From Deezer’s fight against AI music to Charles Goldstuck’s $500m raise… 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.
France-headquartered streaming service Deezer‘s disclosures on the volume of AI-generated music uploaded to its platform is a good indicator of what’s happening at music streaming services, and its latest update is a bit alarming. Deezer says 18% of the tracks uploaded daily, or about 20,000 tracks, are now generated entirely through AI.
In the land of investment, meanwhile, music biz veteran Charles Goldstuck announced some big news: his Goldstate company has raised $500 million to buy music assets.
Warner Music Group announced its new CFO this week: Armin Zerza, formerly of Activision Blizzard, will succeed WMG’s current CFO, Bryan Castellani, effective May 5.
Meanwhile, a consortium led by Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie has announced its intention to take Believe fully private by buying out the (rather small) remaining stake of the company that the consortium doesn’t already own.
Finally, the US Copyright Office is reviewing regulations surrounding the growing number of performance rights organizations (PROs) operating in the country. In submissions to the Office, publishers including Sony, Warner Chappell, Concord, and Reservoir urged reduced regulation on PROs, a stance echoed by many PROs themselves.
Here’s what happened this week…
1) AI MUSIC INVASION DOUBLES ON DEEZER: 20,000 BOT-CREATED TRACKS NOW UPLOADED EACH DAY TO STREAMING PLATFORM
France-headquartered music streaming service Deezer has revealed that approximately 18% of all tracks now being uploaded to its platform are fully generated by artificial intelligence.
The company disclosed on Wednesday (April 16) that more than 20,000 AI-generated tracks are being delivered to its platform every day – around double the 10,000 daily AI uploads Deezer reported in January.
“AI-generated content continues to flood streaming platforms like Deezer and we see no sign of it slowing down,” said Aurelien Herault, Chief Innovation Officer at Deezer.
Deezer launched an AI detection tool in January after filing two patent applications for the technology in December…
Courtesy of GoldState
2) Charles Goldstuck’s Goldstate raises $500 million to buy music rights
GoldState Music, founded in 2022 by Charles Goldstuck, has raised USD $500 million to acquire more music rights.
According to the announcement on Thursday (April 17), the strategic capital raise includes “a structured capital facility” co-led by Northleaf Capital Partners and Ares Management funds, as well as “separately raised leverage”. Additional terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Goldstate’s new backer Ares Management Corporation is a giant of the alternative investment space.
3) SONY, WARNER CHAPPELL, CONCORD, RESERVOIR URGE LESS REGULATION OF PROS IN RESPONSES TO US COPYRIGHT OFFICE INQUIRY
Leading music publishers including Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Concord, and Reservoir have submitted responses to the US Copyright Office’s inquiry into Performance Rights Organizations (PROs).
All have argued strongly for reduced regulation in the sector.
The US Copyright Office (USCO) launched its investigation in February, examining “questions related to the increase in the number of PROs and the licensing revenue distribution practices of PROs”.
US-based PROs also submitted responses to the USCO, broadly arguing for a light touch on regulation and urging the Copyright Office to let the PRO landscape be shaped by free market forces…
4) ARMIN ZERZA PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ACTIVISION BLIZZARD’S $69BN SALE TO MICROSOFT. NOW HE’S JOINING WARNER MUSIC GROUP AS CFO.
Warner Music Group has hired a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Armin Zerza joins WMG as Executive Vice President and CFO, effective May 5, reporting to CEO Robert Kyncl. Zerza will succeed Bryan Castellani as Warner’s EVP and CFO; Castellani joined WMG’s executive team in October 2023.
Zerza most recently served in the C-suite at gaming giant Activision Blizzard, while it was traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
During a decade at Activision Blizzard, he served as both CFO and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). He played a pivotal role in the company’s all-cash $68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft, which closed in 2023…
5) DENIS LADEGAILLERIE, BACKED BY EQT AND TCV, MAKES MOVE TO FULLY ACQUIRE BELIEVE
A consortium led by Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie has announced plans to acquire the remaining shares of the music company from public shareholders – one way or another.
The consortium, which also includes the EQT X fund plus funds advised by TCV, currently holds 96.65% of Believe‘s share capital privately; the sub-4% remainder of Believe’s stock is held by public shareholders on the Paris Euronext.
The Ladegaillerie consortium (‘Upbeat Bidco’) is now moving to delist the Paris-listed firm through a public buyout offer that values Believe’s entire share capital at about EUR €1.54 billion (USD $1.75 billion).
This offer, of €15.30 per share, represents a 2.9% premium over Believe’s 30-day volume-weighted average…
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
