Blackstone-owned production music house Audio Network buys Latin Music company Voodoo Tracks

Photographer: Vince Bucci
Ali Johnson, Chief Creative Officer, Audio Network; Robb Smith, CEO, Audio Network; Elías Serpa, Co-founder and Composer, Voodoo Tracks; Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Co-founder and CEO, Voodoo Tracks

Production music house Audio Network has acquired Latin music company Voodoo Tracks for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is poised to expand Audio Network’s current catalog by more than 90 albums across more than 30 genres of Latin music in Central America, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Audio Network says that the deal marks its first-ever acquisition of a music catalog.

The deal arrives two years after Audio Network was absorbed by financial giant Blackstone when the latter acquired Entertainment One Music (eOne Music), now MNRK Music Group, from Hasbro for USD $385 million in cash.

Audio Network was acquired by eOne for approximately $215 million in April 2019.

London-headquartered Audio Network creates original music for broadcasters, brands, creators and music fans globally through its roster of more than 1,000 composers, singer-songwriters and artists.

Audio Network has a catalog of more than 200,000 tracks across different genres. For Audio Network, the acquisition of Voodoo Tracks would provide another revenue stream for the company amid the growing popularity of Latin music globally. In 2022, US revenues from Latin music surpassed USD $1 billion.

In the first quarter of 2022, Audio Network’s profit hit GBP £9.4 million ($11.69m), while turnover amounted to £34.6 million (approx $43m), according to a filing on the UK’s Company’s House.

Voodoo Tracks was founded in 2018 by Latin Grammy and BMI award-winning composers, songwriters and musicians Juan Carlos Rodriguez and Elías Serpa.

Rodgriguez and Serpa have over 30 years of combined experience working with NBC, Telemundo, PBS, El Rey Network, Netflix, Peacock, Univision, HULU, Nissan, and Espolón.

“We’re very excited to announce this partnership with Voodoo Tracks,” Audio Network CEO Robb Smith said.

“It’s not just about acquiring an amazing music portfolio, but also creating a multi-year production partnership with founder-composers Juan Carlos Rodriguez and Elías Serpa that will add new Latin albums to the Audio Network catalog on an ongoing basis.”

Robb Smith, Audio Network

“It’s not just about acquiring an amazing music portfolio, but also creating a multi-year production partnership with founder-composers Juan Carlos Rodriguez and Elías Serpa that will add new Latin albums to the Audio Network catalog on an ongoing basis.”

Ali Johnson, Chief Creative Officer at Audio Network, said Voodoo Tracks shares Audio Network’s aim to represent the global diversity of music, “with the most talented writers, while recording and producing albums with world-class musicians in the finest recording studios.”

Voodoo Tracks co-founder and CEO Juan Carlos Rodriguez said: “I’ve always felt that Audio Network placed real value on crafting authentic Latin Music, which is why I first started partnering with them back in 2013.”

“Over the years, I’ve produced 7 albums directly with Ali and the team. It was through this partnership and deep trust that we knew Audio Network was the right home for our full Voodoo Tracks catalog.”

Elías Serpa, co-founder and composer at Voodoo Tracks, said: “As Latin Music continues to grow in popularity, we’re looking forward to expanding the reach of our music to media customers around the world.”

“The increased exposure will allow us to highlight this amazing catalogue and roster of talent, while sharing the stories of the amazing cultures behind this music.”

Elías Serpa, Voodoo Tracks

“The increased exposure will allow us to highlight this amazing catalogue and roster of talent, while sharing the stories of the amazing cultures behind this music.”

Music Business Worldwide

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