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Photo Credit: Wilmer Martinez
The Downtown Music Holdings board is reportedly exploring a potential sale, according to industry reporting. Downtown is the parent company of CD Baby, FUGA, and several other rights admin businesses.
Billboard reported on Thursday that Downtown Music is in tales with private equity firms concerning the sale and the family of Douglas Myers -- who want to exit the investment. Downtown's umbrella of services is broad, with distribution platforms CD Baby and FUGA among its distribution properties.
The company has focused on several acquisitions in the last few years, acquiring AVL Digital Group for $200 million in March 2019. AVL became the owner of services including CD Baby, Soundrop, AdRev, and DashGo. In January 2020, Downtown acquired B2B tech and services company FUGA. The deal was announced with an undisclosed fee came just 10 months after the CD Baby acquisition.
Downtown Music Holdings followed up those acquisitions with Curve Royalty Systems in January 2023. That acquisition arrived after the company formed Downtown Music -- a new division to combine business and professional services. Downtown Music spans distribution, label and artist services, publishing administration, video and user-generated rights monetization, neighboring rights, royalty accounting solutions, sync licensing, and creative support services.
In June 2024, Downtown established its Royalties & Financial Services division, integrating Curve's services following the acquisition.
Digital Music News previously reported on a deal between Concord and Downtown in 2021 involving 145,000 copyrights for ~$300 million. The buyout encompassed works from Aretha Franklin, Maroon 5, Jay-Z, Rage Against the Machine, and Stevie Wonder.
Billboard's reporting does not cite interested parties, beyond a mention of Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl. Kyncl mentioned in May that Warner Music is looking into mergers & acquisitions to expand its 'lower-touch' services for independent creators and labels. During a recent earnings call, Kyncl is cited as saying he is "staying vigilant about our M&A opportunities, which could accelerate our capabilities."
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