From Larry Jackson’s $1B backed Gamma to the US music industry’s $15.9B in 2022… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly roundup – in which we’re making sure you catch the five biggest stories to make our headlines over the last seven days. The summary of MBW is supported by centtriphelping over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce touring costs.

A serious new player in the music industry was launched this week by Larry Jackson, the US-based A&R impresario and former global creative director at Apple.

Jackson’s $1 billion-backed project Gamma boasts a high-profile list of financial backers, including Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, as well as Jackson’s former employers – Apple – and A24.

Gamma’s first acquisition was also identified this week as the distribution and services company Vydia, founded by Roy LaManna, who has previously worked with artists such as Akon, Kanye West, Mr. Eazi and Anuel AA.

Jackson’s Gamma has also formed partnerships with Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records, as well as Rick Ross, Naomi Campbell and The Shade Room.

Also this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released its 2022 year-end report on Thursday (March 9), telling us that on a retail basis, recorded music revenue in the US (including money spent on streaming subscriptions) ). as physical and digital music) grew 6.1% YoY to $15.9 billion in 2022.

Streaming (including paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, digital and custom radio stations, social media platforms, digital fitness apps, and others) generated the majority ($13.3 billion) of that annual revenue.

The RIAA data also shows that retail sales are out paid Subscription services grew 8% $10.2 billion will surpass $10 billion annually for the first time in 2022.

Elsewhere, Spotify announced Wednesday (March 8) that its all-time payouts to the music industry as of 2022 total nearly $40 billion (including recording and publishing royalties).

Also, Eliah Seton has been named CEO of SoundCloud, while Shamrock Capital has reportedly acquired part of Metro Boomin’s publishing catalog for nearly $70 million.

Here’s what happened this week…

1) LARRY JACKSON’S $1B SUPPORTED GAMMA IS GO: ELDRIDGE AND APPLE FINANCED COMPANY ACQUIRES VYDIA, HIRING IKE YOUSSEF, BEN COOK

The music industry rumor mill has been buzzing about the next move for Larry Jackson – the US-based A&R impresario and former Apple Muslc global creative director.

Now, Jackson’s new project, Gamma (lowercase “g”), has had its sleeves removed.

According to a well-placed MBW source, “Larry raised a billion dollars on this thing. He doesn’t play games…”

2) US RECORDED MUSIC REVENUE FROM PAID SUBSCRIPTION EXCEEDED 10 BILLION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2022. USD ANNUALLY

The US music industry generated $15.9 billion in 2022.

That’s the headline statistic from the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) year-end 2022 report, which as of Thursday (9 as physical and digital music) grew 6.1% year-on-year, the seventh straight year of market growth.

Streaming (including paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, digital and custom radio stations, social media platforms, digital fitness apps, and others) generated the lion’s share of this total revenue.

Streaming grew 7.3% to a record $13.3 billion in revenue and collectively accounts for 84% of total music revenue in the U.S., up slightly from 83% in 2021.

3) ELIAH SETON TO CEO OF SOUNDCLOUD

SoundCloud has announced that Eliah Seton has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Seton succeeds Michael Weissman, who joined SoundCloud in 2017, has served as CEO since 2021 and is “embarking on a new opportunity,” according to the company.

Seton joined SoundCloud in 2021 as President, overseeing the creator and roster businesses, as well as strategy, M&A, content partnerships, business development, and distribution and artist partnerships.

4) SPOTIFY REACHES ALL-TIME PAYOUTS TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY TO LIKE 40 BILLION. U.S. dollar

Spotify hosted its second Stream On event in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 8) to announce new product updates and tools for artists.

The company also updated its annual music royalty report, Loud & Clear, in which it released a wealth of statistics on what artists and rights holders are making from music on the platform.

Spotify says that “nearly 70%” of every dollar it makes from music “is paid back in royalties to the rightsholders, who then pay the artists and songwriters based on agreed terms.”

These rightsholders include record labels, publishers, independent distributors, performing rights organizations and collecting societies.

Headline stats released by Spotify on Wednesday put Spotify’s all-time payouts to the music industry as of 2022 at nearly $40 billion (including recording and publishing royalties)…

5) SHAMROCK BUYS PART OF METRO BOOMIN’S PUBLISHING CATALOG FOR NEARLY $70M $ (REPORT)

Los Angeles-based investment firm Shamrock Capital has acquired a portion of the entire existing publishing catalog of American record producer, songwriter and DJ Metro Boomin for nearly $70 million.

The acquisition was first reported by Billboard on Tuesday (March 7), citing “sources close to the deal.”

Shamrock is best known for purchasing the master rights to Taylor Swift’s first six studio albums from Big Machine in November 2020 for over $300 million.

The reported acquisition comes just a month after Shamrock raised more than $600 million in commitments for its third content strategy equity fund. The fundraising exceeded the company’s $500 million goal…

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