We first wrote about Canadian music rights management company Kilometre Music Group in 2021.
At the time, the company partnered with independently owned, Toronto-based investment firm Barometer Capital Management Inc., which currently manages more than $1.1 billion in assets.
The two companies formed the Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund, a limited partnership with a “targeted size of USD $200 million”.
In May 2023, Kilometre secured a USD $50 million Credit Facility with financial services firm Pinnacle Financial Partners. It also announced the acquisition of the catalog of UK electronic artist, producer, and songwriter William Phillips, PKA “Tourist”.
The deal included Sam Smith’s Grammy-winning hit Stay With Me, co-written by Phillips.
Since then, via its Fund, the company says it has completed five music deals for a combined USD $53 million. The company has also confirmed that it has spent over USD $130 million on music rights to date.
According to Kilometre, included in the recent catalog deals done via its Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund, are stakes in the hit singles Lavender Haze and Karma that appear on Taylor Swift’s Grammy-winning album Midnights.
Kilometre says that its fund has also bolstered its ownership stake in The Weeknd’s hit songs Blinding Lights, Save Your Tears, and Earned It and added a stake in The Weeknd’s third most-streamed song Starboy to its portfolio.
The company says that acquisitions have been made “from various co-writers and producers of the hit songs”.
Kilometre declined to provide the names of the individuals it did the deals with.
According to the company, additional stakes in songs purchased across the new deals include the hit Falling by Trevor Daniel, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s Drowning and Look Back At It; Drake’s Fair Trade; Kendrick Lamar’s Silent Hill, N95 and Rich Spiri.
Also included in Kilometre’s new deals, according to the company, is the streaming hit Unforgettable by French Montana ft. Swae Lee, The Weeknd’s Lost In the Fire and Reminder, as well as Future’s 2016 hit Low Life.
Kilometre says that it now manages a portfolio of over 2,000 songs, with 31 titles featuring in Spotify’s Billions Club, including 8 of the 20 most streamed Spotify songs of all time: The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, Save Your Tears, Starboy and Die For You, as well as and Sunflower by Post Malone, Drake’s One Dance, Levitating by Dua Lipa and Closer by the Chainsmokers ft. Halsey.
“Kilometre’s unique and competitive edge has allowed us to build a catalog of the biggest songs from the biggest artists from the biggest era in music history.”
Rodney Murphy, Kilometre
Rodney Murphy, Kilometre President, had this to say about the new additions to The Fund: “Kilometre’s unique and competitive edge has allowed us to build a catalog of the biggest songs from the biggest artists from the biggest era in music history.
“To be able to say that we now own 73 songs by The Weeknd and to add two hit singles from Taylor Swift’s Grammy-winning Album of the Year Midnights is a real honour for Kilometre and our investors”.
“Kilometre has assembled a portfolio of premium music copyrights which will have enduring cultural and economic value.”
James Freeman, Kilometre
Kilometre CFO James Freeman added: “Kilometre has assembled a portfolio of premium music copyrights which will have enduring cultural and economic value.
“The Fund has invested more than USD $130 million into these assets and delivered strong and steady returns for investors, reaffirming our view of music rights as an attractive alternative investment”.Music Business Worldwide