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 was a week of many major personnel changes in the music industry – so many, in fact, that we can barely fit them all into the round-up. So here’s the super-condensed version:
First, Warner Music Group announced that 300 Elektra Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles will be leaving the label and its parent company, WMG, at the end of this month. A day later, WMG announced that Warner Music Japan boss Kaz Kobayashi will be stepping down as President and CEO later this year.
Then came the announcement that Randy Goodman will be stepping down as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville (one of many leadership changes in Nashville of late). Finally, we got word of layoffs at WMG’s Atlantic Music Group, part of a major reshaping of the company under incoming CEO Elliot Grainge.
Also this week, MBW was the first to report that Irving Azoff‘s US-headquartered PRO, Global Music Rights (GMR), has struck a multi-billion dollar private equity deal in a transaction that values GMR at USD $3.3 billion.
Meanwhile, Universal Music Group held its Capital Markets Day in London this week, where Chairman and CEO SirLucian Grainge made the case for why streaming will continue to be a major source of growth for the music industry in the years to come.
Elsewhere, Tempo Music sued Miley Cyrus, and seemingly half the music industry, over her track Flowers, which Tempo alleges ripped off Bruno Mars‘ When I Was Your Man.
Plus, the North Carolina man charged in a $10 million streaming fraud case has pled not guilty. And finally, with word coming that Pink Floyd are in talks with Sony Music to sell their catalog for a sum believed to be in the region of GBP £400 million, MBW looked at what the iconic rock band is earning these days.
Here’s what happened this week…
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1) IRVING AZOFF’S GMR JUST STRUCK A $3.3 BILLION PRIVATE EQUITY DEAL, SAY MBW SOURCES
Look. We’ve broken some pretty big news of late. Proper news. But this? Size-of-transaction-wise, this tops the lot.
MBW has confirmed via well-placed sources that Irving Azoff‘s US-headquartered PRO, Global Music Rights (GMR), struck a multi-billion dollar deal on Wednesday (September 18) with a new private equity partner. The transaction, we’re told, valued GMR at USD $3.3 billion.
It’s understood that Azoff is maintaining a stake in the company, but TPG – his long-time co-owner in GMR – has cashed out.
It’s also understood that the buyer is a private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman, which had $120 billion in assets under management at the close of 2023…
2) READ SIR LUCIAN GRAINGE’S UNIVERSAL MUSIC CAPITAL MARKETS DAY OPENING ADDRESS IN FULL: ‘STREAMING WILL CONTINUE TO PROPEL MANY YEARS OF INDUSTRY GROWTH.’
Universal Music Group hosted its 2024 Capital Markets Day in London on Tuesday (September 17) at the iconic Abbey Road Studios (which is owned by UMG).
The marathon four-hour event featured detailed presentations by leaders from across the company’s global business, highlighting UMG’s successes, current positioning, as well as creative and business opportunities in the global music industry.
The event was kicked off by UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, who opened his speech with a brief history of Abbey Road itself, which, as Grainge noted, has served as the location of recordings from the Beatles to Fela Kuti, Amy Winehouse, and more superstars…
3) PINK FLOYD’S RECORDINGS CATALOG COULD SOON SELL FOR $400M-$500M. BUT HOW MUCH DOES IT EARN TODAY?
On Friday (September 13) MBW sent out a breaking news alert: we’d heard Pink Floyd were in talks with Sony Music to sell their catalog for a sum believed to be in the region of GBP £400 million.
A few hours later the Financial Times further substantiated the story, suggesting, via its own sources, that the deal’s value is USD $500 million.
The prospective acquisition is believed to encompass the band’s recorded music catalog, plus neighboring rights and ‘name and likeness’ rights.
But how has Sony (or any other prospective buyer) reached this reported half-billion-dollar price tag…?
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4) TEMPO MUSIC SUES MILEY CYRUS (AND HALF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY) FOR ALLEGEDLY COPYING BRUNO MARS’ ‘WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN’ ON MEGAHIT ‘FLOWERS’
Tempo Music has filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus for allegedly copying Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man to create her 2023 hit Flowers.
Tempo, the music rights-acquiring fund launched by private equity giant Providence in 2019, says it acquired a percentage of the copyright in When I Was Your Man from Philip Lawrence, one of the song’s co-writers, in 2020.
The lawsuit not only names as defendants Miley Cyrus and Sony Music Entertainment, which owns the label on which Flowers was released, but also numerous music publishers allegedly involved with Flowers, plus retailers and streaming services that sold or hosted the song.
Flowers was the biggest-selling single globally in 2023, according to IFPI. It spent a total of eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and 57 weeks at the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart…
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5) MUSICIAN ACCUSED OF $10M AI STREAMING FRAUD SCAM PLEADS NOT GUILTY (REPORT)
A musician indicted by the US government earlier this month over an alleged $10 million streaming fraud scam has pled not guilty.
As reported by Law360, Michael Smith, a 52-year-old resident of North Carolina, entered his plea in front of US District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan on Thursday “during a brief proceeding”.
According to court documents viewed by MBW, Judge Koeltl issued an order on Thursday (September 18) setting Smith’s bail at $500,000.
Smith is alleged to have fraudulently generated over $10 million in royalties through the scheme between 2017 and 2024…
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
