In November, Jon joined the board of an offshore fund structure established to acquire a music catalogue from one of the world’s largest entertainment companies.

Private equity investment in music catalogues has seen significant growth in recent years, fuelled by the predictable cash flows and uncorrelated returns offered by music royalties.

Music rights provide multiple income streams, including:
i) Streaming royalties from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
ii) Sync licensing for TV, film, advertisements, and video games.
iii) Public performance royalties, collected whenever songs are broadcast or performed.

These diversified revenue sources make music catalogues highly appealing to investors looking for scalable and stable returns.

The market has witnessed high-profile acquisitions, including Blackstone’s $1.6 billion bid to privatize the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, one of the largest music catalogue investment vehicles, whilst HarbourView Equity Partners’ acquisition of select assets from Full Force, a renowned music group and production team, completed earlier this year. Influence Media Partners, backed by BlackRock, also purchased Enrique Iglesias’ music catalogue in December 2023, highlighting the sustained appetite for premium assets.

The trend is expected to continue, driven by the rapid global growth of paid streaming subscriptions, which surpassed 500 million in 2023. Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music dominate this space, and their expanding subscriber base ensures a steady increase in royalty revenues.

This convergence of predictable cash flows, rising streaming adoption, and high valuations positions music catalogues as a compelling asset class for private equity and institutional investors.