From UMG’s [PIAS] buyout to Concord’s $217m Daddy Yankee deal… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.

The industry’s biggest news this week was Universal Music Group‘s acquisition of European indie powerhouse [PIAS]. The now-former indie’s label services arm will integrate with Virgin Music Group, while its labels operation will remain an “autonomous, standalone” entity run by co-founder Kenny Gates.

Meanwhile, we need to talk about Despacito.

It’s one of the biggest global hits of all time and, by some measures, THE biggest Latin Music hit of all time.

In it, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee tell the object of their desire they wish to “sign the walls of your labyrinth” (“firmar las paredes de tu laberinto”). Ahem.

In recent weeks Yankee, real name Ramón Rodríguez, has been using his autograph for less lascivious purposes: inking a deal to sell Concord parts of his back catalog in a transaction worth a whopping USD $217 million.

(It was revealed today – October 18 – that Yankee is the mystery Latin artist with whom Concord struck a $217.3 million deal, as revealed in a recent Kroll report.)

Meanwhile, K-pop giant HYBE had a dramatic week, with record labels reportedly upset over HYBE’s Weverse fan platform planning to take up to 60% of the proceeds from its new paid subscription memberships.

HYBE also scrambled this week to refinance nearly $300 million in debt, after creditors requested early repayment of a series of convertible bonds.

Elsewhere, the TikTok vs. Merlin fallout rumbled on… as MBW published some widely-read observations on the fracas and the factors behind it.

Finally, Litmus Music announced its latest major deal, acquiring the recorded music and publishing rights of Randy Newman.

Here’s what happened this week…

1) KENNY GATES ON [PIAS] SALE: WE HAVE AN AMAZING FUTURE AHEAD… AND F**K THE HATERS.

[PIAS], a 42-year-old powerhouse of independent music in Europe, has been fully acquired by Universal Music Group.

By sealing the deal, UMG now owns 100% of [PIAS] Group, having initially acquired 49% of the firm from its co-founders, Kenny Gates and Michael Lambot, in 2022.

Subsequent to the sale, [PIAS]’s label services arm, [Integral], will merge with Universal’s Virgin Music Group, significantly bolstering VMG’s reach, supply chain, and client base in the EU, the UK, and beyond.

Gates will join VMG’s board.

Meanwhile, [PIAS]’s owned and associated labels operation, the [PIAS] Label Group (PLG), will also become owned by UMG – but, importantly, it will be run as a “completely autonomous, standalone company”, led by Gates as its CEO…

2) WHO SOLD CONCORD THAT $217M CATALOG? DADDY YANKEE.

Earlier this week, Music Business Worldwide broke the news that Concord had splashed USD $217.3 million on a mystery catalog from a Latin Music artist and songwriter.

It’s no longer a mystery. The artist in question is Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican superstar whose La Última Vuelta World Tour generated an estimated USD $198 million in 2022.

Concord has acquired parts of the music publishing and recorded music catalog of the reggaetón star, including rights to his own hits including Rompe, Gasolina, and Con Calma, plus his featured artist role on Despacito.

In addition, the acquisition covers some name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights.

3) On… TikTok, Merlin, and the awkward arranged marriage of the independent sector

Behind the scenes over the past two years, TikTok has warned Merlin on multiple occasions that hundreds of active tracks in the org’s repertoire – i.e. tracks uploaded by its members – have been flagged as copyright-infringing.

To understand how this is possible in association with Merlin — a proud participant in the fight against streaming fraud — one first needs to appreciate some key background notes.

Merlin’s membership has more than doubled in size over the past 16 years. There is a question mark, however, over the cost this expansion has imposed on Merlin’s cohesion as a membership organization.

4) HYBE’S WEVERSE TO LAUNCH NEW SUPERFAN SUBSCRIPTION TIERS… AND KEEP UP TO 60% OF THE MONEY

K-pop giant HYBE’s superfan platform Weverse is launching a set of new higher-priced membership tiers for users on December 1.

There is, though, a catch for HYBE’s fellow music rightsholders.

According to a source speaking to the Korea Herald, HYBE has told partner labels who use Weverse that it will be keeping between 30% and 60% of revenues from the new membership plan, depending on the tier.

The news comes the same week as HYBE scrambled to refinance nearly $300 million in debt, after existing bondholders requested early repayment on a series of convertible bonds, a move triggered by the company’s sliding stock price…

5) CARLYLE-BACKED LITMUS MUSIC BUYS RANDY NEWMAN’S PUBLISHING, RECORDED MUSIC INTERESTS

Litmus Music has been busy.

Since late 2022, the company – backed by Carlyle’s Global Credit Platform – has acquired catalogs from the likes of Benny Blanco, Keith Urban, and Katy Perry.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Litmus had splashed a nine-figure sum to acquire the music asset portfolio of Opus, including rights to music catalogs from Juice WRLD, Ozuna, Maluma and Rauw Alejandro.

On Thursday (October 17), Litmus announced its latest major deal: acquiring Randy Newman’s share of his recorded music and publishing…

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide