Analysis News From Downtown’s $500m credit agreement to Concord’s Hipgnosis bidding war exit… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
News Confirmed: Better Noise Music sold 50% of its catalog for ‘around $100 million’ in 2022, is now reinvesting into expansion Dan Waite and Steve Kline confirm deal was reached two years ago, as hard rock label eyes bigger ambitions
News Pete Ganbarg launches Pure Tone Records JV with Atlantic Records The first artist signed to Pure Tone is Canadian singer/songwriter Forest Blakk
Analysis Blog Why fighting to get artists paid for radio plays is so critical The following op/ed comes from Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange
Analysis News Robert Kyncl talks Believe, M&A, India, superfans and more on WMG’s latest earnings call WMG says it's the only one of the major to grow market share in India and Sub-Saharan Africa last year
News Avex USA makes strategic investment in Brandon Silverstein’s S10 Entertainment Avex USA is the US division of Tokyo-headquartered entertainment giant Avex
News Apple Music launches ‘Apple Music Partner Program’ for labels and distributors, including ‘premium’ data analytics tools New program is available initially for a limited number of record labels and music distributors in the US
News Will Bloomfield joins TaP Music as Co-President and Head of Global Artist Management Bloomfield was named one of Billboard's 40 Under 40, and is part of the team leading the Richard Antwi Scholarship
News After raising $250m for acquisitions, Cinq Music buys catalog of producer Flow La Movie The acquisition comes more than three years after Flow La Movie died in an airplane crash
News Music startup Mogul surpasses $100 million in tracked royalties in three months since launch Mogul acts as a central financial hub for artists and creatives, giving users a comprehensive view of their income streams
News Lil Durk relaunches OTF label via AWAL partnership OTF will benefit from AWAL's infrastructure, artist development expertise, and creative experience to identify and support talent
News Simon Liddell and Freddy Greenish team with UK-listed Equals to launch financial management platform Chorus TM Liddell and Greenish most recently ran the entertainment and music teams at UK-headquartered money management platform Centtrip
News Kristal McKanders Dube to lead Global Corporate Communications for BMG McKanders Dube joins BMG after nearly six years at Warner Music Group
Analysis News Tencent Music’s AI-powered tech can ‘predict the next hit song,’ and 5 other things we learned from its latest annual report TME is also facing 695 copyright infringement lawsuits, and it's negotiating a 10% stake in an 'overseas entertainment company'
News Kilometre Music Group has spent $130m+ on music rights to date and says its latest acquisitions include stakes in Taylor Swift’s ‘Lavender Haze’ and ‘Karma’ Company formed the Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund in 2021
News Annie Aberle promoted to Senior Vice President/Head of Creative at PULSE Music Group Aberle was previously Vice President, A&R, PULSE Music Group
News Delia Orjuela appointed Head of Creative Mexican Music at Warner Chappell Music Orjuela was instrumental in catapulting Mexican-American singer DannyLux to chart-topping success
News Tuned Global-powered kid-safe music streaming app Gabb Music launches premium version "This is the first time a music streaming service that includes all genres has been built from the ground up with kids in mind first and foremost"