Independent dance music label Armada Music announced Thursday that it has acquired the master recording rights from KMS Records, Detroit techno founder Kevin Saunderson and Russian DJ ARTY to launch its new dance music investment fund.
The fund, called BEAT, which stands for Best Tracks Ever Purchased, will begin with $100 million in debt and financing from Pinnacle Financial Partners, which Armada says it will roll out over the next two years.
By entering a hot market for music IP investments, Armadas BEAT aims to capitalize on investments in genres that have so far received less attention than others, such as pop and classic rock.
Over the past 18 months, an increasing number of funds have been launched targeting genres such as independent, Latin and producer music, with the aim of using their genre-specific expertise to find ways to make catalogs more profitable for artists and rights. incumbent.
"BEAT has a unique opportunity to increase the visibility of these leads through creative additions, best practices for operational adjustments, marketing methodologies and communication channels within the wider organization (Armada)," said Michael Piron, CEO by Armada Music.
BEAT says it is focused on acquiring catalogs belonging to the dance category, including sub-genres such as techno, house, electronic dance music (EDM) and others. According to a report by research firm Future Market Insights, EDM alone could represent a $9.5 billion market opportunity that will grow to more than $20 billion over the next decade.
“We're seeing people trying to be smarter, and one way to do that is through gender arbitrage,” says Matt Rosenberg , head of media finance at Monroe Capital. “It opens up the investment ecosystem to more artists.”
As part of Armada, BEAT will connect with the genre's leading record label for "data on trends, creative assets, usage patterns (and) emerging artists," Piron said.
“We are in a unique position because we know all about the legacy catalogs we've built through Armada over the past 20 years,” says Piron. Armada has acquired catalogs from dance artists and labels, including Midtown Records, United Recordings and Combined Forces. "BEAT has full control over the use and reuse of purchased catalogues."
Saunderson had eight top 8 hits between 1988 and 1994, including The Good Life, Fun Fun, Nobody's Better, You Love the Way You Feel, and more. The KMS catalog, which Saunderson helped build more than 30 years ago, features Inner City's "Good Life" and "Big Fun."
"In the post-Covid era, we're seeing a huge '90s dance resurgence. Sometimes young audiences don't even realize they're dancing to tunes from 30 years ago," says Piron.
With a catalog of new hits, ARTY is known for dance tracks 'Sunrise', 'Save Me Tonight', 'Craving' and 'Take Your Time', released between 2018 and 2021. Los Angeles-based ARTY he also produced and remixed the songs. for Skrillex, Armin van Buuren, Halsey and many more.
