FROM JAY-Z SELLING TIDAL TO HIPGNOSIS AND PRIMARY WAVE’S CATALOG BUYS: IT’S MBW’S WEEKLY ROUND-UP
Will Jack Dorsey and Square be able to transform TIDAL into an industry-leading streaming service complete with a suite of premier financial tools for artists? That’s the vision… though Jay-Z could be forgiven for not caring too much either way. Mr Carter has just completed the sale of 80% of TIDAL to Square in a deal now confirmed to be worth $302 million – around six times the price he originally paid for the platform back in 2015. Jay-Z wasn’t the only one chucking around impressive financial figures this week. Merck Mercuriadis‘ Hipgnosis acquired a catalog from songwriter/producer Andrew Watt for a price MBW estimates was in the eight figures, and upwards of $45 million. (Rumors suggest Mercuriadis has also closed the purchase of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song catalog for around $150m – but no confirmation has been forthcoming on that one so far.) Elsewhere, Primary Wave announced a multi-million dollar acquisition of its own, picking up the publishing catalog of songwriter...