{"id":206032,"date":"2024-07-12T19:59:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T18:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=206032"},"modified":"2024-07-12T20:07:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T19:07:12","slug":"from-blackstones-hipgnosis-deal-to-the-us-copyright-offices-landmark-ruling-its-mbws-weekly-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/from-blackstones-hipgnosis-deal-to-the-us-copyright-offices-landmark-ruling-its-mbws-weekly-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"From Blackstone’s Hipgnosis deal to the US Copyright Office’s ‘landmark’ ruling… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Music Business Worldwide<\/a>\u2019s weekly round-up \u2013 where we make sure\u00a0you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW\u2019s round-up is supported by\u00a0<\/i>Centtrip<\/i><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0which helps over 500 of the world\u2019s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.<\/i><\/p>\n

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This week, Universal Music UK<\/strong> announced that it is changing its company structure from October 1. This will include the merger of two renowned London-based frontline labels: Island Records UK<\/strong> and EMI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, songwriter groups hailed the US Copyright Office<\/strong>‘s ruling that songwriters are entitled to collect mechanical royalties<\/strong> from streaming platforms like Spotify<\/strong> after their termination rights have been invoked, that is, when they reclaim their rights from another party, usually a publisher.<\/p>\n

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We also got word this week that longtime HYBE<\/strong> exec Lenzo Yoon<\/strong> will be leaving the company at the end of this year. Yoon most recently held the title of Co-CEO of HYBE America<\/strong>, a role he shared with Scooter Braun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Back in Europe, France-headquartered Believe<\/strong> announced it had taken a 25% stake<\/strong> in Romania-born Global Records<\/strong>, which describes itself as the biggest indie music company in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

Speaking of investments: Having won its bidding war against Concord, Blackstone<\/strong> cleared the last hurdle this week in its acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund<\/strong>, as HSF shareholders approved its takeover bid with 99.97%<\/strong> of voting shares saying yes to the deal.<\/p>\n

Here’s what happened this week…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>1) UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK RESTRUCTURES, MERGING ISLAND AND EMI LABELS WHILE LAUNCHING NEW AUDIENCE AND MEDIA DIVISION<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Universal Music UK<\/strong> is changing its company structure from October 1. This will include the merger of two renowned London-based frontline labels: Island Records UK<\/strong> and EMI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Louis Bloom<\/strong> will be the president of the newly-named Island EMI Label Group<\/strong>; Bloom will move into the role from his current position as President of Island Records UK<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Island EMI Label Group will form one of two \u201cpowerhouse frontline label groups\u201d, Universal Music UK\u2019s Chairman\/CEO, David Joseph<\/strong>, announced in an internal memo on July 9.<\/p>\n

The other will be Polydor Label Group<\/strong>, led by Ben Mortimer<\/strong> as President…<\/p>\n

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Credit: ISOVECTOR\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>2) SONGWRITER GROUPS HAIL \u2018LANDMARK VICTORY\u2019 AS US COPYRIGHT OFFICE ISSUES RULE CONFIRMING HOW TERMINATION RIGHTS APPLY TO STREAMING ROYALTIES<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

A number of organizations representing artists and songwriters in the United States have applauded the US Copyright Office<\/strong>\u2019s ruling reaffirming termination rights under the Music Modernization Act<\/strong> (MMA<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

The rule clarifies that songwriters are entitled to collect mechanical royalties<\/strong> generated from streaming platforms like Spotify<\/strong>, Apple<\/strong>, and Amazon<\/strong> after their termination rights have been invoked<\/strong> (i.e., when they reclaim their rights from another party, in this case, a music publisher).<\/p>\n

In the US, songwriters have the right \u2018to terminate the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license\u2019 after 35 years<\/strong> for works written after 1978 (or 56 years<\/strong> for works written\/copyrights granted prior to 1978).<\/p>\n

The ruling, which was published on July 9, confirms that the so-called \u201cderivative works exception\u201d does not apply to the blanket license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>3) LENZO YOON, ONE OF THE KEY EXECS BEHIND THE RISE OF BTS, IS LEAVING HYBE (REPORT)<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Lenzo Yoon<\/strong> is leaving South Korea-headquartered entertainment giant HYBE<\/strong> at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to a report published in South Korea\u2019s Maeil Kyungjae<\/em> business paper, which reports that the exec\u2019s contract contains a non-compete clause that expires at the end of 2024. The report adds that Yoon will leave the company \u2018immediately thereafter<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n

The exec most recently held the title of Co-CEO of HYBE America<\/strong>, a role he shared with Scooter Braun<\/strong> until January 2023, when the latter exec became sole CEO of HYBE America.<\/p>\n

Lenzo Yoon has been a key exec at HYBE since he joined the company in 2010 as Head of Strategic Planning, and when it was known as Big Hit Entertainment<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>4) BELIEVE BUYS 25% STAKE IN GLOBAL RECORDS, WHICH CLAIMS TO BE THE BIGGEST INDIE MUSIC COMPANY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Believe<\/strong> has signed a strategic partnership with Romania-born Global Records<\/strong>, which is claimed to be the biggest independent music company in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Believe has acquired a 25% stake<\/strong> in Bucharest-headquartered Global Records, which has offices in Romania, Germany and the US.<\/p>\n

Believe said on Monday (July 8) that this strategic partnership \u201cfalls in line\u201d with its \u201cblueprint strategy to focus on music genres where artist development and music consumption are digital<\/strong>\u201d…<\/p>\n

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Credit: Clara Balzary\/Warner Music Group\/press<\/figcaption><\/figure>5) DONE DEAL: BLACKSTONE IS THE NEW OWNER OF HIPGNOSIS SONGS FUND, AS
Credit: Clara Balzary\/Warner Music Group\/press<\/figcaption><\/figure> GIANT\u2019S BID WINS SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

It\u2019s official: Blackstone<\/strong> is about to become the new owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Blackstone\u2019s USD $1.584 billion bid<\/strong> for the UK-listed music company won overwhelming approval amongst HSF shareholders who voted at a Court Meeting and General Meeting on July 8.<\/p>\n

The process saw 99.97%<\/strong> of the Scheme Shares voted by HSF shareholders approve the Blackstone deal.<\/p>\n

Blackstone needed at least 75%<\/strong> of voting shares to get the deal over the line…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>MBW\u2019s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world\u2019s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biggest stories from the past week \u2013 all in one place<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":111195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[3071,130673,107321,5402,129816,132518,4580],"class_list":["post-206032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-news","tag-believe","tag-blackstone","tag-global-records","tag-hipgnosis-songs-fund","tag-hybe","tag-lenzo-yoon","tag-universal-music-uk"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}