An affiliated private equity firm STG completed its takeover of Avid technology in a cash transaction worth approximately DKK 1.4 billion. The acquisition, previously announced on August 9, was approved by Avid shareholders on November 2. Under the terms of the deal, Avid shareholders will receive $27.05 per stock. Avid common stock ceased trading prior to the opening of trading on November 7 and will no longer be listed on Nasdaq. Avid will operate as a privately held company and remain headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. “By becoming a private company, we believe Avid will be able to achieve the speed of innovation, scale and performance required to continue to lead the industry forward.” said Jeff Rosica, Avid’s CEO/President, in a statement. “Combined with their significant operational and financial resources, STG brings deep investment experience in the technology sector that will accelerate the achievement of Avid’s strategic vision, building on the momentum of our successful ongoing transformation achieved over the past several years.”
Global Content Study Nordvejsselskabet cooperates with Two One Five Entertainment – a company founded by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots – after acquiring a significant stake in the company. The deal establishes creative coordination between the two companies, with North Road planning to finance future Two One Five films, television and other creative projects to scale the company. “While we have been successful thus far, finding an investor and strategic partner like North Road will have an immediate impact on our business as their superior manufacturing capabilities will help us significantly increase our production,” Questlove said in a statement. “Additionally, the capital they are committing gives us the flexibility to independently fund creative ideas, expand our management team and truly scale the business.”
That Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center announced a collaboration with The offspring to celebrate the 30th anniversary of both the Ducks and the Honda Center, as well as the band’s breakthrough album, Smash. The collaboration will include several crossovers during the Ducks’ 30th anniversary season and beyond, including “Come Out and Play Night with The Offspring” on February 9, 2024. The night will include performances from the band – who hail from Orange County – along with limited circulation and co-branded merchandise. Fans will also receive exclusive perks and rewards during Friday night games at Honda Center throughout the Ducks’ 30th anniversary season. In addition, the band and the Ducks have teamed up to create Puck Punks: The Offspring Powerplay Hits, a limited edition vinyl set that will go on sale at the Ducks Team Store on February 9, with a number of copies signed by members of The Offspring and Ducks players to be made available. All proceeds raised go to the Anaheim Ducks Foundation.
Universal Music Group India and leading Indian talent management company REPRESENT entered into a strategic partnership that will give the REPRESENT roster access to Universal Music Group’s global footprint across distribution, publishing, brands and more to help boost the growth and reach of REPRESENT artists worldwide. Among other things, the companies will collaborate on artist development and fan engagement. REPRESENTATIVE artists who will be distributed and supported under the partnership include Anuv Jain, MC Stan, Zaeden, Lost Stories, Yashraj, Hanita Bhambri, Akanksha Bhandari, Kamakshi Khanna, Saahel, Savera, Kayan, OAFF and Jai Dhir.
Icelandic-Chinese artist, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Laufey has extended his agreement with label partner AWAL after the successful release of her album Bewitched, which debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 in September. Laufey is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at next year’s Grammys and is in the middle of a sold-out North American tour.
Gold State musica new company launched last year by Charles Goldstuck which was formed to create a diversified portfolio of music copyrights and sound recordings, announced a “significant” investment and new partnership with funds managed by Flexpoint Ford Asset Opportunities. The investment will help accelerate GoldState’s acquisition of intellectual music assets, including complete catalogs, influential copyrights, master recordings and publishing rights. As part of the agreement, GoldState will purchase new catalogs and manage the licensing, synchronization and administration of the existing and acquired copyrights. According to a press release, in its first year of operation, GoldState acquired music rights from numerous artists and songwriters “spanning multiple genres, geographies and asset types.”
That Daouda Leonard-founded music technology studio CreateSafe raised a $4.6 million seed funding round to launch TRINITI, a generative artificial intelligence music platform designed to make it easier for artists and rights holders to license and monetize their data in generative AI models while providing a platform to manage consent, credit and compensation. TRINITI was previously used by Grimes (Leonard’s management client) to distribute works using a cloned version of her voice to all major streaming services; according to a press release, more than 1,000 songs have been created since the project’s launch. TRINITI includes personal AI tools with an attribution engine that can take input from voice, audio, writing and images to communicate an artist’s musical and artistic vision. The funding round was led by cryptocurrency and blockchain tech investment firm Polychain capitalwith additional support from Crush Ventures, Anthony Saleh, Paris Hilton (11:11 Media), MoonPay, Chaac Ventures, Unified Music Group and Dan Weisman (vp at Bernstein Private Wealth Management).
10K projects entered into a joint venture with Loaf Boyz Ventures, rapper Moneybagg Yo’s record label. The first release under the deal was YTB Fatt’s first mixtape, Who is Fatt, which dropped in August. Other projects to be released under the deal include a Loaf Boyz compilation album and new music from Memphis-based rapper Kevo Money. Moneybagg Yo’s solo work will continue to be released through Yo Gotti’s CMG label. This marks the first deal for 10K since becoming an independent label within Warner Music Group.
Virgin Music Group signed a global deal with Latin independent labels Machine and Equinoccio Records. Founded by Mexican singer, songwriter and producer Pepe Aguilar, both labels focus on the regional Mexican genre. Machin Records is home to Angela Aguilar, Leonardo Aguilar and Irany & David, while Equinoccio is home to Pepe Aguilar.
Online design platform Canva launched a popular music library that will give users access to 60-second clips of commercially released songs for personal use in videos, social media posts and more through partnerships with Warner Music Group (including Warner Chappell Music and Warner Recorded Music), Merlin and more than a dozen other brands and publishers in deals announced earlier this year. Available songs include works by artists including Michael Buble, Vance Joy, Kenya Grace and Curtis Mayfield, all of whom will earn royalties when clips of their songs are used in Canva designs. The newly expanded music library is available to Canva Pro and Education subscribers, with access to small businesses using Canva for Teams and nonprofit users to follow, in Australia, US, UK, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark , Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Music financing company Audio royalties announced a new “working relationship” with entertainment banks David Innes, according to a press release. According to the agreement, Innes’ new venture, About Money Entertainment Advice and Counselingwill support Sound Royalties “by amplifying its network reach among music creatives and expanding its new business pipeline,” the release adds.
Spatial web technology company Cosmic thread cooperated with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to create innovative experiences for CAA customers using spatial and immersive technology. The companies will also work together to innovate sponsorship opportunities for company brands in virtual environments.
Software platform for music rights and metadata management Orphium the collaboration with Japanese anime music company Bandai Namco Music Live. Under the agreement, Orfium will manage, optimize and monetize Bandai Namco’s repertoire using its AI-based rights management software. Bandai Namco Music Live represents more than 3,000 creators and is behind such anime titles as Love Live! series, Violet Evergarden, A kind of man and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
SoundCloud announced a partnership with the A&R director Randall “Sickamore” Medford, who partnered with SoundCloud on IIIXL Studio, a new Brooklyn-based company that will be dedicated to signing and developing New York artists to SoundCloud’s artist development program. The first IIIXL artist-in-residence is Liim. Through the collaboration, Sickamore will connect talent with SoundCloud’s Artist Partnerships division, which will offer white-glove creative and marketing resources to select artists and their teams. A monthly exhibition of hip hop in New York is also on the way.
Also at SoundCloudthe streaming platform partnered with the sleep, meditation and relaxation app Calm to introduce new mental health and wellbeing benefits for artists. Under the deal, SoundCloud Next and Next Pro artists will have access to exclusive offers on Calm through SoundCloud’s existing member benefits program, including free trials and 50% off Calm Premium.
Bonsaia platform that helps musicians engage with and monetize their superfans, announced integrations with Disagreement, Youtube and Instagram allowing fans to interact directly with their favorite artists. Bonsai’s core feature lets artists invite their fans to participate in “asynch AMAs,” through which fans use Bonsai to ask artists questions. Artists can then record audio responses to their fans, which are then paired with visual generative art to form a “bonsai” that is delivered to fans via text, email and – with the new offerings – Discord, Instagram and YouTube.
We are huge — a new platform that helps artists amplify their direct-to-fan relationships by hosting licensed listening parties for new music and unreleased demos, exclusive live streams, interactive chat rooms with the musicians and more — formally announced its launch while announced an $8 million funding round from the investment management platform Sterling Partners. We Are Giant is led by the founder/CEO Andy Apple, who previously served as an investor at VC firms Sound Ventures and Wavemaker Partners in addition to a tenure at JPMorgan. Also on the management team is Dan McComas (formerly of Reddit), who serves as director of product and community.