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.
Sony Music Group and an unnamed co-investor are reportedly poised to close the biggest artist catalog deal in music history.
The company has reportedly agreed to acquire the catalog of legendary rock band Queen in a landmark deal reportedly worth approximately GBP £1 billion (USD $1.27 billion at current exchange rates).
But who is this other investor? Sources tell MBW that noises are getting louder that said investor is Apollo Global Management…
Elsewhere in the music rights M&A world, we got word this week that Hipgnosis Song Management founder and Chairman Merck Mercuriadis aims to step down from the company, upon closing of the proposed acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited by Lyra Bidco Limited, a company owned by Blackstone-managed funds.
Speaking of blockbuster deals, publisher Warner Chappell Music has announced it’s become the exclusive global administration partner for Tom Petty‘s song catalog, encompassing the late rocker’s work as a solo artist and with the Heartbreakers.
Meanwhile, MBW has unearthed a new patent application by Universal Music Group, indicating the company is working on a method for generating neural beats and adding them to existing tracks.
Finally, record companies told MBW this week that they see no sign of a decline in music streaming subscriptions in Sweden, despite a recent YouGov poll suggesting a dip in paying subscribers in the Nordic country.
Here’s what happened this week…
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1) SONY MUSIC’S MYSTERY QUEEN CATALOG CO-INVESTOR IS APOLLO, SAY SOURCES
Sony Music Group has reportedly agreed to acquire the catalog of legendary rock band Queen in a landmark deal reportedly worth approximately GBP £1 billion (USD $1.27 billion at current exchange rates).
Sony is understood to be buying the band’s global music publishing rights, their ‘name and likeness’ rights, plus their recorded music interests — including their recording copyrights outside of North America, where their masters are owned by Disney Music Group.
(Sony already administers Queen’s publishing rights, while the band’s recorded music is currently globally distributed via Universal Music Group.)
At the end of May, Bloomberg reported that Sony was negotiating a deal with Queen and that the major music company was “working with another investor” on the transaction.
2) MERCK MERCURIADIS TO STEP AWAY AS CHAIRMAN OF HIPGNOSIS SONG MANAGEMENT
Hipgnosis Song Management announced on Tuesday that its founder and Chairman Merck Mercuriadis has given notice of his intention to step away as Chairman.
According to the announcement Tuesday (July 2), his departure from the company will be effective upon closing of the proposed acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited by Lyra Bidco Limited, a company owned by Blackstone-managed funds.
Merck Mercuriadis, founder and Chairman, Hipgnosis Song Management said: “Six years after founding HSM, I have decided that now is the right time for me to step back from my role as Chairman. This is a timely opportunity for me to undertake a strategic shift of focus, and to spend more time advocating on behalf of songwriters to ensure that they are properly compensated for their work…”
Credit: Mark Seliger
3) WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC NOW REPRESENTS THE PUBLISHING CATALOG OF TOM PETTY AROUND THE WORLD
Warner Chappell Music (WCM) is now the exclusive global admin partner of Tom Petty‘s storied song catalog.
The deal, which covers Petty hits including “Wildlflowers,” “Free Fallin’,” “Learning to Fly,” “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl,” and “I Won’t Back Down,” was inked between WCM and the Tom Petty estate.
Called a “milestone agreement” by WCM, the deal encompasses Petty’s work with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist.
The Petty Estate said in a statement: “We’re looking forward to this new partnership with the team at Warner Chappell, as we expand the reach of Tom’s iconic song catalog. This partnership will open the door to new licensing opportunities and serve to introduce his music to a new generation across the globe…”
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4) BINAURAL BEATS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR POSITIVE EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN. UNIVERSAL MUSIC HAS INVENTED TECH THAT CAN GENERATE AND ADD THEM TO EXISTING AUDIO TRACKS
Universal Music Group has been at the forefront of the convergence of the music and wellness industries over the past few years.
Now, MBW has unearthed a recent patent application from Universal that describes technology that could significantly impact the wellness space.
The filing, titled, ‘Generating tonally compatible, synchronized neural beats for digital audio files’ describes what UMG calls “new and innovative systems and methods for generating and adding neural beats to existing audio tracks“.
As explained by Universal in the application, neural beats, played at certain frequencies, may “include any audio beat designed to produce or encourage a desired mental state in a user”…
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5) RECORD COMPANIES TELL MBW: NOPE, THE INDUSTRY ISN’T LOSING PAYING IN SWEDEN
Some of the world’s biggest record companies have expressed bemusement over the results of a survey in the Nordics which suggest that paying subscribers to music services in Sweden are in decline.
Last week, MBW reported on a YouGov survey conducted with Scandinavian collection societies during May 2024, in which 4,000 individuals were quizzed across the Nordics.
Those interviews suggested a downturn in the number of people paying for music streaming in Sweden.
Of the YouGov poll’s respondents based in Sweden, 56% said they were Premium subscribers to a music subscription service, down from 59% in mid-2022…
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
