Analysis News With $15bn in revenue, 2021 was the US record industry’s biggest EVER year (kind of…) MBW reveals historic numbers for the US market last year (although you should really factor in inflation)
News Kobalt just raised $550 million in debt to buy music catalog rights JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HPS Investment Partners are funding debt, reports Bloomberg
Analysis News BMI hires Goldman Sachs to ‘explore strategic opportunities’. Could it end up selling? Other possibilities might include expanding into sync, or even acquiring rights
Analysis News Even without AWAL, Kobalt Music Group is a $600m+ annual business… and comfortably profitable Company posted first ever full year of EBITDA profitability in FY2021
News Hipgnosis buys Leonard Cohen catalog via Blackstone-backed fund Hipgnosis acquires writer's share in earlier catalog, plus publisher's share in later songs
News Ukraine: Major music companies donate to humanitarian orgs, as Spotify shuts Russia office All three majors have made donations to organizations focusing on the people of Ukraine
Analysis News Universal Music Group spent $459m on catalog acquisitions last year… less than half what it spent in 2020 New investor presentation reveals interesting numbers and facts around UMG's acquisition strategy
Analysis News Universal Music Group surpassed $10 billion in revenues last year. It’s now double the size it was a decade ago. UMG's adjusted annual EBITDA topped $2 billion last year, according to MBW's calcuations
Analysis News Live Nation: We will not do business with Russia following Ukraine invasion "We will not promote shows in Russia, and we will not do business with Russia."
News BMG: Broken Bow is Jason Aldean’s label home until at least 2030 BMG-owned Broken Bow Records has been Jason Aldean's record label home for nearly two decades.
News Spirit Music Group buys Jason Aldean masters in $100m+ deal Spirit will own 90% of the catalog, as Aldean holds on to 10%, MBW understands
News BlackRock teams with Warner to launch new $750m music-buying fund via Influence Media Deal comes three years after Warner launched Tempo Music with Providence Equity Partners
News Now Sony Music gets clearance for $255m Som Livre acquisition in Brazil MBW confirms that Brazil's CADE has given the green light
Analysis News Kanye West just sold 10,000 Stem Players in 3 days… as he claims he rejected a $100m deal from Apple One of the most interesting release experiments in modern music is about to take place via Ye's Donda 2
Analysis News If you wanted to know why Sony Music bought AWAL… this is why The signing of girl in red to Columbia could be a key case study in the Sony-AWAL story