From Steve Cooper’s latest Warner interview to Concord’s $1.8 billion bond offering…this is MBW’s weekly roundup

December 9, 2022 FA8Dd 0 Comments

welcome to The music industry around the worldWeekly Recap – where we make sure you’ve caught the five biggest stories that have made headlines in the past seven days. The MBW Roundup is supported by Centtripwhich helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and lower their touring costs.

“[In] the live music space, the price varies depending on who you see and your experience. I think the recorded music space needs to be more like that. Ever since we had 99 cent downloads, music has tended to be the same price. And we all know that not all music is created equal.

This is one of many insightful observations on the modern music industry from Steve CooperOutgoing CEO of Warner Music Groupdelivered in his final public interview as WMG boss this week.

Cooper will hand over the CEO reins of the “third major” to Robert Kyncl at the end of this year (although Cooper will remain with Warner until January 2023 to ensure a smooth handover.)

Cooper also told MBW in his exclusive ‘exit’ interview: “What I’ve learned is this: you have to stay open and pragmatic. No one knows for sure where it all leads. So don’t be seduced by your own version and vision of the future, or you run the risk of losing sight of the ground beneath your feet.

Other big stories on MBW this week include the latest headline in music’s continued flirtation with the bond market: Concorde confirmed that it successfully priced $1.8 billion in senior secured tickets against a “significant proportion” of its music rights portfolio.

There were also a series of important figures to emerge from the UK list Hipgnosis Songs Fund, by announcing its half-year results (for the half-year to the end of September 2022). The more important of these figures? The company’s gross revenue increased 7.5% year-over-year during the period, to US$91.7 million.

MBW has also reported some major news over the past few days involving people like TuneCore and DeadMau5.

Read on for our biggest stories from the past week…

1) CONCORD PRICES $1.8 BILLION BOND OFFER BACKED BY OVER 1 MILLION MUSIC COPYRIGHTS

Late last month, Concord reportedly began a process that would see it become the latest major music company to launch a bond offering via securitized copyright royalties.

According to a Bloomberg report, financial giant Apollo Global Management was selling a $1.65 billion bond secured by music rights from Concord’s catalog, which would mark the music company’s first securitization.

On Thursday (December 8), Concord confirmed it had successfully priced $1.8 billion in senior tickets secured by what it says is an “important part” of its catalog of sound recordings and songs. …

2) HIPGNOSIS SONGS FUND REVENUES UP 7.5% YOY, AND STREAMING REVENUES UP 15.8% YOY IN MOST RECENT HALF-YEAR PERIOD

There have been many eyes on Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) this year. The UK-listed fund, once the most active acquisition entity in music rights, has suspended purchases of catalogs for the past 12 months and raised no new share capital for the takeover of rights during this period.

HSF’s financial results therefore give us a practical indication of the organic strength of the company’s catalog, which covers the rights/revenue stream for 65,413 songs, according to company filings.

Today (December 8), HSF announced its half-year results for the six months to the end of September 2022, with a number of positive signs, both for HSF investors and for the music rights industry in general….

3) TUNECORE HAS PAID $3 BILLION TO SELF-RELEASING ARTISTS TO DATE

To believeMusic distribution service TuneCore, owned by TuneCore, announced on Thursday (December 8th) that it has reached another major milestone, having paid out $3 billion in royalties to self-released artists since the company was founded in 2006.

TuneCore says the $3 billion payout figure represents a cumulative total of revenue from all TuneCore music creators – “including artists ranging from hobbyists and budding music creators to working professionals and even accomplished artists.” .

The company also reported on Thursday that more than 8,000 TuneCore artists have earned over $10,000 through its platform to date, with “thousands of artists earning between $50,000 and $100,000 and many taking home.” over a million dollars…

4) STEVE COOPER’S EXIT INTERVIEW: “ALL SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES GET TO A POINT WHERE THEY BENEFIT FROM A FRESH LOOK.”

Over the past decade, Warner Music Group’s annual revenues have more than doubled, from $2.87 billion during the 2011 financial year $5.92 billion in fiscal year 2022.

Meanwhile, WMG’s market value has increased more than fivefold under Steve Cooper’s reign as CEO – from $3.3 billion in 2011 at $17.1 billion today (even in a macroeconomic climate penalizing for stock prices).

Here, in Cooper’s final public interview as CEO of WMG, MBW asks him about his greatest musical accomplishments, the most frightening issues he’s had to overcome – and whether the industry’s next 10 years of music have a chance to be as brilliant as the previous ones. decade…

5) DEADMAU5 AND RICHIE HAWTIN’S METAVERSE PIXELYNX PLATFORM ACQUIRED BY ANIMOCA BRANDS

Animoca Brands, the parent company of gaming metaverse The Sandbox, has doubled down on its investments in the metaverse space after acquiring a majority stake in Pixelynx, a music metaverse gaming platform.

The investment follows recent reports that Animoca is launching a $2 billion metaverse fund for developers.

It also follows Animoca’s previous investment in Pixelynx exactly one year ago, when he led the latter company’s $4.5 million seed investment round which Solana Ventures participated in. Alumni Ventures Blockchain Fund, Hyperedge Capital, Republic Realm and Sfermion…