In the latest development around catalog acquistitons, HarbourView Equity Partners (HarbourView), a leading global alternative asset management company founded by Sherrese Clarke Soares, on Wednesday July 19, 2023, announced its agreement to acquire select recorded assets and the publishing catalog of the prolific multi-platinum selling artist, Blackbear.
The America record producer and musician has six solo albums, six EPs, as well as one mixtape and two collaborative albums. Blackbear’s last album was the pop-punk album “In Loving Memory,” was a joint effort with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and released in August 2022.
The deal with HarbourView includes the rights to notable compositions such as “IDFC,” “Hot Girl Bummer,” and the double-platinum certified “Do Re Mi,” featuring Gucci Mane. The latter peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 25 weeks.
Sherrese Clarke Soares, Queens New York native and visionary behind HarbourView, expressed her admiration for Blackbear’s work, stating, “This catalog provides unflinching honesty, offering insight into difficult life journeys that many global fans can relate to. This transparency creates a powerful sense of unity, mobilizing his mission of inspiring his audience to be unapologetically themselves. His brilliant artistry has opened doors for him to work with artists such as Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, and Machine Gun Kelly. We are ecstatic to collaborate with Blackbear and his team to make a further positive impact through authenticity.”
The emo rap artist, whose real name Matthew Tyler Musto, has worked with Pharrell Williams, Linkin Park, G-Eazy, Machine Gun Kelly, and 2 Chainz. He also co-wrote Justin Bieber‘s sensational six-time platinum single, “Boyfriend.”
Beyond his musical endeavors, Blackbear is one-half of the alternative hip-hop duo Mansionz, alongside singer-songwriter Mike Posner. Moreover, he serves as the co-founder and CEO of the management collective, Beartrap Management.
HarbourView seems to be holding on strong at it turns up the heat on catalogue acquisitions making this their third payout in as many weeks. Their diverse portfolio comprises thousands of titles spanning various genres, eras, and artists, making up a comprehensive catalog of over 20,000 songs across master recordings and publishing income streams.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic i the U.K., Hipgnosis Song Management, the company that pioneered the approach to songs as an asset class, is experiencing a series of departures among its senior executives and staff members in recent months. This shakeup comes as the company seeks to bolster investor confidence by exploring the sale of assets before an upcoming crucial vote according to the Financial Times.
According to LinkedIn posts from employees and an official statement from Hipgnosis, key personnel, including Chief Music Officer Ted Cockle, as well as the heads of sync operations and song management on a global scale, along with an executive vice president of digital and innovation, have all announced their intentions to leave the company since March
Insiders suggest that Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd., which has been in operation for approximately five years, has been actively seeking buyers for a portfolio of assets ahead of its first continuation vote. During this vote, investors will determine whether the publicly traded trust should continue operating under the management of its founder, Merck Mercuriadis, or if the liquidation of all assets should take place.
The company’s stock, represented by the ticker symbol SONG on the London Stock Exchange, has declined by about 14% since the beginning of the year and has witnessed a 28% drop since its initial public offering in July 2018. As of Wednesday, July 12, the stock was valued at £0.75 ($0.97).
At its current price, SONG’s market value stands at less than half of its $2.2 billion net asset value, leading Mercuriadis to consider the sale of non-core assets within the fund. Analysts from Jefferies and other investment banks have long advised Hipgnosis to sell non-core songs in order to generate cash and stabilize the share price. Furthermore, some investors in the Hipgnosis Songs Fund have expressed a desire for the company to sell non-core assets to facilitate stock repurchases.
Apart from boosting the stock price, such a strategy would provide Hipgnosis with additional capital, potentially enabling the issuance of a special dividend to shareholders before the continuation vote at the upcoming annual meeting in September.
