Music rights investment company MusicBird has signed a term loan facility with capacity up to $100 million with MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group).
MusicBird entered the music rights acquisition space in 2021 with plans to build a highly selective portfolio of evergreen hit songs, focusing on a diverse range of genres and geographies. It aims to work across the music and tech ecosystem to grow music revenues.
The company's current catalogue includes the publishing rights of songwriter JR Rotem (including songs by Rihanna, Jason Derulo, Fall Out Boy, Iyaz and Sean Kingston) and the master rights income and publishing rights of multiple Grammy-winning artist Shaggy (including It Wasn`t Me, Angel and Boombastic).
The major financing deal is a key step in MusicBird’s next phase of growth as it looks to scale its music rights portfolio in the coming months.
Our team is passionate about building a collection of iconic songs which have stood the test of time
Paul Brown
The deal was led by recently appointed CEO Paul Brown (ex-Spotify, Sony Music and Disney) and CFO Roger Howl (ex-Sony Music, EMI and Hipgnosis Songs Fund).
Paul Brown (pictured), CEO of MusicBird, said: “We are delighted to be working closely with the MUFG team as we grow our business and continue to pursue our strategy of acquiring diverse music rights in collaboration with incredibly talented songwriters, artists and partners across the industry. Our team is passionate about building a collection of iconic songs which have stood the test of time and continue to delight fans.”
Tony Beaudoin, managing director of entertainment finance at MUFG, said: “MUFG is thrilled to lead the senior debt facility for MusicBird, which will allow the company to expand its catalogue acquisition initiative of valued music rights. Paul and Roger bring trusted experience in the music space to the company and MUFG is confident in their ability to grow MusicBird’s IP library.”
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