Welcome to Worldwide music businessweekly recap – where we’re sure you’ve caught the top five stories that will make our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is powered by Centtriphelping more than 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring expenses.
Triller Haven’t had a good week.
On Monday, rival TikTok announced that it is “expected to be publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol Karaoke in the fourth quarter of this year,” representing another delay in its plan. Triller’s IPO plan.
Triller announced in June that it had filed a form S-1 with the SEC for an IPO on Nasdaq, at the time, claiming that its listing was “expected to be approved in Q3.” .
That June announcement itself came shortly after Triller announced it was canceling another planned IPO – this time through a merger with Seachange – originally slated to “” closed in Q1 2022″.
Monday also reported that Triller was hit with a lawsuit from Sony Music Entertainment (SME), states that Triller does not currently have a licensing agreement with SME, the world’s second-largest record company.
And at the beginning of the week, Billboards reported today that Triller has sue againby an application consulting firm called Phiture, on unpaid bills.
Also this week, MBW reported that Switzerland-based music fintech company Utopia is raising 300 million euros in a Series C round that will value its company at 2.5 billion euros.
That’s according to MBW sources, who have seen evidence that at least one investment agent is now offering Utopia backers a “pre-Series C investment opportunity” at a company valuation. is 1.5 billion euros.
MBW sources also tell us that UBS has been appointed to deliver the Series C round of Utopia, scheduled for later this year, estimates €2.5 billion to €2.7 billion pricing for Utopia.
MBW sources confirm to us that Utopia has successfully raised 100 million euros in the past five and a half years.
In another development, Wednesday (August 31) brought good news for musicians and publishers in the United States, following Spotify and other music streaming platforms have reached agreements with music publishers for 15.35% future copyright rates in the US for many years 2023-2027.
In addition, a new Raine Group-backed company called Firebird Music Holdings, founded by Nat Zilkha, acquired shares of Red Light Management, while YouTubeSales Director of Robert Kyncl confirmed that he has left his role at the foundation. Is there any chance he will Warner Music?
Here’s what happened this week…
Monday (August 29) is supposed to be an anniversary for the short-form video platform Triller. afterward Sony Music spoils the party.
U.S.-based TikTok rival Triller announced this week that it has completed a “substantial” round of public funding in the form of debt and equity.
Triller did not give a figure on the said funding, but the company’s CEO and President, Mahi de Silva, confirmed that Triller has raised more than $300 million to date.
However, there is a wrinkle in Triller’s press release confirming their new increase. The company said that it is now “expected to be publicly traded on Nasdaq under the stock ticker Karaoke in the fourth quarter of this year.”
This seems to indicate another delay in Triller’s plans to IPO in the US. In June, Triller announced that it had filed an S-1 petition with the SEC for an IPO on Nasdaq. At the time, it stated that its listing “expected to be approved in Q3”.
That June announcement itself came shortly after Triller announced it was canceling another planned IPO – this time through a merger with Seachange – originally slated to “” closed in Q1 2022″.
More of a headache for Triller, however, is a new lawsuit from Sony Music Entertainment (SME), filed in the US on Monday (August 29).
It states that Triller does not currently have a licensing agreement with Sony Music, the world’s second largest record company…
MBW sources have seen evidence that at least one investment agent is currently offering Utopia backers a “pre-Series C investment opportunity” with a crypto company valuation of €1.5 billion .
Utopia is clearly looking for a “strong institutional investor” to lead this pre-Series C round.
However, this is just an appetizer. Entrée is Utopia’s planned Series C round later this year, in which it is looking to raise 300 million euros.
MBW sources tell us that UBS has been appointed to offer this Series C round with an estimated valuation of between €2.5 billion and €2.7 billion for Utopia.
Utopia apparently completed legal/financial due diligence with several financial institutions – including BearingPoint, PWC, UBS and others – prior to this Series C…
‘Phonorecords IV’ – which sets up the rate of on-demand streaming mechanics in the US for 5 years from 2023 to 2027 – is set to begin later this year.
During the ‘pre-battle’ phase of last year’s ‘Phonorecords IV’, NMPA set up its booth for publishers, suggesting to CRB that the rate of streaming mechanics in the US for 2023-2027 should be as high as 20%.
Big streamers are, unsurprisingly, underrated compared to: Spotify, Amazonand Pandora All agreed that this ratio should be reduced to 10.5%.
The stage is set for another (expensive) legal battle! But… we don’t get one.
Because on Wednesday (August 31), the NMPA and the US digital music services trade organization (DiMA), plus the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), announced that they are submitting a general proposal to the CRB, suggesting that the new on-demand streaming mechanical rate 2023-2027 in the US should be set at 15.35%…
4) FIRE FLYING, REQUIRED IN RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT – WITH MANY TRANSACTIONS ON THE ROAD
Earlier this year, Music Business Worldwide told you that we will be keeping a close eye on the moves of Nat Zilkha – a respected contract producer with a proven pedigree in the music industry.
US-based Zilkha has left its Partner role at KKR in December 2021. He spent the previous 15 years at the investment firm, where he was involved in many major music-related deals involving Ryan Tedder, BMGand others.
Announcing his departure from KKR last year, Zilkha teased that he would soon be launching “a new business endeavor, focused on the music industry”, while maintaining his role as President of Gibson Brands (and also continues to act as a senior advisor to KKR ).
If you take a look at Zilkha’s LinkedIn today, you’ll know that after leaving KKR, he became the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of a new business called Firebird Music Holdings. He describes the Aspen, Colorado-based company as a “music-centric, artist-centric media company.”
Over the past few weeks, MBW has learned more about Firebird and its strategy of acquiring rapidly growing music companies – especially artist management companies – of various shapes and sizes.
We learned through our sources, for example, that Zilkha co-founder at Firebird is Los Angeles-based Nathan Hubbard, former Ticketmaster CEO and former Chief Communications & Commercial Officer globally at Twitter.
We also learn that the main backer of Firebird is Raine Group, an existing investor in music companies such as SoundCloudC3 Presentation, and Entertainment.
Biggest move Firebird has made to date?
According to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, they have acquired a substantial minority stake in one of the world’s oldest artist management companies: Red Light Management…
There was a moment in recent history when Robert Kyncl was the only senior person at YouTube tasked with interacting most frequently with the music industry.
That largely changed in 2016 when Kyncl welcomed music therapist Lyor Cohen to YouTube as the service’s Global Music Director.
Since then, Kyncl’s direct dealings with powerful music rights holders have eased somewhat, but – as Chief Business Officer at YouTube – his global influence at Alphabet/Google-Company ownership has continued to grow.
Until now, that is – when we learned that Kyncl would officially step down from his role at YouTube after 12 years with the platform…
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