The Queens rights sold for more than $1 billion, and EXO members terminated their contracts with SM Entertainment
Organizer | Fan Zhihui
05.29-06.04
Weekly report at a glance
Large companies
>> Google pays Sonos $32.5 million for patent infringement
>> Classical music streaming Apple Music Classic arrives on Android
TIDAL >> Launch Profile Management Center for Artists
>> Caotai Echo established jazz label "Ding-Bang Music"
>> Reservoir's total revenue grew 13% year-over-year in fiscal 2023
>> JYP Entertainment expands strategic alliance with Republic Records
>> HYBE is raising $380 million to support acquisitions in the United States
Data control
>> UK Machinery Copyright Protection Society's membership earnings hit a 15-year high
capital market
>> Virtual live music platform VALK raises $7.2 million in Series C funding
>> Music tech startup Cyanite acquires AI sampling management platform aptone
Artist Dynamics
>> Queens rights sold for more than $1 billion
>> three members of EXO will terminate their contracts with SM Entertainment
Performance Market
>> Lehua 2023 family concert officially announced
>> The main lineup of the Tokai Music and Arts Festival was announced
>> Zheng Jun announced that the 2023 "Love" national tour Beijing station will be finalized
Music variety
>> Mango TV's "Endless Sound, Treasure Island Season" officially ended
>> The fifth issue of "China Hip Hop Peak Showdown 2023" ushered in the genre creation competition
Recommended this week
Large companies
>> Google pays Sonos $32.5 million for patent infringement
· On May 29, Google was fined $32.5 million for its wireless audio device infringing patents owned by smart speaker company Sonos.
In January 2020, Sonos first sued Google in Los Angeles and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), accusing the tech giant of using its partnership to copy multiple of its patented technologies and use them in devices such as Google's Home and Chromecast Audio.
In June of the same year, Google filed a lawsuit with the ITC, counterclaiming that Sonos infringed its rights by using Google's patented technology in smart speakers. The protracted legal battle lasted three years, during which both sides filed numerous lawsuits.
It is reported that the head of Sonos has filed a $90 million compensation with the court, saying that Google misappropriated six of its patents. But in the end, the judge dismissed the request, finding that Google only infringed on one of them.
Apple Music Classical, >> classical music streamer, landed on Android
· On May 31, two months after its official launch on the App Store, Apple's independent classical music app Apple Music Classic launched an Android version.
The global availability of the Apple Music Classical app is largely the same as that of Apple Music, except in some regions, such as China (including Taiwan), Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Turkey.
By appealing to classical music lovers, Apple may lead them to explore and invest in other Apple products, such as iPhones, AirPods, HomePods, Macs, Apple Watches, and a range of services offered by these devices.
TIDAL >> Launch Profile Management Center for Artists
· On May 31, music streaming service TIDAL launched TIDAL Artist Home, a new feature that allows artists to manage how fans view their TIDAL profiles, among other features.
TIDAL says the new tool allows artists to manage their TIDAL homepage while tailoring new products and resources to their needs.
The music streaming company said the launch of the new artist platform "has a long-term vision to give artists more control over their careers, starting with their presence on TIDAL."
Through TIDAL Artist Home, artists can edit their profiles, such as updating their social media links to encourage listeners to become followers. THEY CAN ALSO REQUEST CONTENT UPDATES, INCLUDING ALBUMS, EPS, AND SINGLES, DIRECTLY FROM TIDAL'S CONTENT OPERATIONS.
As artists grow in popularity, they have the option to extend access to their TIDAL Artist Homepage account to their team, including agents, record labels, band members, and publicists.
>> Caotai Echo establishes jazz label "Ding-Bang Music"
· On May 31, Caotai Echo officially held a press conference, announcing the establishment of its jazz label "Ding Bang Music", starting a new jazz pop exploration journey.
On the evening of the press conference, Ge Fei served as the host, introducing the label's jazz as the main style, and Mr. Echo of Caotai. The Miss group Du Kai & Liu Lian served as the director of the label, signing artists ZaZaZsu, Susan Wong, and Shi Jing Luna.
The guests invited to participate in the press conference include well-known musicians such as Old Wolf and Qin Sifeng, representatives of well-known music institutions and major music platforms, and industry insiders in the fields of film and television, media, music criticism and other fields.
>> Reservoir's total revenue grew 13% year-over-year in fiscal 2023
· On May 31, Reservoir Media announced financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 (calendar for the first quarter of 2023) and fiscal year 2023 ended March 31, 2023.
According to Reservoir's SEC filing, the company's total revenue for fiscal 2023, including recorded music and songwriting rights businesses, increased 13% to $122.3 million. Reservoir said that on a baseline (i.e., excluding acquisitions), its total revenue increased 8% in the 12 months ended in March.
Among them, in fiscal year 2023 (the 12 months to the end of March), songwriting rights revenue reached $83.8 million, an increase of 9% from $77.1 million in fiscal year 2022; Recorded music revenue increased 18% year-over-year to $34.8 million, compared to $29.5 million in fiscal 2022.
The company reported revenue of $21.1 million for fiscal 2023, up 9% from $19.4 million in the previous year; OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) increased 12% to $43.1 million, compared to $38.4 million in the previous year; Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% to $46.3 million, compared to $41.3 million in the previous year.
>> JYP Entertainment expands strategic alliance with Republic Records
· On June 1, JYP, one of South Korea's top three entertainment companies, will expand its global strategic collaboration with Republic Records, including a so-called enhanced label partnership.
Republic Records will collaborate globally with JYP, including global distribution, A&R, marketing and business development for artists and music libraries.
Since the first collaboration in 2020, Republic Records has provided a huge commercial boost to JYP's artist groups TWICE, Stray Kids and ITZY.
During this period, Stray Kids topped the US Billboard chart twice, and Twice achieved the highest chart ranking ever with the album "Ready to Be" and ushered in the biggest sales of a single week. At the same time, TWICE member Nayeon also became the first K-pop solo artist in history to enter the top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 list with his debut solo album "IM NAYEON".
>> HYBE is raising $380 million to support acquisitions in the United States
· On June 2, HYBE is raising $380 million to support more music acquisitions in the United States.
Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter as saying the South Korean entertainment giant "is in talks with investors to secure equity financing" and that HYBE is "open to having strategic and financial partners."
HYBE Chairman Shihyuk Fang has been outspoken this year about his ambition to expand the company's global reach through mergers and acquisitions and gain a diverse presence beyond K-Pop in the global music business.
In March, in an interview with CNN, he explained his company's M&A strategy in the United States, noting that "globally, K-Pop does not have much of a market" and that "Latin music and African afrobeats, on the other hand, are growing very rapidly." Therefore, in where we are, increasing exposure is even more urgent. To that end, I'm taking over record labels and agencies in the U.S. to build the infrastructure. ”
HYBE's U.S. M&A strategy also forms part of a broader vision to compete with the world's largest record labels in multiple genres through a multi-label system similar to the traditional large record label structure.
Data control
>> UK Machinery Copyright Protection Society's membership earnings hit a 15-year high
· On 1 June, 2022, membership earnings from the Machinery Rights Protection Society (MCPS) reached £188.4 million ($232.3 million), the highest level since 2007.
This figure increased by £6.7 million compared to 2021, followed by a period of revenue decline. MCPS attributed its continued recovery to the popularity of streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music and strong international revenue releases. The association says it also relies on a renaissance of physical records, with vinyl being a notable highlight.
MCPS collects royalties for the music of more than 34,000 publishers, songwriters, and composers when it is copied or reproduced. In 2022, MCPS grew its membership by 7.5%, or 2,284 new members. Since August 2022, the association has reduced its commission rate by 10% for all members.
capital market
>> Virtual live music platform VALK raises $7.2 million in Series C funding
· On May 30, Japanese virtual live music event platform and metaverse company VARK Inc. raised 1 billion yen (about $7.2 million) in a Series C funding round, with the proceeds going to strengthen the platform's product development.
In addition to existing investors JAFCO Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and ANRI, the investment also offered new shares through NetEase Games and SBI Investment.
According to Crunchbase, VARK has raised a cumulative 2.1 billion yen from its funding round to date, and its Series B round has raised 600 million yen from investors including Dentsu Group.
Tokyo-based VARK was founded in August 2017 as ActEvolve. In November 2018, it began to launch the virtual reality live streaming platform VARK, and changed its name to VARK Inc. in May 2020.
The company offers a virtual live music event platform, Metaverse templates, and VARK SHORTS, a video creation support tool for 3D avatars, and according to its website, Meta's Ireland division is one of its customers.
>> Music tech startup Cyanite acquires AI sampling management platform aptone
· On May 31, AI music analytics and recommendation company Cyanite acquired aptone, an AI-based service that allows music producers to sort and search samples.
Cyanite said the acquisition is aimed at expanding its AI solutions in the music industry and driving its international growth. By integrating aptone's sampling platform, Cyanite can improve the accuracy of its music analysis and tagging capabilities, closer to its goal of creating "universal music intelligence."
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to Crunchbase, Cyanite previously raised €800,000 (about $853,000) in its seed round.
Artist Dynamics
>> Queens rights sold for more than $1 billion
· On May 29, the Queen's song rights and recording rights will be sold for more than $1 billion, and the full acquisition may be completed this summer, and the buyer is likely to be Universal Music Group.
There are also sources that it will sell for about $1.1 billion, others say the final figure will be higher.
Either way, if the sale is completed, this would be the largest single-artist library sale in history, easily surpassing the more than $500 million Sony Music paid in late 2021 for the acquisition of Bruce Springsteen recording rights and songwriting rights.
The sale of Queen's library is somewhat complicated because Disney Music Group (DMG) owns the rights to the band's recordings in North America. (DMG has a worldwide distribution agreement with Universal Music.) ）
Queen Band members Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon plus Freddie Mercury's estate management committee each own an equal stake in Queen Productions Ltd, which owns the rights to the band's recordings outside the U.S. and Canada.
Queen members also own worldwide rights to the band's songwriting rights through their rights company, Queen Music Ltd, which is managed by Sony Music Publishing.
Queen Productions Ltd said in its annual earnings report that annual revenue for the 2021 financial year was £39.19 million, of which £38.92 million came from royalties. For the three years from 2019 to 2021, Queen Productions Ltd recorded an average annual royalty income of £50.71 million.
Queen is currently Spotify's 48th most popular artist worldwide, with 47.7 million monthly listeners on the platform.
>> three members of EXO will terminate their contracts with SM Entertainment
· News on June 2, the three members of the boy group EXO, Bian Baek-hyun, Kim Min-seok and Kim Jong-dae, announced plans to terminate their "unfair long-term contract" with South Korean pop music agency SM Entertainment.
In a statement released by Lin Law Firm, EXO members said they were forced to sign unequal contracts with SM Entertainment for up to 20 years and lost confidence in SM Entertainment after SM Entertainment repeatedly refused to provide details of payments to artists.
The trio also said that "legal action is inevitable" after announcing the termination of the contract.
At present, SM Entertainment Limited has not responded to this matter.
As early as 2009, three members of SM's boy group Dongfang Shenqi, Kim Jae-jung, Park Youtian and Kim Jun-so, also asked the South Korean court to review their 13-year labor contract with the company, hoping to solve the income distribution problem caused by the long contract period.
After more than three years of legal battle, the court ruled that lengthy contract terms unduly violated the applicant's economic freedom and fundamental rights, and the trio won the right to work independently of SM and formed a new group called JYJ.
Then, in 2010, the Fair Trade Commission enacted new rules capping the years in which entertainment companies first signed contracts with individuals for seven years.
Performance Market
>> Lehua 2023 family concert officially announced
· On May 29, Lehua Entertainment Concert officially announced that the 2023 Lehua Family Concert will start in Macao, China on July 22, and the full lineup of the concert will be announced on June 1, with Wang Yibo, Meng Meiqi, Wu Xuanyi, Cheng Xiao and other artists participating.
>> The main lineup of the Tokai Music and Arts Festival was announced
· On May 29, the main lineup of the Donghai Music and Art Festival was announced, Li Ronghao, Cun Tie, Zhao Lei, Li Quan, MONO, Crystal Lake, Liu Shuang, Diodato, Taiga, Fake Fake Strip, Field Cooperative, Queen Suitcase, etc., covering 70 groups of musicians and artists from many countries and regions, which is also the first music festival performance this year.
>> Zheng Jun announced that the 2023 "Love" national tour Beijing station will be finalized
· On May 29, Zheng Jun announced that the 2023 "Love" national tour Beijing will be finalized, which will be held at the Cadillac Center on July 2 and will be pre-sold on May 31.
Music variety
>> Mango TV's "Endless Sound, Treasure Island Season" officially ended
· On June 3, Mango TV's music and cultural exchange program "Endless Sound Treasure Island Season" officially ended.
43 groups of cross-strait singers and more than 100 days of Baodao music tour, they brought the audience a new interpretation of more than 100 Taiwanese golden songs, enriched the new era expression of Chinese pop music, and also set off a new round of Chinese streaming. In the process of combing the development of Taiwanese music, the program used a journey of "searching for roots" in the Chinese context to awaken the common cultural memory of generations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
>> The fifth issue of "China Hip Hop Peak Showdown 2023" ushered in the genre creation competition
· On June 3, the fifth issue of "China Hip Hop Peak Showdown 2023" is a 3V3 style creation competition, and the special invited competition team member is Amber. In the end, the five major leagues such as One Place, Little Trotting Pig, Talker, Countdown, and Dream Music DMG advanced, and Yu Yi, Kung Fu Fat, Zhang Zihao, Xie Keyin, and Man Shuk were eliminated.
Recommended this week
· On May 31, Ed Sheeran released a new single "A Beautiful Game", written and composed by Ed Sheeran/Foy Vance/Max Martin, and released by Warner Records.
· On May 31, Joyside released a new single "Nibiru", composed by Liu Hao, lyrics by Weiyuan, and released independently.
· On June 2, Glow Curve released a new album "May People Last", containing a total of 8 songs, which is also the band's third studio album, Modern Sky was released.
· On June 2, the ideal bastard released a new single "Cloudy Occasionally Miss You on a Clear Time", which was rearranged, recorded, mixed and blended by two masterpieces "I Love You Not Because of Sunny Weather" and "I Just Miss You", with lyrics and music composed by Qiu Jianhao / Lu Kepei, and Rong He Music was released.
On June 2, The Chainsmokers/bludnymph released a new single "Self Destruction Mode", written and composed by Alex Pall/Andrew Taggart/Henry Walter/Melissa Storwick/Kya Marie Hansen, and released by Sony Music.
· On June 2, Stray Kids released a new album "5-STAR)", containing a total of 12 songs, the group's third album, JYP Entertainment released.
· On June 2, The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carti collaborated to release the new single "Popular", HBO's large-scale new series "Idol Vortex" soundtrack single, XO/Republic Records released.
· On June 2, Cardi B and Latto released a new single "Put It on Da Floor Again", with lyrics and music by Alyssa Stephens, Kevin, Andre Price, etc., and Sony Music released.
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