News Now John Legend sells: BMG and KKR buy catalog from All Of Me hitmaker Deal was executed in September last year, according to regulatory filing
Analysis Over 73% of the US music market is now claimed by catalog records, rather than new releases (UPDATE) MBW's analysis of latest MRC Data numbers show that less than a fifth of US market in H2 2021 was made up of new releases
Analysis The brakes have been slammed on audio streaming’s growth in the UK. Is the US next? Stat Of The Week: Latest BPI numbers show that UK market's streaming volume growth shrunk considerably last year versus 2020
News Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries sells another $351m in WMG stock to Morgan Stanley The $350 million-ish that Len Blavanik just banked represents more than 10% of the $3.3 billion that Access initially spent acquiring Warner Music Group in 2011.
News As Spotify continues fight to lower songwriter pay, its top lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, exits for Disney Gutierrez joined Spotify in 2016 and was promoted to Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer in 2019
News KKR music hotshot, Nat Zilkha, leaves investment giant to launch ‘new endeavor focused on the music industry’ Zilkha, a 15-year veteran of KKR, played prominent role in Ryan Tedder and BMG deals last year
News Symphonic Distribution raises $37m, having generated $12m in net revenue in 2021 Long-time investor Ballast joins with NewSpring to back Jorge Brea's Florida-headquartered company
News Warner buys David Bowie song catalog for $250m+ Allen Grubman said: “We are truly gratified that David Bowie’s body of music will now be in the capable hands of Warner Chappell Music Publishing."
News Sony Music boss Rob Stringer awarded CBE in Queen’s New Year’s Honours Stringer is one of a handful of music industry figures awarded in the Queen's New Year's Honours 2022
Analysis Sony Music: AWAL would have ‘struggled to maintain its position’ if we hadn’t bought it MBW has read Sony's 48-page submission to the CMA: Here's our summary
News BMG and KKR announce first joint acquisition: The ‘entire music interests’ of ZZ Top MBW sources suggest the deal would have carried a significant eight-figure price-tag
Interviews Primary Wave has over $1 billion to spend on music rights… and it’s not wasting any time Primary Wave boss Larry Mestel answers MBW's end-of-2021 questions
News ‘Bowie bonds’ are are back: Northleaf uses Spirit Music Group assets to raise $303.8m offering Issuing bonds allows companies to raise money without taking on debt from a bank
News Confirmed: Warner paid $400m in cash to acquire 300 Entertainment "The merger consideration was $400 million in cash, subject to adjustment for working capital, cash, indebtedness and expenses."
Analysis News From Rob Stringer’s big bet on Springsteen to Michelle Jubelirer taking the Chair: It’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest stories of the week – and why they matter