Metal band Slipknot is close to completing a deal to sell a catalog to HarbourView Equity Partners for about $120 million.
That’s according to Billboard, which reported on August 14, citing sources, that the transaction covers the band’s publishing rights and recorded masters royalties.
The report said Warner Music Group controls the band’s masters through its 2007 acquisition of Roadrunner Records, leaving only the band’s share of recorded music royalties available for purchase.
The deal excludes future recordings, meaning any new songs or albums won’t be part of the HarbourView agreement. It remains unclear whether all band members are participating in the sale or if some are retaining their stakes.
Slipknot’s catalog has accumulated 14.6 million album consumption units in the US and 6.8 billion domestic streams, according to data from Luminate. Global streaming figures reach 15.73 billion across all platforms.
Citing Luminate data, Billboard said the band’s master recording catalog averaged 740,000 album consumption units annually in the US over the past three years, generating about 2.31 billion global streams per year. The activity translates to about $15.5 million in recording revenue and an additional $5.2 million in publishing royalties.
If Slipknot receives a standard 25% royalty rate on master recordings and 85% on publishing after administration fees, the combined annual royalty pool would total around $8.9 million. At the reported $120 million valuation, that implies a 13.5 times earnings multiple, said Billboard.
However, Billboard said sources suggest that not all members are selling their stakes, potentially reducing the actual income stream to $6-7 million annually, pushing the multiple to between 17 and 20 times earnings.
The timing of the reported deal comes as Slipknot completed its Here Comes the Paid anniversary tour in the US in the second half of 2024, followed by European dates in June. The group plans to release a 25th anniversary box set of its debut album on September 5.
HarbourView Equity Partners, founded by Sherrese Clarke in 2021, has accumulated nearly $3 billion in music and entertainment assets.
The company’s portfolio includes royalty stakes from artists including T-Pain, James Fauntleroy, George Benson, Noel Zancanella, Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo, Nelly, Jeremih, Wiz Khalifa, Kane Brown, Full Force and more.
Band manager Cory Brennan of 5B Artists + Media reportedly led the marketing process for the Slipknot deal, said Billboard. Sony Music Publishing serves as administrator for most of Slipknot’s catalog, the report said.
In June, less than two weeks after securing $500 million in additional debt financing from investment giant KKR, HarbourView led an $85 million investment in Animaj, a kids and family content-focused entertainment company. Animaj uses proprietary GenAI production tools and what it calls a “multi-platform franchise-building model”.
In March 2024, HarbourView secured $500 million in debt financing through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties, and led by KKR.
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