BREAKINGVIEWS-Music deal medley helps tone down AI blues

Warner Music Group
Spotify

Warner Music Group

WMG

0.00

Spotify

SPOT

0.00

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Jeffrey Goldfarb

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - As BMG merges with Concord to create a $15 bln indie producer, Sony is buying a Blackstone-owned catalog spanning Justin Bieber to Journey. Fresh confidence coincides with clearer signs about artificial intelligence. It’s time to be more upbeat about labels Universal and Warner.

Full view will be published shortly.

Follow Jeffrey Goldfarb on X and LinkedIn.

CONTEXT NEWS

Sony Music Publishing said on May 11 that it had agreed to buy Recognition Music, which owns a catalog of 45,000 songs including hits by Madonna and Bruno Mars, from private equity firm Blackstone. The purchase price was $4 billion, according to multiple media reports.

Music companies BMG and Concord said on April 28 that they had agreed to merge. BMG's parent, German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, will own 67% of the combined company and Concord backer Great Mountain Partners will have 33%, with the investment firm also receiving a $1.2 billion cash payment. The enlarged independent music enterprise is valued at about $15 billion, according to Bloomberg and other news outlets.


This page is machine-translated. Sahm tries to improve but does not guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the translation, and will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy or omission of the translation. *Disclaimer: The above content only represents the author's personal position and opinion and does not represent any position of Sahm Capital Financial Company and Sahm cannot confirm the authenticity, accuracy, and originality of the above content. Investors should consider the risks of investment products in light of their circumstances before making any investment decisions. When necessary, please consult a professional investment advisor. Sahm does not provide any investment advice, nor does it make any commitments and guarantees.