Photo credit: Roc Nation
Roughly four months after allegedly raising $7 million, indie music acquisition firm Duetti has officially announced a $32 million round in which Roc Nation also participated.
New York City-based Duetti announced the multimillion-dollar raise this morning – detailing some of the deals it has struck so far. Founded by former Tidal COO Lior Tibon and former Apple Music head of business development Christopher Nolte, Duetti reportedly launched “in secret” last summer.
Since then, the startup, which says its “innovative model opens up new investment opportunities for a previously untapped asset class,” has become “an essential business tool for over 60 independent artists,” according to executives. Including CVBZ, Sylvan LaCueAnd CrooshAccording to Duetti, these 60 or so artists have signed deals for more than 100 songs.
And on that front, potential sellers can part with their “master catalogs, individual titles, or even parts of them,” the year-old company said, also revealing that artists have paid up to $400,000 through the brokered acquisitions. Transactions take an average of 30 days to process, Duetti announced, highlighting other benefits of its “highly scalable data-centric approach.”
Coming back to the $32 million raise originally mentioned: Herzliya, Israel-based Viola Ventures (as well as Viola Credit), Untitled (presumably referring to London-based Untitled Ventures VC), and San Francisco-based Presight Capital joined Roc Nation in providing the funds to, Duetti indicated.
In the future, the IP investor wants to use the money to expand his team, acquire additional song rights and implement “new financial optimization options for acquired titles and catalogues”. Regarding the latter, Duetti elaborated on the “set of innovative management and optimization tactics” used to monetize acquired works.
Tibon issued a statement detailing the pay rise and his company’s broader goals, saying, among other things, “In recent years, the trend for long-established top musicians to sell their entire catalogs has meant that independent artists have been sidelined.” Now artists at all stages of their careers can easily harness the potential of their titles and catalogs to help them take the next step in their journey.”
Despite a slowdown in blockbuster catalog runs, rising prices and economic concerns, the evidence suggests ample capital continues to flow into the music IP space.
For example, Armada Music announced last month that it would spend $500 million (in partnership with Pinnacle Financial Partners) on song rights through BEAT, “the first-ever dance music investment company.” And amid a steady stream of deals from established players, up-and-coming companies like Larrosa Music Group and AMR Songs have completed investments of their own by this point in 2023.