New Major Deal Announced
A couple of weeks agoWe told you about the 21 biggest deals of 2024. will have to do it 22.
On Monday (December 16), Universal Music’s Virgin Music Group announced it had agreed to buy Downtown Music Holdings LLC (City Center) in the deal is worth $775 million.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the second half of 2025.
About Downtown Music Holdings
City Center, founded by Justin Kalifowitz, started as a music publisher in 2007, but today operates as a pure play services company that specializes in music recording, publishing, and other fields.
As part of a plan to fully invest in the global services sector (by partnering with rights holders rather than owning copyrights itself), Downtown sold Concord its catalog of 145,000 copyrights for approximately $400 million in 2021. Several mergers and acquisitions over the past five years have played a central role in Downtown’s service-focused strategy.
Currently, Downtown partners with more than 5000 business clients and over 4 million creators across 145 countries in various areas of activity.
Below, you’ll find key facts and statistics about the companies and platforms Downtown owns today, demonstrating the breadth of Universal Music/Virgin Music’s giant capabilities. $775 million deal with…
FUGA
FUGA is an Amsterdam-based technology and B2B services company that was acquired by Downtown in January 2020.
FUGA claims to be the “largest full-service B2B music distributor in the world” and touts its website that it works with “more than 1000 owners of music rights.”
As a B2B service provider, the company offers custom branded distribution and analytics dashboards, along with global physical distribution.
FUGA B2B clients also have access to marketing services, royalty accounting, user-generated content, rights management, and more.
Artist and label services in the city center
The Downtown Artist & Label Services division was established in April 2023. and is headed by Ben Patterson (pictured), who is the president.
Artist and Label Services Department was born in the Downtown distribution division DashGo, which the company previously stated was “integral” to its “core mission of empowering artists and creating an equitable music ecosystem.”
DashGo was acquired by Downtown in 2019 when it purchased AVL Digital Group for approximately $200 million. Patterson founded DashGo in 2004.
Downtown emphasizes that its Artist & Label Services clients include “professional artists and independent labels at the forefront of popular culture.”
The Artist & Label Services division was launched six months after Downtown formed a division under the name “Downtown Music,” integrating all of its global business and professional services.
Royalty curve
Curve Royalty Systems is a royalty processing platform that was acquired by Downtown in January 2023.
In May of this year, Curve founder Tom Allen was appointed president of a new division called Downtown Royalties and Financial Services (DR&FS).
The division focuses on three main activities, including royalty processing (supported by the Curve platform), royalty accounting services, and payments.
Thanks to Curve, DR&FS already collaborates with over 1000 labels and publishers globally, including Domino, Defected, Epitaph, Mad Decent, Armada, Cloud9, Demon Music, Big Machine, and more.
At the time of its launch, Downtown stated that the goal of the Royalty and Financial Services division was to “make royalty services, accounting, and payments faster and easier across all rights for more than 5,000 business clients and 4 million artists.”
CD Baby
CD Baby is Downtown’s direct-to-author division, led by President Molly Neuman.
CD Baby became part of Downtown in 2019 when it acquired AVL Digital Group and its portfolio of services for independent artists—for a total of $200 million.
Then, in early 2021, Downtown transitioned from being a major owner of music rights to focusing solely on the global services sector when it sold Concord its catalog of 145,000 copyrights for approximately $400 million.
Operations CD Baby recently merged with the DMH Downtown Music separation. This move was part of DMH’s long-term strategy to concentrate exclusively on the services sector.
In April, Downtown announced the completion of its strategy to unify its business-to-business and creator-focused services into a single operating company. As part of this integration, Peter van Rijn was appointed General Manager of Downtown Music, reporting to Andrew Bergman, the CEO of Downtown Music Holdings.
Downtown Music Publishing
Downtown notes that its Music Publishing division, led by president Emily Stevenson (pictured), represents “nearly 100 years of popular music.”
The division’s clients include John Lennon and Yoko Ono, George Gershwin, Miles Davis, Wu-Tang Clan, John Prine, and many others.
On Monday quoting an interview with Stevenson, Billboard reported that Downtown Music Publishing is projected to generate more than $200 million in gross revenue in 2024, reflecting a 40% year-over-year increase.
Billboard also notes that the Downtown Music Publishing division manages over 1.5 million copyrights and has distributed $100 million in royalties through Songtrust.
In August, Downtown Music Publishing entered into a global deal with Double P Records, the label and publishing division founded by George Pragin and Música Mexicana superstar, Peso Pluma.
In September, DMP secured a global music publishing agreement with PDU, the record label and publishing company of the iconic Italian singer, Mine.
Neighbors’ rights in the city center
Downtown Neighboring Rights is described as “a customized, relationship-focused neighborhood rights collection service for performers and rights holders.”
The division launched in 2020 under the leadership of CEO Dean Francis. Among his superstar clients is Lindsey Buckingham (pictured), with whom he signed a contract in 2021, among other agreements.
The division offers related rights collection and analytics services, maintaining direct relationships with over 50 collection societies and performance rights organizations worldwide.
Since the beginning of the year, Downtown Neighboring Rights has negotiated numerous agreements globally. The company announced it has entered into international related rights agreements with singer-songwriter ANOHNI, representing the author’s Academy Award-nominated song Manta Ray and a Mercury Prize-winning album, I’m a bird now—along with global publisher and label agreements with Position Music and THIRD BRAIN Records; home to Brazilian producer Zerb, whose single Mwaki topped the Spotify Viral 50 Global chart and placed second on the Global Shazam charts.
Sheer Publishing Africa
Headquartered in Johannesburg, Sheer Publishing claims to be the largest independent music publisher on the African continent.
The acquisition by Downtown in 2020 marked Downtown’s official expansion into Africa.
After the acquisition, Sheer continued to operate as a separate entity within the Downtown portfolio, covering publishing, distribution, monetization, and artist and label services.
Established in 1996, Sheer has strong relationships with royalty collection societies worldwide and is a direct member of various African royalty collection organizations, including the South African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO), MCSK (Kenya), and COSON (Nigeria).
Songtrust
Songtrust is regarded as the world’s largest royalty collection platform for songwriters and music publishers.
According to the company website, it manages 4 million songs from over 445,000 songwriters, companies, and rights holders globally.
Songtrust claims to track, record, and collect publishing royalties from 65 global payment sources, providing access to most of the global music market in over 240 countries and territories on behalf of its clients.
Found.ee
Found.ee (pronounced FOUN-di) is an advertising and digital marketing platform offering artists, managers, and labels a variety of tools to create, target, and optimize advertising campaigns.
Downtown Music Holdings acquired the intellectual property and technology underlying the Found.ee platform in 2021.
Prior to the acquisition, Downtown-owned CD Baby was a minority investor in Found.ee and utilized the platform to enhance advertising and marketing opportunities available to CD Baby artists.
Found.ee states that it is used by over 25,000 creators around the world.
Sounddrop
Sounddrop is a DIY music distribution service.
The platform was previously a division of AVL Digital, which Downtown Music Holdings acquired in 2019 in a $200 million deal.
