In today's CMU Daily: New Mountain Capital's acquisition of BMI is now cleared to proceed, after a bankruptcy court signed off on a proposal to resolve issues surrounding Audacy's equity stake in - and debts owed to - the US collecting society

One Liners:

JULiA LEWiS, Papa Roach, Snow Tha Product and OneLand Music Group deals; Joe Rogan podcast returns to Apple; Mad Professor and Ariwa Sounds show; new music from Dizzee Rascal, Little Simz, Paul Morricone and Kacey Musgraves, and David Guetta reworks Mason and Princess Superstar track

Also today: Selling tickets is clearly really difficult, because very few ticketing companies seem able to accurately calculate fees. After StubHub were pulled up on this last week, now SeatGeek faces a lawsuit in New York

Plus: Standon Calling postpones 2024 edition because of rising costs; key industry stakeholders share their views on the recent IPO Transparency Code, and CMU's Andy Malt rounds off the week with a nice chat about the glorious game of golf. What fun!

New Mountain Capital completes its acquisition of BMI

Private equity firm New Mountain Capital has completed its acquisition of US collecting society BMI, resulting in a $100 million pay day for the organisation's songwriter and music publisher members. Although many of America’s broadcasters will also get a big pay day as the previous owners of the rights organisation, including iHeartMedia and Audacy.

Audacy is currently being restructured after filing for bankruptcy protection last month and this actually held up the acquisition while legalities around the broadcaster’s restructuring and stake in BMI were settled. That involved getting sign off from the bankruptcy courts for an agreement between Audacy, BMI and an affiliate of NMC.

Previously known as Entercom, Audacy is the third largest radio group in the US and owns over 200 radio stations across the country. In 2017 it merged with CBS Radio, rebranding as Audacy in 2021. In January this year it filed for bankruptcy protection with a reported $1.9 billion in debts.

Audacy’s stake in BMI is valued at at least $25.4 million. Simultaneously, BMI claimed that - based on a multi-year audit - the radio firm owed it $10.9 million in unpaid royalties. Under the court-approved agreement, Audacy will pay $550,000 to solve part of the unpaid royalties dispute and then commit to “work in good faith to settle, compromise and resolve" the rest of it.

With that agreement reached and signed off by the bankruptcy courts, NMC was able to complete its big BMI acquisition, which was first announced last November.

The society’s previous owners - that group of American broadcasters - previously ran the organisation on a not-for-profit basis. However, following a review of its operations in 2022, BMI announced it would shift to a for-profit business model. Then last year it started working with the bankers at Goldman Sachs to find a buyer.

Most of the music industry's collecting societies are not for profit organisations owned by their members, ie artists and record labels, or songwriters and music publishers. BMI's shift to a for-profit model and subsequent sale to private equity has not been without controversy within the music community. The society is trying to placate its critics by committing to distribute $100 million of the proceeds of the sale to the writers and publishers that it represents.

Though the fact the radio companies will also receive big payments adds to the controversy around the deal, especially given that American broadcasters have a long history of doing everything they can to keep as low as possible the royalties they pay to the music industry. iHeart, as the biggest radio company in the US, last year said it alone would make $100 million from the sale.

BMI boss Mike O'Neill didn’t acknowledge any of that controversy when hailing the completion of the big takeover deal yesterday.

“Our partnership with New Mountain charts an incredibly exciting new course for BMI and our songwriters, composers and publishers”, he said. “New Mountain shares our vision to build value for our affiliates and invest in their future success. With their support, advanced level of innovation and resources, we are now in the best possible position to accelerate our growth plan and explore new opportunities to benefit our creative community".

As for how senior management at NMC feel now that their acquisition of BMI is complete, well, they're obviously "THRILLED".

“We are THRILLED to officially begin our partnership with BMI", says MD Pete Masucci. "We believe in BMI’s mission and the music creators they represent, and we are looking forward to helping BMI build on their momentum to deliver maximum value to their affiliates".

ATG // Senior Regional Programmer - Music & Comedy (London)

Union Chapel // Visitor Engagement Coordinator (London)

Live Music Booker // The Halls (Wolverhampton)

AEG Presents // Marketing Manager (London)

Music Declares Emergency // Directors' Assistant (London)

The Royal Albert Hall // Programming Manager, Hire (London)

The Royal Albert Hall // Engagement Executive (London)

SJM Concerts // PR Coordinator (Manchester)

ICE // Netsuite (ERP), Functionality/System Tester (London)

AEG Presents // Marketing Manager (London)

AEG Presents // Touring Manager (London)

Horizon is CMU's new weekly newsletter - published each Friday - that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry.

Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.

👉 Click through to see the current selection.

ONE LINERS

JULiA LEWiS, Mad Professor, Little Simz + more

DEALS

Kobalt has signed producer and songwriter JULiA LEWiS to a publishing deal. “I’m so happy to have formed this partnership with a great team", she says. "I couldn’t ask for a better creative team than Kobalt – within our first week of working together we got a major cut which turned into a single. I’m excited for what’s to come".

Talent agency Wasserman Music has signed Papa Roach. It will now represent the band everywhere except Canada. “Since the pandemic started, we really pushed ourselves and believed that we controlled our own destiny", says vocalist Jacoby Shaddix. “We started our own label, hired the right teams, and have found an excellent niche in social media where our music, our personalities and our fans meet. A full-service company that understands our vision and can help us navigate this growth in the multi-media landscape is essential. Next year will bring a lot of surprises!"

Management firm YMU - and specifically its executive manager and Head Of Latin Yvette Medina - has announced a new global agreement with Claudia Feliciano, aka Snow Tha Product. "Snow is a fiercely independent trailblazer whose work ethic is unmatched", says Medina, "and together we are going to continue to amplify what she has achieved while expanding her global presence".

LA-based Create Music Group has announced a joint venture with OneLand Music Group, with which it has worked since 2019. Create has acquired OneLand's catalogue and the two companies will now collaborate on new releases, kicking off with a new EP from Atomic Otro Way, ‘Dembow 5’. "This venture is a celebration of our shared musical vision and we’re THRILLED to be in business with Create’s growing team", says OneLand co-founder Hector Morales.

MEDIA

Joe Rogan declared on Twitter last night that his podcast is now back on Apple Podcasts. The Joe Rogan Experience has been exclusive to Spotify since his original deal with the streaming firm in 2020. However, when it was announced that that deal had been renewed last week, it was also revealed that the podcast would return to other platforms, presumably so Spotify can try to sell more ads. “We should be back on YouTube with full episodes in the coming weeks”, his Tweet went on, before adding: “Shoutout to Spotify for absolutely being the coolest and smartest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of being in partnership with. I’m very excited the podcast will now have a much broader distribution”.

GIGS & FESTIVALS

Mad Professor and the Ariwa Sounds studio and label will present a special show at Fairfield Halls in Croydon on 24 Feb. It's being staged as part of Croydon's year as London Borough Of Culture. Says Mad Professor: “I’m so happy to be bringing the best of Ariwa Sounds together under one roof. Revisiting Fairfield Halls for the first time since 2015, with my work being honoured as part of Croydon’s year as London’s Borough Of Culture, makes the show even more special. Let’s dub!” Channel One Soundsystem and Sandra Cross are also on the bill and there'll be an accompanying art exhibition. More info here.

RELEASES

Dizzee Rascal has released his eighth studio album 'Don’t Take It Personal' via Dirte3 Records. Watch the video for one of its tracks, 'Switch And Explode'.

Fresh from winning the MOBO Award for Best Hip Hop Act earlier this week, Little Simz has released an EP of new material called 'Drop 7'

Paul Morricone from Scaramanga Six has shared 'People In My Way', the first track from his forthcoming third solo album 'Go Sanction Yourself', which is out 19 Apr on Wrath Records. There's a Gilbert And George inspired video that Morricone himself directed.

Kacey Musgraves has announced that new album 'Deeper Well' will be released on 15 Mar. And there's a new single too, also called 'Deeper Well'.

Armada Music has released a David Guetta rework of Mason and Princess Superstar's 2006 track ‘Perfect (Exceeder)’, which has become popular again of late after being featured in the soundtrack for 'Saltburn'. Here it is.

Perspectives: Streaming Transparency Code

Last month the UK government published a new Transparency Code for music streaming, in which digital service providers, record labels, music distributors, music publishers and collecting societies commit to communicate more information to artists, songwriters and their managers about how their music is used by streaming platforms and how digital royalties are calculated.

The code was facilitated by the Intellectual Property Office as part of the Economics Of Streaming work that was instigated by government following the Parliamentary inquiry into the digital music sector. Transparency issues were raised by music creators and managers who gave evidence as part of that inquiry and were summarised by MPs on the Culture Select Committee in their final report.

Trade organisations from across the UK industry were involved in negotiating the code, including those representing labels, publishers, distributor and streaming services, and artists, musicians, songwriters, studio producers and managers. CMU asked representatives from three of those organisations - MMF's Annabella Coldrick, ERA's Kim Bayley, and BPI's Sophie Jones - to give their perspectives on the code, where it fits in and what needs to happen next.

AIF renews call for ticket VAT cut as Standon Calling cancels 2024 edition

Standon Calling festival has cancelled its 2024 edition saying that production costs have "significantly increased again" making it "practically impossible" to deliver the kind of event that ticket buyers would expect. The Association Of Independent Festivals says this latest cancellation again demonstrates the urgent need for government intervention.

The trade group's CEO John Rostron said yesterday, "Standon Calling is now the ninth UK festival to announce its closure or postponement in 2024, further demonstrating the crisis that our sector is facing and the need for urgent government intervention".

"Festivals are being squeezed by the rise in supply chain costs and the effects of closures and debt incurred during COVID", he added, "meaning they are in a unique, perilous position that threatens the future of almost all but the very biggest operators in the UK".

In a statement posted by Standon Calling yesterday, the festival’s organisers said, "This is not a decision we have made lightly and we have explored every avenue possible to welcome you back in 2024. It has become clear that the costs of running the event, already considerably higher over the last two years, have significantly increased again, making it practically impossible for us to deliver the fully-formed Standon Calling you Standoners have come to love, expect and deserve this year".

Many festivals are struggling to deal with rapidly increasing production costs, and ironically it is often the festivals with the most loyal audiences that suffer the most.

That’s because, for those festivals, the bulk of ticket sales for each year’s event comes almost immediately after the previous year’s edition wraps up. This means that - unless festivals can accurately predict spiralling costs and price them into tickets in advance - they are often putting tickets on sale at prices based on a “best guess” about what costs twelve months on might look like.

Many festivals took a hit because of this on their 2023 editions, as inflation hit double digits between September 2022 and March 2023, meaning they finished their 2023 editions in a precarious state, with many barely breaking even and others ending the season with significant losses. With many costs associated with staging events still rising sharply, those festivals that set ticket prices for 2024 in late 2023 are seeing the same impact this year.

It was already known that Standon Calling was dealing with some financial challenges. A few days before the cancellation, the BBC reported that some performers and food vendors were still owed thousands of pounds from last year's edition of the festival.

A group of performers who played the event in 2023 said they were together owed £12,000. And one food vendor said they were still due £13,000, because all on-site payments at the festival went through a central system managed by the promoter.

Responding to those reports, Standon Calling founder and director Alex Trenchard said: "We apologise for the delay to a small number of payments from our 2023 festival. We are in the process of fulfilling these and contacting any remaining performers and suppliers".

Yesterday's statement about the cancellation noted that many other festivals are facing similar financial challenges. "Sadly, the situation is not unique to us", it said. "So many festival teams work hard all year round to deliver unforgettable weekends of memories in the face of unprecedented financial challenges. Over the last few weeks, several other independent festivals have been postponed for similar reasons".

AIF has long been calling for more government support for the festival sector and earlier this month launched its 5% For Festivals campaign, encouraging festival-goers to lobby their MPs in favour of cutting the VAT paid on tickets to 5%.

In yesterday’s statement, AIF’s Rostron referenced that campaign, adding that the proposed VAT cut is "an evidence-based, simple, sensible remedy that would ease the financial burden on promoters enough for them to return to health. We need this action now, and encourage the public to visit fivepercentforfestivals.com, write to their MPs and support events so their favourite festivals don’t make 2024 their last".

Standon Calling says it will return in 2025 from 24-27 Jul.

Op ed: Sound City’s Becky Ayres: “The music business’ talent pipeline is blocked by an image problem”

Becky Ayres is Managing Director of Sound City, the Liverpool-based event promoter and talent development organisation. Here she considers a blockage in the music industry's executive talent pipeline caused by young people simply not being aware of the different roles in the sector, and how they might go about pursuing a music business career. The solution, she argues, is more outreach by the industry into education and especially schools.

The music business is facing a critical challenge: a blockage in its executive talent pipeline that begins at the very foundation of the education system. While a lot of attention is rightly dedicated to enriching the music business workforce by attracting a more diverse range of candidates, there is a more fundamental issue that is often overlooked - that is societal perceptions of the music business itself.

SeatGeek sued in multi-million class action over ticket price listings in New York

US ticketing company SeatGeek has been sued over allegations it is in breach of New York laws regarding the listing of ticket prices. A new class action lawsuit filed against the company says it has been “improperly charging consumers on their website in violation of the New York Arts And Cultural Affairs Law".

The dispute brings the spotlight back onto the practice employed by some ticketing sites of obscuring the true cost of tickets by adding fees at the final stage of each transaction, rather than declaring the full cost upfront.

There has been a lot of discussion over the last year about introducing a new US-wide law that would force ticketing platforms to be fully transparent upfront about the full costs of any ticket being sold. A number of ticketing companies have actually backed such a law, though formal proposals are still working their way through US Congress. However, some US states have their own ticketing regulations.

And the new lawsuit explains that, in New York, a law came into effect in 2022 that says "any platform that facilitates the sale or resale of tickets” must “disclose the total cost of the ticket, inclusive of all ancillary fees that must be paid in order to purchase the ticket, and disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner the portion of the ticket price stated in dollars that represents a service charge, or any other fee or surcharge to the purchaser".

"Such disclosure of the total cost and fees", it goes on, "shall be displayed in the ticket listing prior to the ticket being selected for purchase" and "the price of the ticket shall not increase during the purchase process".

SeatGeek is not doing this, the lawsuit claims, adding that ticket buyers using SeatGeek are "initially quoted one price, only to later be shown the true total ticket, which includes an additional 'fees'. These added fees are only presented after consumers select their ticket option and pass through multiple screens in the purchase process".

Three New York-based ticket buyers are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, though it seeks class action status, so that a judgement against SeatGeek would benefit other affected ticket-buyers too.

The lawsuit states that "defendant sold at least 100,000 tickets through its website during the applicable class period and is liable for a minimum of $5 in statutory damages for each ticket sold". As a result "the aggregate amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, exclusive of interest, fees, and costs".

Rules about how ticket prices are listed on ticketing platforms differ around the world. In the UK the Advertising Standards Authority's rules state that "if a booking fee is not optional, ticket prices must be stated inclusive of any booking fee”.

AND FINALLY...

Irving Azoff and Eddy Cue’s new golf course is open for business. And no, you can’t afford it.

CMU's Andy Malt takes a look at this week’s funniest, weirdest or just plain ridiculous music news stories.

This week: Don't you just love golf? Irving Azoff and Eddy Cue do. Not only do they play an insane amount of golf together, but they've only gone and built their own golf course together.

The music business is such a drag. Who actually wants to hear about the music business? Wouldn’t you rather read something about golf?

No, me neither. Even thinking about golf makes me feel slightly queasy and talking about it in any form - verbal or written - is one of my five least favourite things to do. And yes, I do have that list.

But let’s talk about golf. Isn’t golf great! Such an elevating experience, with the clubs and the bags and the little toy town cars that tip over if you drive them too fast. Golf brings a lot of joy to a lot of people.

Two of those people are former Live Nation bigwig and veteran artist manager Irving Azoff and Apple exec Eddy Cue. Golf brings them so much joy that they play 70 rounds of golf together each year - which seems a lot of golf to fit into their presumably fairly busy schedules.

In fact, says "Golf expert” Michael Pryor, “according to a study commissioned by the United States Golf Association, golf rounds average four hours on weekdays and four hours and thirty minutes on weekends”. 280 hours of golf! Or, as some might regard it, 280 hours of sheer unbridled joy.

But not me. However, the reason I thought it would be more interesting to talk about golf is because I’ve learned that not only do Azoff and Cue play an insane amount of golf together each year, but they are also opening a golf course. Possibly to make their pursuit of the glorious game of golf a little more efficient.

Actually, I really want to talk about the article I learned this from - a piece in Golf Digest - because it is a veritable goldmine of information and quotable quotes.

For one thing, I now know that Cue and Azoff are such close friends - “both giddy as schoolboys”, the article reports - that they have a collective nickname, "Q&A"...