To make a splash within the music catalog acquisition recreation lately, you higher include a singular technique.
In spite of everything, giants of the monetary house – be it KKR, Blackstone, Apollo and others – are actually on the market bankrolling 9 and even ten-figure music rights buyouts.
Olivier Chastan is aware of this world effectively: He was beforehand CEO at Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group, which final 12 months acquired catalogs from the likes of the Seaside Boys, David Crosby, and Linda Ronstadt.
Right this moment (February 4), Chastan has taken the wraps off his personal acquisitive automobile – Los Angeles-based Iconoclast – with a headline-grabbing rights deal already signed and sealed.
Iconoclast has bought Robbie Robertson’s music publishing and NIL (title, picture & likeness) rights, plus his recorded music pursuits, overlaying his profession thus far.
Robertson wrote and performed on a run of hits for legendary rock group The Band, together with The Weight, The Evening They Drove Previous Dixie Down and Up On Cripple Creek.
Robertson additionally produced the genre-defining live performance movie The Final Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, and has moreover cultivated a storied profession as a solo artist, movie composer, producer, creator, and actor.
(One anomaly: The underlying publishing rights to The Band’s 1968 debut album had been owned by Bob Dylan, and purchased by Common as a part of its Dylan catalog buyout in 2020; Robertson retained the author’s share.)
Olivier Chastan tells MBW that Iconoclast has heavyweight monetary backing.
After we probingly counsel out loud that his firm can “compete with and even exceed” the funding of any of the big M&A gamers in immediately’s music market, Chastan replies: “I do know of the current fundraises, and that assertion is factually appropriate.”
It is a huge remark: We don’t have to remind you that the likes of Blackstone (by way of Hipgnosis) – amongst others – have dedicated a billion dollars-plus to music acquisitions in current months.
(MBW’s sources inform us that Iconoclast is being backed by Pimco, which has over $2 trillion in property underneath administration. Chastan refuses to touch upon that suggestion.)
To be frank, Chastan appears reasonably disinterested in speaking about Iconoclast’s spending energy.
The US-based French government is far more energized by discussing Iconoclast’s technique, which he says will probably be differentiated from many available in the market by way of its concentrate on “managing the general model and legacy of an artist, not simply their music rights”.
Since Chastan quietly launched Iconoclast final fall, he says the corporate has accomplished 5 separate music rights acquisitions.
Chastan provides that Iconoclast has a “robust concentrate on know-how”, together with immersive leisure and blockchain.
He feedback: “We wish to drive the conversion to make legacy artists related in the way forward for leisure.”
“We wish to drive the conversion to make legacy artists related in the way forward for leisure.”
Olivier Chastan, Iconoclast
This strategy manifested in an NFT sale final month, which noticed Iconoclast accomplice with digital music icon Giorgio Moroder and RM Sotheby’s.
That partnership led to the sale of a “supercar plus NFT” package deal, together with the unique 1988 Cizeta-Moroder supercar owned and impressed by Moroder.
The package deal offered at public sale in Arizona in late January for USD $1.36 million, exceeding Iconoclast’s preliminary expectations.
As a part of the Robbie Robertson deal, reveals Chastan, The Band musician has joined Iconoclast’s board – a sign, says the exec, of the closeness that his firm is seeking to strike with legendary artists and songwriters.
Says Chastan of Robertson: “My ardour for Robbie’s music began after I first heard Music From Massive Pink as a 13 year-old child. His subtle and cinematic songs modified my life and have by no means left my musical universe.
“Our partnership with Robbie illustrates our dedication to preserving and rising culturally important artwork into the longer term. Our concentrate on modern model growth and rising know-how ensures that current and new followers will proceed to expertise Robbie’s unbelievable music over time.
“I’m additionally delighted to welcome Robbie as a artistic advisor to Iconoclast the place he’ll contribute his invaluable style and inventive insights.”
“Olivier’s deep appreciation for artwork and creativity infused along with his imaginative and prescient for the way forward for leisure satisfied me that Iconoclast was the precise accomplice to entrust with the legacy of The Band and my catalog.”
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson added: “Olivier’s deep appreciation for artwork and creativity infused along with his imaginative and prescient for the way forward for leisure satisfied me that Iconoclast was the precise accomplice to entrust with the legacy of The Band and my catalog”.
Peter Paterno and Michael Rexford of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP represented Iconoclast, and Gary Stiffelman of GSS Legislation represented Robbie Robertson within the transaction.Music Enterprise Worldwide
