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.
This week, Universal Music UK announced that it is changing its company structure from October 1. This will include the merger of two renowned London-based frontline labels: Island Records UK and EMI.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, songwriter groups hailed the US Copyright Office‘s ruling that songwriters are entitled to collect mechanical royalties from streaming platforms like Spotify after their termination rights have been invoked, that is, when they reclaim their rights from another party, usually a publisher.
We also got word this week that longtime HYBE exec Lenzo Yoon will be leaving the company at the end of this year. Yoon most recently held the title of Co-CEO of HYBE America, a role he shared with Scooter Braun.
Back in Europe, France-headquartered Believe announced it had taken a 25% stake in Romania-born Global Records, which describes itself as the biggest indie music company in Central and Eastern Europe.
Speaking of investments: Having won its bidding war against Concord, Blackstone cleared the last hurdle this week in its acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund, as HSF shareholders approved its takeover bid with 99.97% of voting shares saying yes to the deal.
Here’s what happened this week…
1) UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK RESTRUCTURES, MERGING ISLAND AND EMI LABELS WHILE LAUNCHING NEW AUDIENCE AND MEDIA DIVISION
Universal Music UK is changing its company structure from October 1. This will include the merger of two renowned London-based frontline labels: Island Records UK and EMI.
Louis Bloom will be the president of the newly-named Island EMI Label Group; Bloom will move into the role from his current position as President of Island Records UK.
The Island EMI Label Group will form one of two “powerhouse frontline label groups”, Universal Music UK’s Chairman/CEO, David Joseph, announced in an internal memo on July 9.
The other will be Polydor Label Group, led by Ben Mortimer as President…
Credit: ISOVECTOR/Shutterstock
2) SONGWRITER GROUPS HAIL ‘LANDMARK VICTORY’ AS US COPYRIGHT OFFICE ISSUES RULE CONFIRMING HOW TERMINATION RIGHTS APPLY TO STREAMING ROYALTIES
A number of organizations representing artists and songwriters in the United States have applauded the US Copyright Office’s ruling reaffirming termination rights under the Music Modernization Act (MMA).
The rule clarifies that songwriters are entitled to collect mechanical royalties generated from streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple, and Amazon after their termination rights have been invoked (i.e., when they reclaim their rights from another party, in this case, a music publisher).
In the US, songwriters have the right ‘to terminate the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license’ after 35 years for works written after 1978 (or 56 years for works written/copyrights granted prior to 1978).
The ruling, which was published on July 9, confirms that the so-called “derivative works exception” does not apply to the blanket license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act…
3) LENZO YOON, ONE OF THE KEY EXECS BEHIND THE RISE OF BTS, IS LEAVING HYBE (REPORT)
Lenzo Yoon is leaving South Korea-headquartered entertainment giant HYBE at the end of 2024.
That’s according to a report published in South Korea’s Maeil Kyungjae business paper, which reports that the exec’s contract contains a non-compete clause that expires at the end of 2024. The report adds that Yoon will leave the company ‘immediately thereafter’.
The exec most recently held the title of Co-CEO of HYBE America, a role he shared with Scooter Braun until January 2023, when the latter exec became sole CEO of HYBE America.
Lenzo Yoon has been a key exec at HYBE since he joined the company in 2010 as Head of Strategic Planning, and when it was known as Big Hit Entertainment…
4) BELIEVE BUYS 25% STAKE IN GLOBAL RECORDS, WHICH CLAIMS TO BE THE BIGGEST INDIE MUSIC COMPANY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
Believe has signed a strategic partnership with Romania-born Global Records, which is claimed to be the biggest independent music company in Central and Eastern Europe.
As part of the deal, Believe has acquired a 25% stake in Bucharest-headquartered Global Records, which has offices in Romania, Germany and the US.
Believe said on Monday (July 8) that this strategic partnership “falls in line” with its “blueprint strategy to focus on music genres where artist development and music consumption are digital”…
Credit: Clara Balzary/Warner Music Group/press
5) DONE DEAL: BLACKSTONE IS THE NEW OWNER OF HIPGNOSIS SONGS FUND, AS
Credit: Clara Balzary/Warner Music Group/press
GIANT’S BID WINS SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL
It’s official: Blackstone is about to become the new owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund.
Blackstone’s USD $1.584 billion bid for the UK-listed music company won overwhelming approval amongst HSF shareholders who voted at a Court Meeting and General Meeting on July 8.
The process saw 99.97% of the Scheme Shares voted by HSF shareholders approve the Blackstone deal.
Blackstone needed at least 75% of voting shares to get the deal over the line…
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide
