Duetti Announces New General Counsel
Duetti, a music investment company focused on indie music rights, has appointed Sachin Premnath as its general counsel.
In his role as general counsel, Premnath will be an integral part of Duetti’s executive team, aiding in the company’s initiatives such as enhancing infrastructure and capabilities, spearheading international expansion, and broadening the types of music rights Duetti can pursue, as stated in a release on Tuesday (January 21).
Premnath’s Background and Expertise
Before joining Duetti, Premnath worked at Netflix, where he provided legal counsel to labels, publishers, artists, and songwriters on film and television issues and devised a streaming service music strategy for its gaming project.
Prior to Netflix, he led international content acquisitions at Sony Entertainment Network and served as a partner in the Reed Smith Entertainment and Media team, offering legal guidance to high-profile clients on music, digital entertainment, and corporate matters.
“Duetti’s unwavering commitment to empowering independent artists and transforming the monetization of music is truly inspiring,” Premnath expressed in a statement to BIE. “I am excited to join Duetti as General Counsel and collaborate with this innovative team to drive industry advancements.”
Recent Developments and Financial Milestones
The three-year-old company Duetti was founded by former Tidal Chief Operating Officer Lior Tibon and former Apple Music Business Development Director Christopher Nolte, with a mission to “democratize catalog monetization for independent artists.” Recently, it secured $114 million in new financing for catalog acquisitions.
Of this amount, $80 million was raised from the company’s first asset-backed securities (ABS) deal, while an additional $34 million came from a group of investors led by private equity firm Flexpoint Ford, alongside existing investors Nika Partners and Viola Ventures, who were the lead investors in Duetti’s seed funding.
“Duetti’s unwavering commitment to empowering independent artists and changing the monetization of music is inspiring.”
Sachin Premnath
Earlier in 2024, the company announced plans to raise $90 million in new funding, which included $75 million as a line of credit from Northleaf Capital Partners and $15 million in equity financing led by Nyca Partners, with participation from Viola Ventures and Cohen Circle.
Overall, Duetti claims to have raised over $235 million for catalog purchases.
As of early 2024, the company has established partnerships with approximately 250 artists, including Olivia O’Brien, Sevyn Streeter, Lashevo, CVBZ, Sylvan LaQue, and Krush. In 2023, Duetti reported that through rights acquisitions, indie artists received US$400,000 from deals.
According to internal documents quoted by Edge in 2022, Duetti aims to “provide all artists with the financial opportunity to continue pursuing their professional or personal aspirations.”
Duetti is “democratizing access to catalog monetization opportunities” and “building a world-class team that will create new ways to discover, evaluate, acquire, aggregate and monetize music,” as per the documents.
