From the 5 stats that will define the music business in 2023 to UMG being sued over its Spotify equity ownership… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Global Music Businessour weekly roundup – where we make sure you’ve captured our five biggest headlines over the past seven days. MBW rounding is supported by Centtriphelping more than 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring expenses.

The new year is one week away and the music business is picking up speed again after some well-deserved OOO and ZZZ holidays.

In the area of ​​M&A, Downtown has acquired London-based music technology company Curve Royalty Systems.

Meanwhile, Round Hill purchased a catalog of producer royalties and related rights from legendary rock producer Steve Lillywhite.

Elsewhere, it was announced that the following catalog by Grammy Award-winning hip-hop trio De La Soul will be rolling out for the first time on digital streaming services on March 3, via through a new partnership with reservoir Owned by Media and Reservoir Chrysanthemum profile.

This week we also learned that hip-hop duo Black Sheep, best known for their 1991 album Wolf in sheep’s clothingsuing Popular music group above it Spotify ownership of shares in a class action.

TikTok rival Trillermeanwhile, no IPO in Q4 2022, is said to be being sued by Universal over unpaid license fees.

Plus, MBW explored five statistics that will set the scene for some of the highlights, tensions, and hopes of the music business in 2023.

Here’s what happened this week…

1) 5 NUMBERS THAT WILL DETERMINATE THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN 2023

Here we go again. The music business is gently reopening after a much-needed break over the Holidays.

But what does 2023 mean for the industry and its key players?

Well, to be honest with you, we don’t know exactly. How on earth can we?

(That’s one of the main flaws of this amazing industry, isn’t it? Among its many attributes: Too many people pretend they know the unknowable about the future of the music business. , as the future of the music business has proven itself – time and time again – to be one of the most unpredictable in the commercial universe.)

Anyway, here’s what we know. We know that the following five stats really set the stage for some of the highlights, tension, and hope of the music scene in 2023.

And we know you’ll probably be better equipped for whatever this year throws at the music copyright industry if you understand why each of them is so important…

2) UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP CLAIM ON ARTIST’S SPOTIFY CAPITAL RIGHTS IN CLASS ACTION CLAIM

It’s not oftent Global Music Business itself is cited in a major lawsuit in the music business, but that is the case today.

Before we dive into how that happened, here’s the facts: Hip-hop duo Black Sheep, best known for their 1991 album A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, is suing Universal Music Group in a class-action lawsuit, filed yesterday (January 4) in New York.

NYC-based Andres Titus and William McLean, through their attorneys, issued three key statements:

(i) Black Sheep and other artists signed to Universal should have been paid 50% of royalties by Spotify since 2011 due to a clause in their contract regarding “net income”;

(ii) that UMG agreed to accept lower royalty rates from Spotify in exchange for a stake in the streaming service in 2008; and

(iii) That Black Sheep and other artists should also have received 50% of UMG’s Spotify equity (or its value) because, according to the duo’s lawsuit, this would be “proportionately ” with their royalty contract.

Black Sheep argues that Universal owes it and other artists about $750 million in unpaid royalties as a result of these three claims.

Universal called Titus and McLean’s claims that they accept lower royalty fees in exchange for Spotify’s equity “clearly false and absurd”. UMG added in a statement that it has “a long track record of fighting for artists’ compensation…”

3) U2, THE KILLERS STEVE LILLYWHITE PRODUCER SELL MUSIC RIGHTS TO ROUND HILL

The music rights space started operating this week with the news that Round Hill Music purchased a catalog of production royalties and related rights from legendary rock producer Steve Lillywhite.

The company says that Lillywhite’s production includes “some of the most successful songs and albums of all time” by artists from U2, The Killers and Morrissey, to The Talking Heads and The Rolling Stones.

Round Hill announced the deal this week, just weeks after MBW reported that it has spent more than $200 million on 40 acquisitions by 2022.

Round Hill did not disclose the size of its deal with Lillywhite, although industry sources estimate that, based on annual royalty income, the price could be in the range of $10 million…

4) TRILLER DON’T FIND FINISHED IPO IN 2022. CURRENTLY CONDITIONED

Triller was hit with a lawsuit from Universal Music Group over unpaid licensing fees.

On Thursday (January 5), UMG filed a lawsuit against US-based rival TikTok claiming it has failed to pay licensing fees over the past three quarters.

The lawsuit also claims that the company failed to provide quarterly usage reports outlining expert music usage on the Triller app.

This news was first reported by Diversity, which reports that UMG said in the complaint that it had also terminated its agreement with Triller.…

5) DOWNTOWN MUSIC HOLDINGS HAVE A ROYALTY CURVE SYSTEM

Musical organization downtown acquired London-based music technology company Curve Royalty Systems.

The latter was founded in 2019 by Tom Allen, Richard Leach and Ray Bush, all veterans of music companies like Cooking vinylEssential music and ADA.

Curve is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions made by Downtown in recent years.

In addition to Curve, New York-based Downtown has acquired companies including B2B music technology and service platforms FUGA and independent distributor Baby CD. Downtown has also invested in things like Beatbread and Vampr…

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