Less than two weeks after announcing its almost half-billion-dollar purchase of Round Hill Music’s publicly traded song fund, Concord has acquired Mojo Music & Media.
Concord emailed Digital Music News this morning about its deal for Brentwood, Tennessee-based Mojo Music & Media, which is said to possess an approximately 30,000-song publishing catalog. Founded in 2018 by Mark Fried (who also founded Spirit Music Group), Peter Shane (previously Spirit’s SVP of creative), and Alan Wallis (who doubles as COO), Mojo itself has closed a number of noteworthy plays in recent years.
In March, for instance, the five-year-old operation bought a “trove of classic catalogs,” including the music IP of Duran Duran’s Warren Cuccurullo. Crestline Investors-backed Mojo also possesses interests in the work of Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, Earth, Wind & Fire vet Al McKay, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Bob Morrison, and Taylor Swift producer Jacknife Lee, to name just some.
While the involved parties rather predictably opted against disclosing the (undoubtedly sizable) price tag associated with the transaction, they did indicate that the deal encompasses the entirety of Mojo. Addressing the agreement, Mojo co-founder and CEO Mark Fried emphasized his longstanding professional ties to and shared objectives with multiple Concord higher-ups.
“My nearly 30-year adventure in music publishing has always been about surrounding myself with the greatest songwriters, getting them paid, keeping them inspired, and elevating the power of their songs in pop culture so they vibrate forever,” Fried communicated in part.
“I feel a deep responsibility to the artists, songs, and legacies we represent and I’m excited to see them continue to prosper in the hands of such capable and passionate caretakers,” he concluded.
And in remarks of his own, Concord chief business development officer Steve Salm relayed in part: “Mark Fried is a true original who’s repeatedly seen the value in songs and catalogs well before market trends, always putting songwriters first. … The Mojo catalog is a perfect fit with Concord’s catalogs, and we’re honored by the trust they’ve now put in us.”
Between the newly detailed Mojo buyout, Concord’s aforementioned $469 million deal for Round Hill’s song fund, Litmus Music’s reportedly $225 million acquisition of Katy Perry’s catalog, and Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s proposed sale of 29 catalogs for $440 million, the past two weeks appear to have delivered well over $1 billion in announced catalog transactions.
Driving the sum higher yet, BlackRock- and Warner Music-powered Influence Media Partners revealed today that it’d invested in the more than 160-work catalog of “Dirt on My Boots” songwriter Jesse Frasure.