The subsequent massive music biz acquisition will likely be $500m-valued Tempo Music, say MBW sources

Three years in the past, MBW informed you that Tempo Music, the music rights fund launched by personal fairness large Windfall, was seeking to promote its catalog at a valuation of round $500 million.

The sale didn’t occur. As rates of interest started to rise steeply in markets together with the UK and US, blockbuster acquisitive exercise in music famously cooled.

Final 12 months, although, with rates of interest declining and/or wanting extra secure in main territories, chatter started to select again up about Tempo.

In October, MBW predicted that music’s M&A market would quickly see a pattern of PE-backed corporations beforehand referred to as music rights patrons turning into sellers — with an acquisition of Tempo doubtlessly as soon as once more on the playing cards.

Now we’re listening to more and more loud whispers that we’re weeks away from the conclusion to this story: a sale of Tempo’s portfolio at a valuation of round half a billion {dollars}.

These concerned in energetic talks to shut an acquisition, we’re informed, embrace not less than one main music firm, plus unbiased music companies, and personal fairness gamers.

Because it launched in 2019, Tempo Music has acquired a catalog of rights/earnings streams from stars together with Wiz Khalifa, Twenty One Pilots (by way of Tyler Joseph), Korn, Florida Georgia Line, and hit songwriter/producer Philip Lawrence.

Windfall initially launched Tempo Music in 2019 in partnership with Warner Music Group.

Since 2021, Tempo has been run by CEO, Josh Empson, following the exit of earlier CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares (who now runs HarbourView).

Nonetheless, Tempo hasn’t been visibly energetic in music’s M&A marketplace for a while.

Windfall’s web site means that the final press bulletins a few Tempo acquisition – together with a cope with Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots – date again to 2021.

Tempo’s personal official web site not seems to be reside on-line.

Final 12 months, Tempo Music sued Miley Cyrus and several other music business corporations, together with Sony Music, Stay Nation, Warner Chappell, and Harmony Music Publishing, alleging copyright infringement.

Tempo’s lawsuit argued that Cyrus’ megahit Flowers illegally cribbed from Bruno Mars smash After I Was Your Man.

Tempo acquired a proportion of the copyright in After I Was Your Man from Philip Lawrence, one of many music’s co-writers, in 2020.

The lawsuit learn: “Any fan of Bruno Mars’ After I Was Your Man is aware of that Miley Cyrus’ Flowers didn’t obtain all of that success by itself.”

Flowers allegedly “duplicates quite a few melodic, harmonic, and lyrical components of After I Was Your Man, together with the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, sure bars of the refrain, sure theatrical music components, lyric components, and particular chord progressions,” added the criticism.Music Enterprise Worldwide