Music Industry Moves: Concord Strikes $468 Million Deal for Round Hill Fund; Exceleration Acquires Redeye Distribution

And so what you've ended up with, not surprisingly, is a few key players that happen to own the majority of the IP that is kind of a must have in this industry to have a product offering and a handful of distributors that have gotten scale on distribution of great user experiences like a Spotify, Amazon, a YouTube, whoever you might want to think a... See more

A month earlier, according to Music Business Worldwide, UMG acquired the remaining 51% of PIAS, Europe’s largest independent music company. These acquisitions illustrate Universal’s recognition that this is where the revenue growth in the music industry is happening.

Although late to the party, this year Universal, through Virgin Music Group, acquired Downtown Music Holdings for $775 million in cash in December 2024. Downtown Music Holdings includes a number of companies, most notably CD Baby, Fuga, AdRev, SongTrust, and Downtown. Through these companies, Universal now owns independent music recordings, distrib... See more

This occurs across a competitive backdrop in the industry that has seen increased M&A activity, be that major labels acquiring indie labels and distributors, or catalogue acquisition. Heritage rights retain a premium, and market share is being bought, arguably, at the cost of investment in new, innovative music. Independent labels talk of it be... See more