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KKR has acquired European festival operator Superstruct Entertainment from Providence Equity Partners.  Superstruct Entertainment which was founded in 2017, has experienced rapid growth through strategic acquisitions across Europe and Australia. Today, it operates 80 large-scale festivals and 200 smaller events, including iconic festivals like Wacken Open Air and Boardmasters. With events attracting 7M+ attendees annually, it is a leader in delivering insane live music experiences. KKR’s investment, made through its European Fund VI, an $8 billion fund dedicated to the growth of leading businesses, is a new chapter for Superstruct. This acquisition reflects a broader trend of venture capital firms entering the music industry. Historically, VCs stayed away from this space. However, the growing demand for live experiences has changed the music business into a lucrative and stable investment opportunity leading to massive buyouts, acquisitions and mergers. The backing of KKR, with its extensive network and resources, will undoubtedly strengthen Superstruct’s ability to scale in the experiential economy. This partnership sets a new standard for live experiences and it will be exciting to see where will it take the industry. What do you think was KKR’s motive behind this? #music

Rumours of an acquisition offer for French music company Believe have been swirling for a few weeks, but now we know the details. Funds managed by investment firms TCV and EQT have joined with the company’s chairman and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie to make an offer for Believe’s shares. They are offering to pay €15 per share ($16.17 at current exchange rates) which is a premium of 21% over the company’s share price when trading last closed, and 43.8% more than its average price over the last month. The goal is to take Believe private again. The company went public via a 2021 IPO on the Euronext Paris exchange. Believe’s board of directors has unanimously welcomed the proposal “without prejudice to the outcome of its detailed study of its terms”. Read The Full Story Here: https://lnkd.in/eryBB-DN #Believe #MusicIndustry #AcquisitionOffer #musically #musicnews #readmore

Surprised by this decision by Warner Music not to acquire Believe 😦……..(read more below) Transformational assets at that level are rarely up for grabs and would have supercharged their distribution capabilities (technology, emerging market markeshare, experience) plus added c. $1bn to their P&L. As a publicly traded company you would have thought it would have been in the best interest of shareholder value to at least bid for the company 🤔. To continue to try go ADA to a Believe / Orchard type level will take a long time, by which point WMG could further fall behind in the distribution market which continues to grow. And on the frontline label side UMG is still leading the pack. Big (questionable) call by their new CEO - Robert Kyncl ⏳ #linkedinbusiness #musicindustry #warnermusic #m&a #investment #linkedinmusic #musicbusiness

Capital One Entertainment could be your ticket to exclusive events and experiences this year. Learn more in this complete guide I wrote for Forbes Advisor. https://lnkd.in/g4kxp2fK

Live Nation's strategic vision focuses on double-digit growth, international expansion, and innovation in live entertainment experiences. #LiveNation #growthinitiatives #LYV https://lnkd.in/d9UywyWt

Following the open source analyst hive mind the last 6 years, to continue to address buyers among strategic partner networks I don’t believe the concern around consolidation is quite the right mind set. They can consolidate all they want among the studios and Big 7 within the SVODs. How the pipeline with independently originated I.P. is researched, written, produced, and developed across the different end points of process is handled with different sets of rights management eliminating middle men is the paradigm shift we are looking at (which when we get even more specialized in digital production dynamics orbiting brand publishers/digital magazines if you have any measure of specialized knowledge or creative anyone wants with the Substack optimization era for strategic teams as I’ve addressed across time opens up a hot market for strategic non fiction / investigative journo author teams where quality can be focused on increasing independent monetization that moves away from the Google/Meta ‘publish or perish’ incentive as we 10X rev generating potential activating new payment rails and strategic partnerships that build experience and drive product where integrated marketing enters an intriguing design thinking era). Nudging terraforming a new pre sale era direct from producer to producer to studio/SVOD commission retaining international rights, especially in mid budget with docs @ that $2 - $5 M range , productions in the $7 - $15 range , and longer format productions $30 to $60 with licensed co prods activating integrated marketing and distribution from studios/SVODs because of how much more efficient the macroeconomics can become most sharply adding the full scope of disruptive financial technology resources we really can identify the tent pole model is not a particularly scaleable nor profitable design (too often turning $80 m + packages into tax credit contract fee machines that have zero to do with technical producing that have become an incumbent executive management classes exclusive play thing). I would like to see more technical open rolling debate and address in development meetings with the full scope of options with how rights management meets these axis considerations approaching 2024 which is again why I am supporting colleagues at Greenlit , an exciting end to end rights management, contract management, licensing, and financing solution as a vertical SaaS all in one place poised to collaborate with many of you on here to activate a fully decentralized independent financing ecosystem. We are moving from a bit of a perception shift to hyperbole over an ‘abundance’ age to a ‘scarcity’ age which is furthermore why it’s so imperative to protect orginal material and our relationships with our rights holders from incumbents abusing market dominion and the typical emotionless cycle of exploitation that can’t actually execute to completing projects where future contracted revenues can be traded on with the increase in yield anyway.

If you read through Billboard’s list of the Biggest Music Deals in 2023, you’ll see some staggeringly big numbers. Labels and music companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on acquisitions and mergers in the past 12 months. The largest of 2023 was the Korean internet company Kakao’s purchase of a $1 billion stake in SM Entertainment. But across the board, there have been huge multi-million acquisitions by large entertainment companies of A-list artist catalogs. When you look at the numbers, there’s an insane amount of money flowing in the music industry at the moment. It’d make you wonder why artists, who aren’t in the highest echelons of the business, are struggling to survive off incomes from their music… #music #tech #acquisition

The music industry is always evolving, and it's exciting to think about what the future holds. With the update for 2023 looking solid, many are wondering what the impact of TikTok will be in 2024. It's clear that new acts are following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift and Beyonce's trend of mega tours in cinemas and homes. And according to a recent report from Music Week, we can expect further acquisitions in 2024. The industry is growing stronger, with fandom driving physical and merch sales. Let's keep an eye out for what's to come! #musicindustry #futuretrends #acquisitions

Yesterday we saw Reservoir CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi and De la Soul ring the bell at Nasdaq showing the strength and continued growth in music catalog acquisitions and marketing. The De la Soul catalog alone finally be available digitally is great example of the importance music catalogs carry in today's music business. Reservoir Media Management, Inc. is one of many companies that have deployed billions in acquisitions and doesn't seem be slowing anytime soon. In this Music Business Worldwide (MBW) article it states that its deal pipeline of more than 120 deals worth more than $2Billion plus shows a robust market place for continued growth. But what really struck out to me in this review is what Khosrowshahi said was their competitive advantage would come from value enhancement capabilities will lead to industry outgrowth (Marketing). We look forward to exploring Reservoir music marketing catalog success at Fandom: Global Summit on Marketing Music Catalogs in NYC and London. #musicmarketing #musiccatalogs #fandommarketingmusiccatalogs #musicbusinessworldwide

The latest #IndustrySnapshot highlights the Entertainment industry. Private equity has a 34% share of deals in this industry over the last three years. See deal activity below for more trends and insights! #privateequity #entertainment