Music Business Worldwide (MBW)’s Post

Don Jazzy sold Mavins Records to Universal Music Group for $200M. Universal Music Group (UMG) has finalized the acquisition of a majority stake in Mavin Global, the renowned music company founded by Michael Collins Ajereh, famously known as Don Jazzy. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in the music industry, particularly within the Afrobeats genre. Established in 2012, Mavin Records has been instrumental in elevating the industry and Afrobeats artists to international acclaim, contributing to the global recognition of African music. With this strategic move, UMG aims to further strengthen its presence in the African music market and leverage Mavin's expertise to expand its reach. Here are 3 key lessons we can learn from this acquisition: 1. African Market is Gold: Mavin's partnership with UMG demonstrates that with proper investment, the African market is highly lucrative with a huge ROI. 2. If we promote our market, foreigners will invest. Before the acquisition of Mavin, its earlier investment was from Kupanda Holdings. They laid the groundwork for its growth trajectory, culminating in this landmark deal with UMG. 3. Negotiation skill is paramount to success: Big kudos to Don Jazzy for pulling this off. One of the greatest traits of successful entrepreneurs is knowing how to negotiate. UMG has emphasized Mavin's autonomy in shaping its strategic direction and nurturing talent. This reaffirms the significance of strong leadership, with Don Jazzy and COO Tega Oghenejobo retaining their roles to drive Mavin's continued success. As the acquisition awaits regulatory approval and finalization, the music industry eagerly anticipates the future synergies and innovations that will emerge from this collaboration between UMG and Mavin Global. Once again, congratulations to Don Jazzy and the team.

Industry Insight Alert! Universal Music Group (UMG) has just acquired a majority stake in Mavin Global, a powerhouse in Afrobeats. This move highlights the growing global recognition and potential of the African music industry, specifically Afrobeats. What can Kenyan entrepreneurs learn from this? ☑ Identify your unique identity Mavin Global's success stems from its focus on authentically African music (Afrobeats). Similarly, Kenyan businesses can leverage their unique cultural heritage and local insights to stand out in a global market. ☑ Think global, act local While aiming for international recognition, it's crucial to understand and cater to the needs of your local market. Mavin Global, despite UMG's involvement, is expected to maintain its local focus. ☑ Seek strategic partnerships Mavin Global's collaboration with UMG demonstrates the power of strategic partnerships in amplifying reach and resources. Kenyan businesses can explore partnerships with local or international companies to achieve similar growth. The success of Mavin Global serves as an inspiration for Kenyan entrepreneurs, demonstrating the potential of African businesses to thrive on the global stage. https://lnkd.in/geBXEPV2

New Post: Universal Music Group Announces Label Restructure, With Monte Lipman and John Janick as Leaders - https://lnkd.in/g-r_RGbT - The Universal Music Group announced a massive restructuring of its record label operations Thursday (Feb. 1), reorganizing its web of frontline labels to align them under two main companies, in Republic Records and Interscope Records. The move, which can loosely be termed an East Coast (Republic) and West Coast (Interscope) realignment, means that Interscope’s John Janick and Republic’s Monte Lipman will be leading U.S. label operations for UMG. As part of the move, the other U.S. label heads will now report through to Janick and Lipman, a source confirms. In the new alignment, Janick will now oversee Interscope, Geffen, Capitol, Motown, Priority, Verve and Blue Note, while Lipman will oversee Republic, Def Jam, Island and Mercury. UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge announced the move today in a memo to staff, in which he acknowledged that Republic and Interscope have been the two market leaders in current market share in recent years; in 2023, Republic claimed 13.47% of the U.S. market, while Interscope was second, at 8.80%. “As our labels continue to maintain their creative A&R and marketing independence, unique identities, and entrepreneurial spirit, they’ll also be provided with access to the talent and resources best able to support their rosters and bring them to new levels of success,” Grainge wrote in the memo, obtained by Billboard. “It’s a proven model we pioneered on the East Coast several years ago—one that we will accelerate and expand. “As this model takes shape and spurs new creativity, our U.S. recorded music business will continue to outperform and outgrow our competition,” Grainge continued. “Led by the industry’s best creative visionaries — we will cultivate more repertoire sources, we will invest more in new artists and emerging genres, and UMG will become an even more attractive destination for the world’s most gifted artists.” The move comes after weeks of speculation about layoffs and restructuring at the company, and while no other moves were announced Thursday, layoffs are still expected, according to many sources. In his memo, Grainge said that “In the coming weeks, John and Monte will be making further announcements about structure, resources and next-generation partnerships. These and other developments will also power some of the other initiatives I outlined in my New Year’s note, including super-fan and audience monetization, state-of-the-art D2C, e-commerce, branding and more.” - ----------------------------------------------------- Download: Stupid Simple CMS - https://lnkd.in/g4y9XFgR

"'To put it succinctly: UMG is the most successful company in the history of the music industry and every one of us should be enormously proud of what we have accomplished together, let alone what I know we will accomplish going forward,' Grainge wrote. In shifting towards the future, Grainge first noted that UMG had continued its global expansion in the past year, particularly through the expansion and restructuring of distribution company Virgin Music Group, in the Middle East/Northa Africa, Thailand, India and China, to name a few. That is a plan that Grainge says promises to continue: 'We will keep growing our presence around the world by doing just what we do in more established music markets: signing and developing local artists; providing local labels and entrepreneurs with global promotion, distribution, and a full suite of artist services; and acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.' In terms of other plans for 2024, Grainge notes that 'both the pace of change and our industry leadership will increase significantly.' https://lnkd.in/gA2rgpk2

Tips Industries Limited, a player in the music and entertainment industry, has announced the appointment of Kiran Dcruz as senior vice president for #brandstrategy and #partnerships ... Read More At:- https://lnkd.in/g6vQUkzz #musicindustry #news #media #NewsFlash #IBWNews #alltopnews #alltypesofnews #NewsUpdate #Todaysnews #NewsUpdate #dailynews #newsfeed #trendingnews #LatestNews #BreakingNews #Englishnews #Industrynews

How’s music industry funding faring in 2024? Here’s a breakdown of relevant raises to this point in the year – and a look at how they stack up against their 2023 counterparts. https://lnkd.in/epQks_dk #musicindustry #musicbusiness #musicnews #musicindustrynews #musicfunding

When discussing ways to monetize a music career, we often focus on factors like royalties, music licensing, and signing with a label, all of which are great. However, we tend to overlook the importance of fandom in this equation. Artists are often told that having a strong fanbase is important, yet we believe it cannot be monetized directly for artists. This is why we rely on other platforms or intermediaries to handle our music, hoping to make money through them. Interestingly, streaming platforms, labels, distributors, and social media platforms capitalize on our fans, profiting from them. These intermediaries receive payment before the artist, despite the fact that their income is generated by the artist's fans. It is time to shift this mindset and empower artists to seize the potential of their fans as an income opportunity. Just as intermediaries benefit from fandom, artists should have the chance to do the same. Let's change the narrative and take control of our fans, maximizing their potential and monetizing fandom for ourselves. #music #musicindustry #fandom #musicians #musicstreaming

Vinyl Group Ltd Investor Update. Explore the transformative journey of Vinyl Group with CEO Josh Simons, as he unveils how his pioneering company is revolutionizing the music industry. Discover how Vinyl Group evolved from its origins as Jaxsta into a comprehensive music portfolio, blending a cutting-edge music credits database with a LinkedIn-like network for industry professionals. Learn how strategic acquisitions like Vampa and The Brag Media are creating unparalleled synergies that enhance the experience for music creators and fans alike. Josh shares the impact of detailed music credits on ensuring royalties for creators and how Vinyl Group is bridging the gaps in a fragmented industry. #music #vinylrecords #musiccredits

🎸 The music industry has continued to see growth, 📈 despite a tough macro environment. A recent report by Goldman Sachs shows its continued resilience and points to a bright future through the rest of the decade. 😎 "We expect consumer spend on music to remain resilient in a higher inflation/ weaker macro environment. Our analysis shows that music remains one of the most under-monetized forms of entertainment, with spending still 40% below its historical peak, while consumption continues to grow year after year." Learn more about the #musicindustry outlook into 2030 and how you can #invest in the music industry at large. ⏬ #MUSQETF #ETF #musicbiz

New Post: Downtown Music Holdings Board Exploring Sale - https://lnkd.in/gsnSExnM - The board of Downtown Music Holdings, the parent company of independent distributors CD Baby and FUGA as well as a number of other publishing and rights administration businesses, is exploring a sale, sources familiar with the deal tell Billboard. Related Labels Competing With Distributors Creates More Options for Creators  03/15/2024 The publishing administrator for the catalogs of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Miles Davis and the Wu-Tang Clan, among many others, Downtown has held talks with private equity firms and at least one major music company, as its longtime backer, the family of the late Douglas Myers, looks to exit its investment, according to two of those sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The fast-growing independent sector of the music industry has seen a flurry of dealmaking activity in the past year, as both outside investors and traditional music companies shop for ways to control more of the market that services and distributes the music of do-it-yourself artists, songwriters and indie labels. In June, the consortium composed of Denis Ladegaillerie, EQT and TCV bought 95% of the outstanding shares of of French music company Believe after Warner Music Group backed out of an acquisition bid the major floated earlier in the year. Later that same month, the Chicago-based private equity firm Flexpoint Ford bought a stake in Create Music Group for $165 million. Last year, Apple veteran Larry Jackson raised about $1 billion and purchased distributor Vydia as the engine to launch his new company gamma, while Exceleration Music bought indie distributor Redeye for an undisclosed sum. Downtown declined to comment on a possible sale beyond an emailed statement that said, “There has always been strong market interest in and excitement for our platform. We remain steadfastly focused on serving our clients and expanding our business by continuing to drive innovation across the global music industry.”   The market share of recorded music revenue generated by labels and artists that release music outside of the major-label system has been growing globally for around a decade. Non-major labels and self-releasing artists’ collective share of the recorded music revenue market grew from 28.6% in 2015 to 36.7% in 2023, according to research by MIDiA. Founded by Justin Kalifowitz in 2007 as a publisher in New York, Downtown quickly grew into a global company with more than 20 offices around the world, and its scale makes it among the more attractive acquisition targets in this segment of the music industry. It r