There are a number of ways artists can monetize their catalogs and generate revenue. But what are the best financial tools they can use to do this? This question has been an ongoing trend in the music industry and we’re here to discuss it.
On January 18th, 2023, Trusted Advisor hosted the 2nd annual Trusted Advisor Summit at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The event was a gathering of professionals with A-list celeb clients, musicians, pro athletes, creators, and family offices. The day consisted of interactive panels, presentations and closed-door networking with topics including: royalties and licensing deals; tax, legal and regulations updates; the future of business management; risk management; and art collectables.
One of the highlights of the day was the panel, Where Finance Meets Music: Utilizing Financial Tools to Enhance Your Craft, featuring Carron Mitchell, Esq. of Nixon Peabody LLP, Ty Baisden of Colture, Matthew Hoffman of Trusted Advisor and Alex Heiche, CEO and Founder of Sound Royalties.
The panelists discussed strategies for managing income streams, leveraging financial tools to create opportunities for career growth, and navigating financial complexities of the music industry. The panel was presented by Sound Royalties.
Carron Mitchell, Esq., Nixon Peabody LLP; Ty Baisden, Colture; Alex Heiche, Sound Royalties; & Matthew Hoffman, Trusted Advisor
Alex Heiche began the conversation by framing what they’ve been seeing in the music industry, “For years we’ve been hearing about the catalog market. We have entered into a bear market because there were two types of people buying catalog. There were the music industry publishers and labels that were buying catalogs… and they were going to promote it, market it, and spend a certain amount to see the value of growth of what wasn’t being collected. But now as the cost of funds for [catalogs are] going up, we’re seeing [publishers and labels] exit the market and not want to pay.”
Alex continued, “We’re in a unique position. If you think about it, when you sell your house, who’s the first person that gets paid off? The bank. So for artists, we’re selling their catalog [and] even though we don’t buy, we know which writer or artist is selling. And we know who the buyer is, and what they’re paying. [We have had] our finger on the market, and with that we could see the buyers that were consistently showing up, start to drop off.”
Carron Mitchell echoed Alex’s points, “Things are starting to slow down as far as the volume of catalog deals that we saw during the pandemic when interest rates were extremely low… For me, I’m a big proponent of ownership and control and building a lot of generational wealth for the clients that I represent – having that ownership and being able to decide whether or not it makes sense for [the artist] to sell [their] catalog or whether it’s something that [they] want to retain the rights to and continue to get the continual income.”
Carron Mitchell, Esq. Nixon Peabody LLP
In terms of how Sound Royalties is changing the world of music catalog sales, Ty explained that “Sound Royalties was the first company that I ran into that – wherever you had money coming from, from a royalty perspective – there was SoundExchange, or if it was ASCAP, it was the first company that I was experiencing that would go and plug and play wherever the money was coming from. And that was really unique at a time where we were trying to leverage money just to go on tour, you know, in 2018.”
So, what is next in the music world for our speakers? Ty “hopes to help more artists figure out their overall infrastructure of their businesses and how to grow infrastructure around their art.”
In the world of catalog sales and Sound Royalties, Alex says that they’re “starting to see [Sound Royalties] more involved with entertainment attorneys, Cal CPA, Trusted Advisor [and] really getting to the advisors and doing the high level, larger transactions. The seven or eight figure transactions, we’re starting to see a lot more of because we are competitive with asset base lending… So really what you’ll see on the horizon for us is a lot of larger transactions.”
Thank you to Carron, Ty and Alex for their insightful thoughts and engaging discussion at The Trusted Advisor Summit! To learn more about Sound Royalties, click here, and stay tuned for upcoming events from Trusted Advisor!
Carron Mitchell Esq., Nixon Peabody LLP; Ty Baisden, Colture; Alex Heiche Sound Royalties; & Matthew Hoffman, Trusted Advisor
Ty Baisden, Colture; Alex Heiche, Sound Royalties; & Matthew Hoffman, Trusted Advisor
SPACE
