{"id":211784,"date":"2024-09-20T17:27:33","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T16:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=211784"},"modified":"2024-09-20T18:31:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:31:51","slug":"from-the-miley-cyrus-copyright-lawsuit-to-global-music-rights-3-3bn-valuation-its-mbws-weekly-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/from-the-miley-cyrus-copyright-lawsuit-to-global-music-rights-3-3bn-valuation-its-mbws-weekly-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"From Global Music Rights’ $3.3bn valuation to the Miley Cyrus copyright lawsuit… 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 was a week of many major personnel changes in the music industry \u2013 so many, in fact, that we can barely fit them all into the round-up. So here’s the super-condensed version:<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0Warner Music Group<\/strong>\u00a0announced that\u00a0300 Elektra Entertainment<\/strong>\u00a0CEO\u00a0Kevin Liles<\/strong> will be leaving the label and its parent company, WMG, at the end of this month.\u00a0A day later, WMG announced that Warner Music Japan<\/strong> boss Kaz Kobayashi<\/strong> will be stepping down as President and CEO later this year.<\/p>\n

Then came the announcement that Randy Goodman will be stepping down as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville<\/strong> (one of many leadership changes in Nashville of late). Finally, we got word of layoffs at WMG’s Atlantic Music Group<\/strong>, part of a major reshaping of the company under incoming CEO Elliot Grainge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Also this week, MBW<\/strong> was the first to report that Irving Azoff<\/a>\u2018s US-headquartered PRO,\u00a0Global Music Rights (GMR)<\/strong>, has struck a multi-billion dollar private equity deal in a transaction that values GMR at USD $3.3 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Universal Music Group<\/strong> held its Capital Markets Day in London this week, where Chairman and CEO Sir<\/strong> Lucian Grainge<\/strong> made the case for why streaming will continue to be a major source of growth for the music industry in the years to come.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Tempo Music<\/strong> sued Miley Cyrus<\/strong>, and seemingly half the music industry, over her track Flowers<\/em>, which Tempo alleges ripped off Bruno Mars<\/strong>‘ When I Was Your Man<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Plus, the North Carolina man charged in a $10 million streaming fraud<\/strong> case has pled not guilty. And finally, with word coming that Pink Floyd are in talks with Sony Music to sell their catalog for a sum believed to be in the region of GBP \u00a3400 million, MBW looked at what the iconic rock band is earning these days.<\/p>\n

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

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Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>1) IRVING AZOFF\u2019S GMR JUST STRUCK A $3.3 BILLION PRIVATE EQUITY DEAL, SAY MBW SOURCES<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Look. We\u2019ve broken some pretty big news of late. Proper news. But this? Size-of-transaction-wise, this tops the lot.<\/p>\n

MBW<\/em> has confirmed via well-placed sources that Irving Azoff<\/strong>\u2018s US-headquartered PRO, Global Music Rights<\/strong> (GMR<\/strong>), struck a multi-billion dollar deal on Wednesday (September 18) with a new private equity partner. The transaction, we\u2019re told, valued GMR at USD $3.3 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood that Azoff is maintaining a stake in the company, but TPG<\/strong> \u2013 his long-time co-owner in GMR \u2013 has cashed out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also understood that the buyer is a private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman<\/strong>, which had $120 billion<\/strong> in assets under management at the close of 2023…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>2) READ SIR LUCIAN GRAINGE\u2019S UNIVERSAL MUSIC CAPITAL MARKETS DAY OPENING ADDRESS IN FULL: \u2018STREAMING WILL CONTINUE TO PROPEL MANY YEARS OF INDUSTRY GROWTH.\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Universal Music Group<\/strong> hosted its 2024 Capital Markets Day in London on Tuesday (September 17) at the iconic Abbey Road Studios<\/strong> (which is owned by UMG).<\/p>\n

The marathon four-hour event featured detailed presentations by leaders from across the company\u2019s global business, highlighting UMG\u2019s successes, current positioning, as well as creative and business opportunities in the global music industry.<\/p>\n

The event was kicked off by UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge<\/strong>, who opened his speech with a brief history of Abbey Road itself, which, as Grainge noted, has served as the location of recordings from the Beatles<\/strong> to Fela Kuti<\/strong>, Amy Winehouse<\/strong>, and more superstars…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>3) PINK FLOYD\u2019S RECORDINGS CATALOG COULD SOON SELL FOR $400M-$500M. BUT HOW MUCH DOES IT EARN TODAY?<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

On Friday (September 13)\u00a0MBW<\/em> sent out a breaking news alert: we\u2019d heard Pink Floyd<\/strong> were in talks with Sony Music<\/strong> to sell their catalog for a sum believed to be in the region of GBP \u00a3400 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A few hours later the Financial Times<\/em> further substantiated the story, suggesting, via its own sources, that the deal\u2019s value is USD $500 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The prospective acquisition is believed to encompass the band\u2019s recorded music catalog, plus neighboring rights and \u2018name and likeness\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

But how has Sony (or any other prospective buyer) reached this reported half-billion-dollar price tag…?<\/p>\n

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Brian Friedman\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>4) TEMPO MUSIC SUES MILEY CYRUS (AND HALF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY) FOR ALLEGEDLY COPYING BRUNO MARS\u2019 \u2018WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN\u2019 ON MEGAHIT \u2018FLOWERS\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Tempo Music<\/strong> has filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus<\/strong> for allegedly copying Bruno Mars<\/strong>\u2019 When I Was Your Man<\/em> to create her 2023 hit Flowers<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tempo, the music rights-acquiring fund launched by private equity giant Providence<\/strong> in 2019, says it acquired a percentage of the copyright in When I Was Your Man<\/em> from Philip Lawrence<\/strong>, one of the song\u2019s co-writers, in 2020.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit not only names as defendants Miley Cyrus and Sony Music Entertainment<\/strong>, which owns the label on which Flowers<\/em> was released, but also numerous music publishers allegedly involved with Flowers<\/em>, plus retailers and streaming services that sold or hosted the song.<\/p>\n

Flowers<\/em> was the biggest-selling single globally in 2023, according to IFPI<\/strong>. It spent a total of eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100<\/strong> and 57 weeks at the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary<\/strong> chart…<\/p>\n

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Evgeny Drablenkov\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>5) MUSICIAN ACCUSED OF $10M AI STREAMING FRAUD SCAM PLEADS NOT GUILTY (REPORT)<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

A musician indicted by the US government earlier this month over an alleged $10 million streaming fraud<\/strong> scam has pled not guilty.<\/p>\n

As reported by Law360<\/em>, Michael Smith<\/strong>, a 52-year-old resident of North Carolina, entered his plea in front of US\u00a0District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan on Thursday \u201cduring a brief proceeding\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to court documents viewed by MBW<\/em>, Judge Koeltl issued an order on Thursday (September 18) setting Smith\u2019s bail at $500,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Smith is alleged to have fraudulently generated over $10 million<\/strong> in royalties through the scheme between 2017 and 2024…<\/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\u2026<\/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":[502,656,528,130491,129427,269],"class_list":["post-211784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-news","tag-irving-azoff","tag-miley-cyrus","tag-pink-floyd","tag-streaming-fraud","tag-tempo-music","tag-universal-music-group"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211784","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=211784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211784\/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=211784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}