Jason Peterson, the CEO of GoDigital Media Group (GDMG), recently told MBW that his company had seen revenues increase 10-times in just four years – and that it had a “tremendous pipeline” of acquisitions coming round the corner.
Today (September 13), one of those acquisitions hits music industry headlines: Los Angeles-headquartered GDMG has teamed with MEP Capital to acquire Sound Royalties, the music financing platform that pays out advances to artists and rights-holders based on predicted future royalty income.
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Peterson didn’t disclose the price of the deal but confirmed it was a “high eight-figure purchase” – i.e. tens of millions of dollars – backed by funding from MEP.
Sound Royalties, which has worked with the likes of DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Pitbull, and Wyclef Jean, joins a portfolio of companies at GDMG that also includes Cinq Music Group. Cinq is a label/rights management firm which has a strong presence in Latin music and represents repertoire by artists such as Bad Bunny, Janet Jackson, Jason Derulo and T.I.
Other music-related GDMG subsidiaries include AdShare and VidaPrimo, plus special-interest video networks including Latido Music, mitú and YogaWorks.
Sound Royalties is able to service transactions from $5,000 to tens of millions of dollars. Creators get to keep their copyrights and ongoing royalty cash flow above the amount financed by the firm.
“Sound Royalties provides a much-needed solution to the music industry for creators and rights holders who are looking for financing but who do not want to sell their rights perpetually.”
Jason Peterson
“Our mission at GoDigital is to inspire happiness through sharing creativity,” said Peterson. “Sound Royalties is a logical investment for GDMG and MEP, considering how the company and the team are perfectly aligned with our thesis that music rights are the best alternative investment in the creative industries right now.
“Artists, songwriters, and producers are all businesses and, like businesses in any other industry, need to be able to access capital to grow. Sound Royalties provides a much-needed solution to the music industry for creators and rights holders who are looking for financing but who do not want to sell their rights perpetually.
“The service allows creators to concentrate on what they do best: make music. We are also pleased to say that the current leadership team will stay on and representatives from GDMG and MEP will be joining the Board.”
Alex Heiche, Sound Royalties CEO said: “Sound Royalties was founded on the principle of protecting creators’ rights and providing individualized customer centric solutions.
“We’re excited to be joining the GoDigital family, which will enable us to expand our technology platform and grow more rapidly, while preserving the ability for creatives to speak and work directly with our experienced Royalty Specialists to ensure they receive the best financing that suits their specific needs.”
Sound Royalties, LLC was founded in 2014 by Alex Heiche and backed by York Capital to provide royalty-based financing services for music creators.
The company provides funding against future royalties from all major collection societies, labels, publishers, and distributors.
In 2017, via a $20 million cash injection, it funded Cinq’s $10 million-plus acquisition of a master rights catalog recorded by hip-hop star T.I while at Atlantic Records.
Two years later, GoDigital pumped another $40 million into Cinq – money that was subsequently used to sign Janet Jackson and buy the Beluga Heights label, including its share of the Jason Derulo catalog.
Source: Music Business Worldwide
