Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we make certain you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their earnings and cut back their touring prices.
The massive information this week was, in fact, the tip of the months-long licensing dispute between Common Music Group (UMG) and TikTok, which noticed UMG’s recorded and publishing catalogs disappear from the quick video platform.
In a notice to employees, UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge mentioned the brand new cope with TikTok will imply more cash for artists and songwriters.
But disagreements between TikTok and the music trade are hardly over. This week the Nationwide Music Publishers Affiliation (NMPA)’s cope with TikTok expired.
Which means music from NMPA-represented indie publishers is now uncleared to be used on TikTok, except these publishers have made their very own unilateral offers with the platform.
In the meantime, one other combat between the music biz and a significant platform is brewing, this one over Spotify‘s resolution to categorise its Premium subscriptions as music/audiobook “bundles,” that means the service will likely be paying a decrease mechanical royalty charge to songwriters and publishers within the US.
And Okay-pop big HYBE is embroiled in a disagreement of its personal, this one involving Min Hee-jin, the CEO of HYBE sub-label ADOR, who’s alleged to have plotted to sever ADOR from its mother or father firm.
Lastly, the competitors between Harmony and Blackstone to amass the portfolio of Hipgnosis Songs Fund took one other flip this week, with Blackstone making a $1.57 billion bid.
Right here’s what occurred this week…
Thursday’s massive information: Common Music Group and TikTok, by means of a joint announcement, have confirmed that they’ve struck a brand new licensing deal – three months after UMG pulled its recordings catalog from the service.
What does this new deal imply for UMG and its artists and songwriters? Standout headline: More cash.
That reality was confirmed and expanded upon in an inside memo from UMG Chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, issued to Common staff on Could 2 and obtained by MBW.
Grainge writes within the memo: “Beneath the brand new settlement, artist and songwriter compensation will likely be higher than beneath our prior TikTok deal, and the whole worth UMG’s artists and songwriters garner from this partnership will likely be extra carefully aligned with different platforms within the social music class.”
Information of the deal broke shortly earlier than UMG launched its Q1 2024 earnings, displaying complete revenues of EUR €2.594 billion (USD $2.816 billion), up 7.9% YoY at fixed foreign money. EBITDA grew 95.2% YoY at fixed foreign money to €490 million ($532 million)…
The Nationwide Music Publishers’ Affiliation (NMPA)‘s licensing cope with TikTok – representing the music publishing rights of a number of indie music publishers – formally expired on Tuesday (April 30).
The US commerce physique advised its members final month that it wasn’t planning to increase the deal and that in the event that they wished to proceed to license their music to TikTok past the April 30 deadline, they would want to “interact immediately” with the platform.
NMPA President & CEO David Israelite confirmed to MBW this week that the NMPA is “not participating in an extension of its deal”.
Which means, as of Could 1, music managed by indie publishers represented by the commerce physique who haven’t unilaterally agreed a brand new direct settlement with TikTok, will likely be unlicensed to be used on the platform…
Blackstone is placing its cash the place its mouth is.
Final week, Harmony – partly financed by Apollo International Administration – launched a USD $1.511 billion money bid for the portfolio of Hipgnosis Songs Fund. That was the equal of USD $1.25 per share.
On Monday (April 29), Blackstone and HSF’s board collectively introduced a brand new supply from Blackstone value round $60 million greater than Harmony’s newest bid.
Blackstone has bid USD $1.572 billion – $1.30 per share – in money for 100% of HSF’s share capital.
The Hipgnosis Songs Fund board says it’s now recommending Blackstone’s supply to its shareholders, and withdrawing its earlier suggestion of Harmony’s $1.25-per-share supply…
Per week earlier than Okay-pop big HYBE reported disappointing earnings (income down 12% YoY in Q1 2024, and internet revenue down 87.5%), a narrative emerged a few battle between the corporate and Min Hee-jin, CEO of HYBE sub-label ADOR.
Disputes between report firms and their executives have occurred earlier than, however this one would possibly take the cake for the strangeness of a number of the alleged particulars which have been reported over the previous few weeks.
South Korea’s music scene has been rocked, many times, by a collection of claims and rumors involving allegations that Min had tried to sever ADOR from its majority proprietor HYBE; and that the latter firm had “copied” ADOR’s star lady group, NewJeans, for its new lady group ILLIT; that Min had allowed a non secular “shaman” from exterior the corporate to affect enterprise selections; and, most lately, that HYBE is by some means linked to an alleged yoga cult referred to as Dahn World…
On the most recent Music Enterprise Worldwide podcast, MBW founder Tim Ingham is joined by David Israelite, the President and CEO of the Nationwide Music Publishers’ Affiliation.
We most likely don’t must ask you to guess which explicit controversial matter they focus on.
Earlier this month, Spotify introduced that it was altering the best way it calculates mechanical royalty funds for songwriters and publishers within the US.
Spotify has re-categorized its Premium subscription tiers within the States as ‘bundles,’ enabling it to pay out a lesser mechanical royalty charge to songwriters than it will if mentioned Premium tiers had been categorised as pure music providers.
As David Israelite explains on this podcast, the NMPA is at present contemplating authorized motion in opposition to Spotify that will search to undo the newly-lowered ‘bundle’ mechanical royalty charge on the service…
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their earnings and cut back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide