What does this mean?
New York-based Apollo Global Management is investing up to $1 billion in HarbourView – a new music rights and media content-focused firm run by Sherrese Clarke Soares, the former head of Tempo Music Investments. Elsewhere, Blackstone is about to invest into Hipgnosis which means Hipgnosis will have a billion dollars… or significantly more to spend on music copyrights. And then in other news, KKR (& Co Inc) – which already has an existing billion-dollar investment vehicle in music running with BMG – has a portfolio of assets under its management worth $234 billion.
These are the 3 big investment players in the music industry. For better or for worse. Why do we think this is happening?
"Interest rates are so low that institutional investors have no ability to invest in bonds, which leaves investment managers with a mountain of cash that needs to go somewhere," says a music asset trader. Or, as another puts it, "There is a ton of liquidity in the market looking for a place to invest when they can find yield." "Where better to invest that to put their money in an industry that is recession proof, with reliable and growing revenue," asks Lisa Alter, partner with the law firm Alter, Kendrick & Baron, which often handles the legal aspect of many music asset deals. Or as the investment banker Barron puts it, the private equity investors "see positive cash flow in a growing industry unrestricted by geography and unhindered by political events or how the economy is performing."
So #STW thinks we can see more of this, catalog assets being gobbled up by investment entities. The pandemic has exposed song catalogs as being pandemic and crisis proof. People will always want and need music. Almost like a staple such as food, oil, energy. So with this knowledge, how much more should you as an indie artist protect and EXPLOIT your catalog? Your individual view is something that will resonate with people and change the industry in some small or large way. Keep pushing your art and commerce forward. Jump in with Songs That Work, try it for free or really get to work with Tier 1 or Full Version. Be consistent and protect your musical intellectual property!
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