DEALS
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HarbourView Equity Partners has secured $500 million in debt financing, led by KKR and secured in part on its music rights catalogue. KKR recently had a music-related pay day when Universal Music paid $240 million for its 25.8% stake in another music rights acquiring investment entity, Chord Music Partners. Says HarbourView CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares, “We are grateful to KKR for working with us to deliver a flexible and innovative financing structure that will support HarbourView in expanding its reach. This capital will allow us to further our mission of investing in assets and companies driven by premier intellectual property while striving to ensure that creators are appropriately valued for their contributions to the world”.
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Beggars Music is to take over the administration of Hyperdub’s publishing catalogue, reports Music Week. The deal also includes the acquisition of Burial’s full songs catalogue. “We are THRILLED to be in business with Hyperdub, one of the most iconic and influential electronic music labels of our time”, says Beggars Music’s Head Of Creative Molly O’Brien. “We feel a kinship in their approach to nurturing truly unique and groundbreaking talent and feel that the Hyperdub writers will complement the Beggars Music roster perfectly, while occupying a distinct space”.
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KMJ Entertainment owner DEAG has taken a majority stake in UK promoter ShowPlanr. “ShowPlanr has firmly established itself in the UK entertainment market in recent years”, says KMJ CEO Stuart Galbraith. “We have worked closely and trustfully with ShowPlanr on a number of occasions through our UK sister companies in the DEAG family. We look forward to developing new formats and opening up new locations together in the future, as well as continuing to offer visitors first-class entertainment”.
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The University Of Wolverhampton has acquired the naming rights for The Halls venue complex in the city. It will now be called University Of Wolverhampton At The Halls, which is confusing and stupid. Well done, everyone. “We’re delighted to bring together two stalwarts of the local community through this partnership”, says Will Dowdy of venue operator AEG Europe. “We’re excited to see how the partnership will develop over the years”.
APPOINTMENTS
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Deezer has named Stu Bergen as its interim CEO, taking over from the departing Jeronimo Folgueira while a permanent replacement is sought. The former Warner exec has been on the Deezer board since February last year. ”I am honoured to accept the interim CEO role at Deezer at this pivotal time”, he says. “I am committed to strengthening the company’s values and driving its growth trajectory forward. With the dedicated team and clear objectives already in place, I am eager to lead us through this period of transition, ensuring the company is prepared for its ambitious future”.
LEGAL
©️
The US Copyright Office and US Patent And Trademark Office have together published a report on the intellectual property questions posed by NFTs. It was commissioned back in 2022 when people still cared about these things. Their conclusion? “The offices concluded that current applications of NFT technology do not require changes to intellectual property laws”. So that’s all right then. You can read the report here if you like.
LABELS
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UK recorded music revenues increased 8.1% to £1.43 billion last year. Streaming was up 8.4% to £962 million and accounted for 67.4% of total income. Revenues from vinyl sales were up by 18.6% to £141.6 million, while CD sales also saw an increase, by 5.4%, to £97.2 million. These are the top line stats from a new report published by record industry trade group BPI. A number of record industry organisations around Europe have published their 2023 figures in the last week, ahead of the publication of the IFPI’s ‘Global Music Report’ next week. We will review the stats from those key markets in tomorrow’s CMU Daily.
DIGITAL
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Spotify is testing providing music videos within its app. Users in eleven territories have access to the beta test. “So many times in my own experience and for countless others, music videos play a key role in hooking you: taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan”, says Charlie Hellman, Head Of Music Product. “They’re an important part of so many artists’ toolkits, and it’s a natural fit for them to live in the same place that more than half a billion people choose to listen to music”.
EDUCATION
❤️🩹
Music charity Restore The Music has announced that its latest funding round has awarded £180,000 in grants to the music departments of eleven state schools in London, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham. “Music has the power to transform children’s futures and we are determined to continue to assist in safeguarding those futures and this country’s creative economy, by investing at the very grassroots of the talent pipeline”, says CEO Polly Moore. “External investment in school-centred music provision is sorely needed and this movement is a perfect collaboration of music partners such as Sony Music UK, aligning to deliver a singular vision: access to more music for more kids”.
AWARDS
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Nile Rodgers and Esa-Pekka Salonen have been announced as the recipients of this year’s Polar Music Prize. “Nile’s impact in pop culture is incomparable and his timeless songs will continue to delight, uplift and inspire for many years to come”, says the award’s Marie Ledin. “Esa-Pekka Salonen is an innovator. His artistic curiosity, creativity and forward-thinking approach to composing and conducting paves the way in classical music”. They will formally be handed their trophies (and £75,000 prize money) at a ceremony in Stockholm on 21 May.
🎖️
The Ivors Academy has announced that James MacMillan is to become the latest recipient of its Academy Fellowship. “It is a great delight and honour to be welcomed as a new Fellow of the Ivors Academy”, he says. “It is humbling to read the list of Fellows and I will take this opportunity to rededicate my energies to the power of music and its mysterious ability to transform lives”. He will be given the prize tomorrow night at the Barbican, where he will be conducting the UK premiere of his latest work ‘Fiat Lux’.
ARTIST NEWS
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Neneh Cherry will publish her memoir ‘A Thousand Threads’ on 3 Oct.
GIGS & FESTIVALS
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Coldplay, Dua Lipa and SZA will be headlining this year’s Glastonbury Festival. It will be Coldplay’s 7008th time topping the bill. Other performers set to play include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Lil Simz, Burna Boy, PJ Harvey, Idles, Disclosure and The National.
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Lee Gamble and Marina Herlop will play at London’s Barbican on 31 May. Gamble will perform his latest album ‘Models’ in collaboration with choreographer Candela Capitán. Tickets go on general sale tomorrow.
RELEASES
🧜♀️
Dua Lipa has announced that she will release her new album ‘Radical Optimism’ on 3 May. “A couple years ago, a friend introduced me to the term ‘radical optimism’”, she says. “It’s a concept that resonated with me, and I became more curious as I started to play with it and weave it into my life. It struck me – the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm. At the same time, I found myself looking through the music history of psychedelia, trip hop and Britpop. It has always felt so confidently optimistic to me, and that honesty and attitude is a feeling I took into my recording sessions”.
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Poppy Ajudha has released new single ‘My Future’.
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The Lemon Twigs have released new single ‘A Dream Is All I Know’. Their new album ‘A Dream Is All We Know’ is out on 3 May.
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The KVB have released new single ‘Overload’. Their latest album ‘Tremors’ is out on 5 Apr.
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Drahla have released new single ‘Grief In Phantasia’. Their second album ‘Angeltape’ is out on 5 Apr.