Three years in the past, MBW informed you that Tempo Music, the music rights fund launched by non-public fairness large Windfall, was trying to promote its catalog at a valuation of round $500 million.
The sale didn’t occur. As rates of interest started to rise steeply in markets together with the UK and US, blockbuster acquisitive exercise in music famously cooled.
Final yr, although, with rates of interest declining and/or trying extra secure in main territories, chatter started to select again up about Tempo.
In October, MBW predicted that music’s M&A market would quickly see a pattern of PE-backed corporations beforehand often known as music rights consumers changing into sellers — with an acquisition of Tempo doubtlessly as soon as once more on the playing cards.
Now we’re listening to more and more loud whispers that we’re weeks away from the conclusion to this story: a sale of Tempo’s portfolio at a valuation of round half a billion {dollars}.
These concerned in lively talks to shut an acquisition, we’re informed, embrace not less than one main music firm, plus unbiased and finance-backed gamers.
Because it launched in 2019, Tempo Music has acquired a catalog of rights/earnings streams from stars together with Wiz Khalifa, Twenty One Pilots (through Tyler Joseph), Korn, Florida Georgia Line, and hit songwriter/producer Philip Lawrence.
Windfall initially launched Tempo Music in 2019 in partnership with Warner Music Group.
Since 2021, Tempo has been run by CEO, Josh Empson, following the exit of earlier CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares (who now runs HarbourView).
Nonetheless, Tempo hasn’t been visibly lively in music’s M&A marketplace for a while.
Windfall’s web site means that the final press bulletins about Tempo conducting catalog acquisitions – together with a take care of Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots – date again to 2021.
Tempo’s personal official web site not seems to be reside on-line.
Final yr, Tempo Music sued Miley Cyrus and a number of other music trade corporations, together with Sony Music, Stay Nation, Warner Chappell, and Harmony Music Publishing, alleging copyright infringement.
Tempo’s lawsuit argued that Cyrus’ megahit Flowers illegally cribbed from Bruno Mars smash After I Was Your Man.
Tempo acquired a share of the copyright in After I Was Your Man from Philip Lawrence, one of many track’s co-writers, in 2020.
The lawsuit learn: “Any fan of Bruno Mars’ After I Was Your Man is aware of that Miley Cyrus’ Flowers didn’t obtain all of that success by itself.”
Flowers allegedly “duplicates quite a few melodic, harmonic, and lyrical parts of After I Was Your Man, together with the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, sure bars of the refrain, sure theatrical music parts, lyric parts, and particular chord progressions,” added the criticism.Music Enterprise Worldwide
