WHO? Rizvi Traverse, a private equity firm that has made equity investments in talent agency ICM, film studio Summit Entertainment, Playboy, Facebook and Twitter. Meanwhile, the sellers-Stephen Swid, Allen & Co., entertainment lawyer Freddie Gershon and Ira Smith-bought SESAC in 1992 for $15 million. Along the way it sold 36% of SESAC to asset management firm Och-Ziff in a deal that valued SESAC at $410 million in 2010.
WHAT? SESAC, the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, has a new majority owner in private equity firm Rizvi Traverse. According to reports, Rizvi Traverse paid $600 million for a 75% stake in the company, which would give SESAC an $800 million valuation. Billboard sources say that more likely the price was $450 million for the 75% stake, which would result in a $600 million valuation. An earlier auction yielded bids of only $500 million-$550 million, they say.
https:// www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1526330/questions-answered-on-rizvi-traverses-sesac-investment
Facebook has just concluded licensing agreements with a string of major rights owners. Get ready for Facebook Music!
Facebook is obviously serious about licensing music with major rights owners. The only question now is what they plan to do with all these newfound rights.
Earlier this week, the company finalized major licensing pact with Global Music Rights, or GMR. That’s a recently-created PRO (or performance rights organization) founded by longtime industry manager and executive Irving Azoff.
But that’s not all: the social network has also signed licensing agreements with Kobalt and SESAC. All of the deals appear to cover Facebook, Instagram, Oculus, and related services like Facebook Messenger.
The deals were confirmed early this morning to Digital Music News by Tamara Hrivnak, Head of Music Business Development and Partnerships at the social network. “Facebook have entered into Global Music Rights’ first-ever user generated content deal,” Hrivnak opened, before discussing the other deals.
We didn’t talk to Irving Azoff about the deal. Though we overheard this: “Our partnership with Facebook reflects that when music is valued properly, it’s easy for both sides to view it as a win-win,” Azoff remarked.
On the SESAC side, the dealmaking took an interesting turn. SESAC owns HFA/Rumblefish, an acquisition sandwich that involves content recognition solutions. “The program will enable users to upload and share videos with music on Facebook, Instagram and Oculus and allows publishers to be compensated for the use of their music,” said Scott Sellwood, Head of Commercial Music Publishing Partnerships at Facebook.
“Rumblefish will also help Facebook optimize the identification and clearance of musical works through an innovative data-sharing agreement.”
The HFA/Rumblefish pact is an ‘opt-in for independent publishers,’ effective immediately, according to Sellwood.
The latest string of deals adds to groundbreaking pacts involving Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV.
Those were the behemoths that undoubtedly paved the way for the latest agreements. Accordingly, the social network is expected to sign a range of licensing deals with remaining rights holders, including majors Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
No word yet on the ‘twin tower’ PROs, namely ASCAP and BMI. Collectively, the pair controls north of 90% of public performance licenses, but that’s a rough estimate*.
https:// www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/01/11/facebook-gmr-sesac-kobalt/