From Sony Music suing Triller to Utopia raising €300m… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up – Music Business Worldwide

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.

Triller has not had a good week.

On Monday, the TikTok rival announced that it “expects to become publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker ILLR during the 4th quarter of this year”, representing yet another delay in Triller’s planned IPO.

Triller announced in June that it had filed an S-1 form with the SEC for an IPO on the Nasdaq, stating at the time that its listing was “expected to be approved by Q3”.

That June announcement itself came shortly after Triller announced it was scrapping another planned IPO – this time via a merger with Seachange – which was initially expected to “close in Q1 2022”.

Monday also brought news that Triller has been hit with a lawsuit from Sony Music Entertainment (SME), claiming that Triller currently has no licensing agreement in place with SME, the world’s second-largest record company.

And to top off the week, Billboard reports today that Triller has been sued again, by an app consulting firm called Phiture, over unpaid bills.

Also this week, MBW reported that Switzerland-headquartered music fintech company Utopia is raising €300 million in a Series C round that would value its company at €2.5 billion.

That’s according to MBW sources, who have seen evidence that at least one investment agent is currently offering would-be backers of Utopia a “pre-Series C investment opportunity” at a €1.5 billion pre-money company valuation.

MBW’s sources also tell us that UBS has been appointed to deliver Utopia’s Series C round, planned for later this year, at an estimated €2.5 billion to €2.7 billion valuation for Utopia.

MBW’s sources confirm to us that Utopia has already successfully raised over €100 million in the past five and a half years.

Elsewhere, Wednesday (August 31) brought triumphant news for songwriters and publishers in the US, after Spotify and other music streaming platforms struck an agreement with music publishers for a 15.35% go-forward royalty rate in the US for the years 2023-2027.

Also, a new Raine Group-backed company called Firebird Music Holdings, founded by Nat Zilkha, has acquired a stake in Red Light Management, while YouTube‘s Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl confirmed that he’s exiting his role at the platform. Is there a chance he’s going to Warner Music?

Here’s what happened this week…

1) TRILLER, WHICH HAS RAISED $300M TO DATE, IS BEING SUED BY SONY MUSIC FOR NON-PAYMENT OF ‘MILLIONS OF DOLLARS’

Monday (August 29) was supposed to be a celebratory day for short-form video platform Triller. Then Sony Music spoiled the party.

US-based TikTok rival Triller announced this week that it had completed a “substantial” pre-public financing round in the form of debt and equity.

Triller didn’t put a number on said financing, but the company’s CEO and Chairman, Mahi de Silva, did confirm that Triller had raised over USD $300 million to date.

There was, however, a wrinkle in Triller’s press release confirming its new raise. The company stated that it now “expects to become publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker ILLR during the 4th quarter of this year”.

This appears to represent yet another delay in Triller’s planned IPO in the States. In June, Triller announced that it had filed an S-1 form with the SEC for an IPO on the Nasdaq. At the time, it stated that its listing was “expected to be approved by Q3”.

That June announcement itself came shortly after Triller announced it was scrapping another planned IPO – this time via a merger with Seachange – which was initially expected to “close in Q1 2022”.

The bigger headache for Triller, though, is a new lawsuit from Sony Music Entertainment (SME), filed in the US on Monday (August 29).

It claims that Triller currently has no licensing agreement in place with Sony Music, the world’s second-largest record company…

2) UTOPIA IS RAISING €300 MILLION IN A SERIES C ROUND THAT WOULD VALUE ITS COMPANY AT €2.5BN. BUT WHAT’S IT BUILDING?

MBW’s sources have seen evidence that at least one investment agent is currently offering would-be backers of Utopia a “pre-Series C investment opportunity” at a €1.5 billion pre-money company valuation.

Utopia is apparently seeking a “strong institutional investor” to lead this pre-Series C round.

This, though, is just the appetizer. The entrée is Utopia’s planned Series C round later this year, in which it is looking to raise €300 million.

MBW’s sources tell us that UBS has been appointed to deliver this Series C round at an estimated €2.5 billion to €2.7 billion valuation for Utopia.

Utopia has apparently completed legal/financial due diligence with a number of financial institutions – including BearingPoint, PWC, UBS and others – ahead of this Series C raise…

3) CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT? SPOTIFY AND FELLOW MUSIC STREAMERS STRIKE AGREEMENT WITH PUBLISHERS FOR 15.35% GO-FORWARD ROYALTY RATE IN THE US.

‘Phonorecords IV’ – which sets the on-demand streaming mechanical rates in the US for the five years between 2023 and 2027 – was set to get underway later this year.

During the ‘pre-battle’ period of ‘Phonorecords IV’ last year, the NMPA set out its stall for the publishers, suggesting to the CRB that the headline US streaming mechanical rate for 2023-2027 should be as high as 20%.

Major streamers, unsurprisingly, lowballed in comparison: Spotify, Amazon, and Pandora all suggested that the rate should be knocked back down to 10.5%.

The stage was set for another (costly) legal battle royale! But… we’re not getting one.

Because on Wednesday (August 31), the NMPA and the trade org for digital music services in the US (DiMA), plus the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), announced that they are submitting a joint proposal to the CRB which suggests that the new 2023-2027 on-demand streaming mechanical rate in the US should be set at 15.35%…

4) FIREBIRD TAKES FLIGHT, ACQUIRING A STAKE IN RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT – WITH MORE DEALS ON THE WAY

At the top of this year, Music Business Worldwide told you we’d be keeping a close eye on the moves of Nat Zilkha – a respected deal-maker with proven pedigree in the music industry.

US-based Zilkha left his role as a Partner at KKR in December 2021. He’d spent the previous 15 years at the investment house, where he was instrumental in various major music-related deals involving the likes of Ryan Tedder, BMG, and others.

Announcing his departure from KKR last year, Zilkha teased that he would soon be launching “a new, entrepreneurial endeavor focused on the music industry”, while maintaining his role as Chairman of Gibson Brands (and also continuing to act as a senior advisor to KKR).

If you checked Zilkha’s LinkedIn today, you’d learn that following his departure from KKR, he became co-founder and Executive Chairman of a new business called Firebird Music Holdings. He describes this Aspen, Colorado-headquartered firm as an “artist-centered, music-focused media company”.

Over the past few weeks, MBW has been learning more about Firebird, and its strategy to buy its way into fast-growing music companies – particularly artist management companies – of various shapes and sizes.

We’ve learned via our sources, for example, that Zilkha’s co-founder in Firebird is Los Angeles-based Nathan Hubbard, a former CEO of Ticketmaster and a former global head of Media & Commerce at Twitter.

We’ve additionally learned that Firebird’s primary backer is Raine Group, an existing investor in music companies such as SoundCloud, C3 Presents, and Amuse.

The biggest move that Firebird has made so far?

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, it’s acquired a significantly-sized minority stake in one of the world’s most established artist management companies: Red Light Management…

5) ROBERT KYNCL IS LEAVING YOUTUBE. EXPECT THE ‘IS THIS THE NEW CEO OF WARNER MUSIC GROUP?’ RUMOR MILL TO GATHER PACE.

There was a time in recent history when Robert Kyncl was the sole senior figure at YouTube tasked with most frequently interacting with the music industry.

That largely changed in 2016 when Kyncl welcomed music biz vet Lyor Cohen to YouTube as the service’s Global Head of Music.

Since then, Kyncl’s direct dealings with powerful music rightsholders have lessened somewhat, but – as Chief Business Officer at YouTube – his global influence at the Alphabet/Google-owned company has continued to grow.

Until now, that is – as we learn that Kyncl is officially stepping down from his role at YouTube after 12 years with the platform…

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.

 Music Business Worldwide