continue expanding our portfolio, unlock new opportunities, and join forces with even more incredible talent. We are grateful to our partners at Goldman, Truist and BlackRock for their relentless commitment to this accomplishment.”

“BlackRock was thrilled to partner with Influence as both a long-term investor and placement agent in this transaction.”

Hilary Thorndike, BlackRock

Hilary Thorndike, Managing Director at BlackRock, added: “BlackRock was thrilled to partner with Influence as both a long-term investor and placement agent in this transaction.

“We continue to be impressed by the team’s financial discipline and underwriting. Additionally, the high-quality roster of institutional investors in this deal is a testament to the strength of the platform that Lylette, Lynn, and Rene have built.”


In November, Blackstone’s Hipgnosis successfully completed a $1.47 billion music rights asset-backed securities transaction (i.e. bond offering).

In October, Concord closed an $850 million Asset-Backed Securities transaction to “fuel strategic growth and acquisitions”.

Concord’s $850 million ABS transaction marked the third series of Notes issued as part of a broader $2.6 billion bond offering backed by music rights from Concord’s catalog.

Also in October, Duetti, a music investment company focused on indie music rights, announced it had secured $114 million in new funding for the further acquisition of music catalogs. That includes $34 million in new equity financing, led by PE firm Flexpoint Ford, with participation from existing investors Nyca Partners and Viola Ventures. It also included an $80 million raised through the company’s first asset-backed securitization (ABS) transaction, which Duetti says was “backed by a highly diversified music rights catalog.”

Elsewhere in the music industry, in March, Kobalt confirmed the raise of $266.5 million via its first-ever Asset-Backed Securitization (ABS) transaction, backed by music royalties from a catalog of more than 5,000 works from 66 writers.

Also in March, HarbourView Equity Partners secured approximately $500 million in debt financing through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties.Music Business Worldwide

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