---
sidebar_position: 0.6
title: "The Market: Music Catalogues as Financial Assets"
description: Over $20 billion in institutional capital has deployed into music rights since 2019, but the mid-tier market lacks standardised risk assessment.
keywords:
  - music catalogue investment
  - music rights acquisition
  - institutional capital music
  - NPS multiples
  - music ABS securitisation
  - mid-tier catalogue opportunity
  - music copyright valuation
faq:
  - q: "How much capital has been deployed into music rights?"
    a: "Over $20 billion in confirmed capital has been deployed into music rights acquisitions since 2019. Buyers include pension funds, private equity firms, sovereign wealth vehicles, and ABS investors. Concord's 2025 securitisation raised $1.765 billion — the largest music ABS ever issued."
  - q: "What valuation multiples do music catalogues trade at?"
    a: "Evergreen catalogues trade at 14–18x Net Publisher's Share (NPS), implying unlevered yields of 5–7%. Mid-tier catalogues ($1–50M) offer higher yields at 5–10x multiples but lack standardised risk assessment."
  - q: "Why is the mid-tier catalogue market underserved?"
    a: "Due diligence costs $100K–$300K regardless of deal size. For a $5M catalogue, that is 6% of the deal value — economically impossible. The capital wants to deploy but cannot price what it is buying."
---

# The Market — Music Catalogues as Financial Assets

## A $30 billion revenue stream attracting institutional capital

Global recorded music revenues reached $29.6 billion in 2024, the tenth consecutive year of growth. Streaming alone accounted for $20.4 billion, with 752 million subscribers worldwide. Catalogue music — tracks older than 18 months — now accounts for over 70% of all streaming consumption.[^ifpi]

These characteristics make music rights attractive to institutional investors: the cash flows are long-duration (copyright extends 70+ years), inflation-linked, diversified across platforms and territories, and largely uncorrelated with economic cycles. Academic research shows music consumption actually increases during downturns.[^sonar]

Since 2019, over $20 billion in confirmed capital has been deployed into music rights acquisitions. The buyers are no longer just music companies — pension funds, private equity firms, sovereign wealth vehicles, and ABS investors now compete for catalogue assets. Concord's July 2025 securitisation, backed by 1.3 million copyrights, raised $1.765 billion across tranches maturing over five, seven, and ten years. It was the largest music ABS ever issued. SESAC's $889 million securitisation was oversubscribed three times.[^sonar]

| Transaction | Year | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Concord ABS (1.3M copyrights) | 2025 | $1.765 billion |
| Queen (Sony / Apollo) | 2024 | $1.27 billion |
| Warner Music / Bain Capital JV | 2024 | $1.2 billion |
| SESAC whole business securitisation | 2025 | $889 million |
| Michael Jackson (50% stake to Sony) | 2024 | $600 million |
| Bruce Springsteen | 2021 | $500 million |

## The mid-tier opportunity

The headline deals get the attention, but the real opportunity — and the real problem — sits lower in the market.

The top twenty confirmed transactions account for roughly 61% of total disclosed capital. The remaining 39%, and the vast majority of catalogues by count, sits in the $1–50 million range. These mid-tier catalogues offer higher yields (5–10x NPS multiples versus 14–18x for iconic catalogues) with natural diversification benefits.[^sonar]

But this is precisely the segment where standardised risk assessment does not exist. The due diligence cost structure — $100K–$300K regardless of deal size — makes it economically impossible to evaluate a $5M catalogue with the same rigour applied to a $500M deal.

The capital wants in. It just cannot price what it is buying.

## Valuation depends on metadata

Current market multiples for evergreen catalogues cluster around 14–18x Net Publisher's Share, implying unlevered yields of roughly 5–7%. But these valuations assume the underlying metadata is correct — that the royalties being projected will actually flow to the buyer.[^sonar]

The Hipgnosis Songs Fund demonstrated what happens when this assumption breaks down. An independent forensic review in 2024 revealed that 67 of 105 acquisitions had been overvalued, 75% of the portfolio was missing growth forecasts, and the gap between two independent valuations of the same assets was $690 million. Blackstone eventually acquired the fund at a discount to both figures.[^shottower]

This was not fraud. It was the predictable outcome of a market where there is no standardised way to measure the quality of what is being bought.

## How capital flows through the music rights market

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A["Institutional<br/>Investors"] --> B["Fund Vehicles<br/>(PE, dedicated funds,<br/>JVs, ABS)"]
    B --> C["Catalogue<br/>Acquisitions"]
    C --> D["228 CMOs<br/>Worldwide"]
    D --> E["Royalty<br/>Streams"]
    E --> F["Distributions<br/>to Investors"]
    F -.->|"Reinvestment"| B

    style A fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style B fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style C fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style D fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style E fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
    style F fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,color:#fff
```

The diagram above simplifies a system that involves hundreds of collecting societies, multiple royalty types (mechanical, performance, synchronisation, neighbouring rights), and territory-by-territory administration. The complexity of this pipeline is precisely why metadata quality determines whether royalties reach the correct rights holder — or disappear into suspense accounts.

**Next: [The Solution — How TrackForge Rates a Catalogue](./the-solution)**

---

**Sources and notes**

[^ifpi]: IFPI Global Music Report 2025. Global recorded music revenues of $29.6 billion in 2024; streaming revenues of $20.4 billion (69% of total); tenth consecutive year of growth; 752 million streaming subscribers globally.

[^sonar]: Research synthesis based on disclosed transactions 2019–2025 (Perplexity Sonar Deep Research, February 2026). Transaction data, fund performance, valuation multiples, and market structure findings from 50+ authoritative sources including Goldman Sachs, Citrin Cooperman, Shot Tower Capital, CISAC, and MLC disclosures.

[^shottower]: Shot Tower Capital independent valuation of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (March 2024). Prior valuation by Citrin Cooperman: $2.62 billion. Shot Tower valuation: $1.93 billion. 67 of 105 acquisitions valued below purchase price; 75% of portfolio missed growth forecasts.