A few weeks in the past, we instructed you about the 21 largest offers of 2024. Now, we’ll should make that 22.
On Monday (December 16), Common Music‘s Virgin Music Group revealed that it’s agreed to purchase Downtown Music Holdings LLC (Downtown) in a deal price $775 million.
The acquisition, which is topic to regulatory approvals, is predicted to shut within the second half of 2025.
Downtown, based by Justin Kalifowitz, began life as a music writer in 2007 however as we speak acts as a ‘pure’ providers firm that operates throughout recorded music, publishing, and different areas.
As a part of a plan to go all-in on the worldwide providers sector (by being a accomplice to copyright holders moderately than proudly owning copyrights itself), Downtown bought its owned catalog of 145,000 copyrights to Harmony in 2021 for round $400 million. A number of M&A offers over the previous 5 years have been central to Downtown’s services-focused technique.
At the moment, Downtown works with over 5,000 enterprise purchasers and greater than 4 million creators in 145 nations throughout its varied companies.
Under, you’ll discover key details and stats in regards to the companies and platforms owned by Downtown as we speak, exhibiting the breadth of Common Music/Virgin Music’s mammoth $775 million deal…
FUGA is an Amsterdam-born B2B tech and providers firm, which was acquired by Downtown in January 2020.
FUGA claims to be “the biggest full-service B2B music distributor on the earth” and says on its web site that it really works with “greater than 1,000 music rights holders”.
As a B2B providers supplier, the corporate affords customized company-branded white-label distribution and analytics dashboards in addition to world bodily distribution.
FUGA’s B2B purchasers even have entry to advertising and marketing providers, royalty accounting, UGC and rights administration and extra.
Downtown Artist & Label Providers
Downtown’s Artist & Label Providers division was fashioned in April 2023 and is led by Ben Patterson (pictured), who serves as President.
The Artist & Label Providers unit was born from Downtown’s distribution arm DashGo, and the corporate has beforehand mentioned that it’s “integral” to its “core mission to empower artists and construct an equitable music ecosystem”.
DashGo was acquired by Downtown in 2019 when it acquired AVL Digital Group for an estimated $200 million. Patterson based DashGo in 2004.
Downtown says that its Artist & Label Providers division’s purchasers embrace “profession artists and impartial labels on the forefront of common tradition”.
The Artist & Label Providers division was launched six months after Downtown fashioned a division referred to as ‘Downtown Music’, combining all of its world enterprise {and professional} providers.
Curve Royalties
Curve Royalty Techniques is a royalty processing platform acquired by Downtown in January 2023.
In Could of this 12 months, Curve founder Tom Allen was appointed President of a new division referred to as Downtown Royalties & Monetary Providers (DR&FS).
The division focuses on three core actions, together with royalty processing (powered by the Curve Platform), royalty accounting providers, and funds.
By way of Curve, DR&FS already works with greater than 1,000 labels and publishers worldwide, together with Domino, Defected, Epitaph, Mad First rate, Armada, Cloud9, Demon Music and Huge Machine, amongst many others.
Downtown mentioned on the time of its launch that the purpose of the Royalties & Monetary Providers Division is to “make royalty providers, accounting, and funds quicker and less complicated throughout rights for its greater than 5,000 enterprise purchasers and 4 million artist relations”.
CD Child is Downtown’s ‘Direct-to-Creator’ division, led by President Molly Neuman.
CD Child turned a part of Downtown in 2019 when it swooped for AVL Digital Group and its portfolio of providers for impartial artists – in a USD $200 million deal.
Downtown then transitioned from being a major proprietor of music rights at the start of 2021, to focusing completely on the worldwide providers sector when it bought its owned catalog of 145,000 copyrights to Harmony for round $400 million.
The operations of CD Child just lately merged into DMH’s Downtown Music division. The transfer arrived as a part of DMH’s long-term plan to focus completely on the providers sector.
Downtown introduced in April that it had accomplished its integration technique throughout its business-to-business and creator-focused companies right into a single working firm. As a part of the mixing, Pieter van Rijn was appointed CEO of Downtown Music, reporting into Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings.
Downtown notes that its Music Publishing division, led by President Emily Stephenson (pictured), represents “almost 100 years of common music”.
The division’s purchasers embrace John Lennon & Yoko Ono, George Gershwin, Miles Davis, Wu-Tang Clan, John Prine, and lots of others.
On Monday, citing an interview with Stephenson, Billboard reported that Downtown Music Publishing is on target to generate over $200 million in gross income in 2024, up 40% YoY.
The Billboard article famous that Downtown’s Music Publishing division manages over 1.5 million copyrights and has distributed over $100 million in royalties by Songtrust.
In August, Downtown Music Publishing struck a worldwide deal with Double P Information, the label and publishing arm based by George Prajin and Música Mexicana celebrity Peso Pluma.
In September, DMP struck a worldwide music publishing deal with PDU, the document label and publishing firm of iconic Italian singer Mina.
Downtown Neighbouring Rights
Downtown Neighbouring Rights is described as “a bespoke, shopper relationship-focused neighbouring rights assortment service for performers and rights holders”.
The division was launched in 2020 below the management of Common Supervisor Dean Francis. Its celebrity purchasers embrace Lindsay Buckingham (pictured), whom it signed in 2021, amongst others.
The division affords neighbouring rights assortment and analytics providers with direct affiliations with greater than 50 assortment societies and efficiency rights organizations around the globe.
Downtown Neighbouring Rights has made a raft of world signings for the reason that starting of the 12 months. The corporate introduced worldwide neighboring rights agreements with singer-songwriter, ANOHNI – representing the songwriter’s Academy Award-nominated tune, Manta Ray and Mercury Prize-winning album, I Am a Fowl Now – in addition to world agreements with writer and label, Place Music and TH3RD BRAIN Information; house to Brazilian producer, Zerb whose single Mwaki hit No.1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 International and No.2 on International Shazam charts.
Sheer Publishing Africa
Johannesburg-headquartered Sheer Publishing is claimed to be the biggest impartial music writer on the African continent.
Downtown’s acquisition of the corporate in 2020 marked Downtown’s formal growth to Africa.
Following the acquisition, Sheer continued to operate as a standalone enterprise inside Downtown’s portfolio of music publishing, distribution, monetization, artist, and label providers companies.
Based in 1996, Sheer has well-established relationships with assortment societies around the globe, and is a direct member of Africa-based royalty assortment entities, together with the South African Music Rights Group (SAMRO), MCSK (Kenya) and COSON (Nigeria).
Songtrust
Songtrust is claimed to be the world’s largest world royalty assortment platform for songwriters and music publishers.
In keeping with the corporate’s web site, it administers over 4 million songs for greater than 445,000 songwriters, companies, and rights holders around the globe.
Songtrust says that it screens, registers, and collects publishing royalties from 65 world pay sources, “offering entry to nearly all of the world’s music market in over 240 nations and territories on behalf of our purchasers”.
Discovered.ee
Discovered.ee (pronounced FOUN-dee) is an promoting and digital advertising and marketing platform that povides artists, managers and labels with a spread of instruments to construct, goal and optimize promotional campaigns.
Downtown Music Holdings acquired the mental property and expertise that underpins the Discovered.ee platform in 2021.
Downtown-owned CD Child was a minority investor in Discovered.ee previous to the acquisition and was already utilizing the platform to energy its promotional and advertising and marketing capabilities out there to CD Child artists.
Discovered.ee says that it’s utilized by greater than 25,000 creators worldwide.
Soundrop
Soundrop is a DIY music distribution service.
The platform was beforehand a division of AVL Digital, which was acquired by Downtown Music Holdings in 2019, in a $200 million deal.Music Enterprise Worldwide
