Los Angeles-based investment company Shamrock Capital has acquired a portion of American record producer, songwriter and DJ Metro Boomin’s entire existing publishing catalog for nearly $70 million.
The acquisition was reported by Billboard on Tuesday (March 7), citing “sources close to the deal.”
Shamrock is best known for buying the master rights to Taylor Swift’s first six studio albums from Big Machine in November 2020 for north of $300 million.
The reported acquisition comes just a month after Shamrock raised more than $600 million in commitments for its third equity fund for content strategy. The fundraising exceeded the company’s $500 million target.
Shamrock’s Content Fund III LP is focused on buying a diverse and global portfolio of content and media rights. Last month, Shamrock said it has about $4.4 billion of assets under management.
Founded in 1978 as the family investment company for the late Roy E. Disney, Shamrock has since transitioned into an institutionally backed private equity firm.
It has been an active buyer of music catalogs in recent years. Aside from buying Swift’s catalog, Shamrock has acquired the music publishing catalog of Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, which includes hits such as Firework by Katy Perry; Diamonds, Rude Boy, and What’s My Name by Rihanna; and Irreplaceable by Beyonce, among many others.
In January, Billboard reported that Dr. Dre is close to selling some of his music assets in two separate deals with Shamrock and Universal Music Group for north of $200 million.
Neither Dr. Dre, Shamrock and UMG confirmed the said deal.
Most recently, Shamrock has also yet to confirm whether it is acquiring a portion of Metro Boomin’s whole publishing catalog, Billboard said.
Metro Boomin, also known as Leland Tyler Wayne, launched his second album, HEROES & VILLAINS, on December 2, 2022. The album features Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Don Toliver, Chris Brown, A$AP Rocky, Gunna, and late Migos member Takeoff.
It debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 to become Metro Boomin’s second album to hit No. 1.
Metro Boomin has worked with artists like Migos, Future, Post Malone, 21 Savage, Kanye West, Drake The Weeknd and iLoveMakonnen in some of their biggest hits.
Metro Boomin co-produced Coldplay’s track Let Somebody Go (feat. Selena Gomez) for the band’s ninth studio album, Grammy-nominated Music of the Spheres.
In 2017, Metro Boomin launched his own label, Boominati Worldwide, in partnership with Republic Records and UMG.
“Launching Boominati Worldwide is the next step in my career as a producer, an artist and a businessman. I created the label to represent a collective of highly gifted individuals who have the shared gift of being able to influence the world through culture and art,” Metro Boomin was quoted by XXL Mag as saying at the time.
Shamrock’s reported acquisition of Metro Boomin’s catalog comes amid a wave of recent deals in the hip-hop space.
Last month, Billboard reported that Opus Music Group quietly bought a majority stake in late rapper Juice WRLD’s rights and income streams.
In September, Influence Media Partners bought the publishing catalog of Grammy-award-winning rapper Future in an “eight-figure” deal, according to a press release.
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