Seoul, South Korea. Photo credit: Mathew Schwartz
Seoul-based Beyond Music, which has now billed itself as “Asia’s largest music IP investment firm,” has announced it has closed a strategic funding round of approximately $170 million.
Beyond Music, not to be confused with the musician community of the same name founded by Tina Turner, today emailed Digital Music News about the approximately $170 million tranche. Having raised around $400 million in total since its inception in 2021, the South Korean company said existing backer Praxis Capital, “along with several of the biggest LPs in Asia,” was spearheading this latest round.
“Praxis Capital is known for its successful track record in the content industry, not only raising capital but also ‘smart capital’ that delivers insight and shared vision,” said Jangwon Lee, Head of Beyond Music, who is also the Founder and Founder is CEO of Contents Technologies.
Predictably, Beyond Music — which it says has led more than 70 music IP purchases and owns the rights to around 27,000 tracks — intends to use the money to acquire additional catalogs. “The capital secured from this financing round will be used to acquire rights to evergreen songs and to further strengthen the company’s financial strength and ability to close deals for music rights holders,” managers said.
Although Beyond has recently completed several investments in the US, executives have specifically cited a desire to strengthen their company’s “role as the largest and most active investor within the Asian music industry.” And on that front, the owner of Interpark Music’s assets took the opportunity to tout the perceived effectiveness of its “buy-and-build” business model.
The model involves purchasing “extensive, high-quality catalogs of music” before “reviving” the works in question through “proactive value-add strategies such as remakes, performance marketing, and industry partnerships.” Jung In-ho’s “Heyo” (2001), for example, is said to have caused a commercial stir after Beyond released a “fresh rendition” last year – with streams reaching both the newer version and the original title.
Regarding the capital inflow, the aforementioned CEO of Beyond emphasized the regional importance of his company’s current intellectual property.
“The home of all hits, comparable to the Bon Jovis, Led Zepplins and Whitney Houstons from Asia,” said the MAPI Founder Jangwon Lee: “Beyond Music has already established itself as a leader in the region with the greatest resources, quantitative disciplines and proven track record of adding value. Through this investment, we hope to continue our goal of serving Asia’s most respected artists and their works.”
Last month, Rod Stewart announced that he had called off talks with Hipgnosis about the catalog purchase, and Universal Music Group was reportedly on the verge of a billion-dollar deal for Queen’s work. In the meantime, Ja Rule is buying his own catalog – with conditions on the possible sale.