GoDigital Media Group and media and entertainment investment firm MEP Capital have jointly acquired royalty-financing company Sound Royalties in a “high eight-figure purchase,” it was announced this week. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a press release, GoDigital CEO Jason Peterson notes that the agreement represents the company’s largest-ever non-music catalog acquisition.
In a statement, Peterson called Sound Royalties “a logical investment…considering how the company and the team are perfectly aligned with our thesis that music rights are the best alternative investment in the creative industries right now.” He added that the current leadership at Sound Royalties will remain intact and that representatives from GoDigital and MEP will join Sound Royalties’ board.
Founded in 2014 by Alex Heiche and backed by York Capital, Sound Royalties provides funding to music creators against royalties from all major collection societies, labels, publishers and distributors for a finite duration. Creators who utilize the service get to keep their copyrights, as well as ongoing royalty cash flow over the amount financed. The company caters to both emerging artists, songwriters and producers and established hitmakers, including the likes of DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Rich Robinson and Wyclef Jean.
In his own statement, Heiche said that joining GoDigital “will enable us to expand our technology platform and grow more rapidly, while preserving the ability for creatives to speak and work directly with our experienced Royalty Specialists to ensure they receive the best financing that suits their specific needs.”
GoDigital, which Peterson founded in 2006, is focused on music, video and brand intellectual property rights management. On the music side, the company also owns Cinq Music, AdShare and VidaPrimo, as well as special-interest video networks including Latido Music, mitú and YogaWorks. Its brand management division operates ecommerce retailer mitú shop and produces and distributes artist merchandise, among other endeavors. Last year, GoDigital added the Beluga Heights record label and its Jason Derulo catalog to the company’s music division.
The sellers were represented in the deal by Stephens, Inc and Kramer Levin, Naftalis and Frankel, LLP; Stubbs, Alderton and Markiles, LLP represented GoDigital.
