Cutting Edge Group acquires AMC Studios' full portfolio of TV music rights

05 September 2025 - Press release

Deal includes music from landmark shows such as The Walking Dead, Dark Winds and Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, further expanding Cutting Edge’s portfolio of media music valued at over US$1 billion

Cutting Edge Group (“CEG”), the leading specialist investor in and manager of media music rights, has acquired full ownership of AMC Studios’ catalogue of music rights. AMC Studios is the in-house studio and production division of AMC Networks, responsible for developing and producing original programming for AMC and its affiliated platforms. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed. The agreement allows AMC Networks to continue to use the music within AMC Studios’ series in perpetuity.

This deal is the latest step in CEG’s significant expansion strategy, following the announcement in January that CEG has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to create a joint venture through which it now co-owns and co-manages the studio’s vast catalogue of film and TV music, spanning almost a century. The creation of this joint venture, by value, is one of the largest music rights deals ever transacted.

The AMC transaction comprises both the publishing and master rights to the extensive portfolio of music behind the studio’s seminal roster of TV shows. It includes compositions from some of the best-loved series of the past decade, including The Walking Dead (TWD) and other series within the expanding TWD universe such as The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, as well as other hit AMC series including Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire, Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, Into the Badlands and Dark Winds.

The Walking Dead stands as a particular highlight within this catalogue, as a decade-spanning, highly-rated cable original series which delivered 48 of the top 50 cable entertainment telecasts of all time. Following  11 seasons and 177 episodes, the show has since spawned a diverse slate of spin-offs  as well as extensions like video games and slot machines that demonstrate the franchise’s continued appeal.

Crucially, the deal also sees CEG secure rights to music from future seasons of existing franchises like The Walking Dead, as well as Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, based on a collection of Anne Rice books that have sold over 100 million copies, making her one of the bestselling authors of modern times. These franchises have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to generate new and engaging stories loved by fans across the globe and have new seasons currently in the works, including a third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (premiering in September) and Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat (expected 2026), as well as a new Immortal Universe television series, Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order (premiering in October). Cutting Edge will now actively collaborate with AMC Studios on the music for these upcoming series, bringing to bear its specialized music expertise and global industry reach.

Tara Finegan, COO of Cutting Edge Group, said: “AMC Studios’ catalogue represents some of the finest storytelling in modern television and we are honoured to become custodians of the remarkable music behind it. Being a record label partner to AMC since 2016 through our soundtrack division, Lakeshore Records, and having released the soundtrack album of Bear McCreary’s iconic The Walking Dead score, we have first-hand experience with how valuable and long lasting this studio’s catalogue is and we look forward to carrying this extraordinary body of work into its next chapter.”

Tim Hegarty, Head of M&A at Cutting Edge Group, said: “This investment reflects our unwavering commitment to securing the very best music rights in the media & entertainment industry. Our ability to complete deals of this caliber is testament to the reputation we have established within the Film and TV industry over the past decades. We have a deep conviction in this subsector of the music copyrights market, having completed 25 acquisitions in just four years, and are confident we can grow the audience and revenue potential of the portfolio by utilizing our team’s specialist experience and operating expertise.” 

Dawn Botti, EVP of Legal and Business Affairs for AMC Networks, said: “Music plays such an important and foundational role in our premium scripted series and their enduring impact on viewers. We are excited to partner with Cutting Edge, true experts in the use and monetization of the type of original and high-quality music that is at the heart of our shows.” Botti added, “The agreement will allow us to participate in Cutting Edge’s efforts to maximize the value of this IP with no disruption to our core business as we retain the right to use the music within past, present and future productions.”

The compositions and recordings from the latest deal join CEG’s total portfolio of over 400,000 owned and/or managed media music rights, which is valued at more than US$1 billion. CEG will now begin work on promoting the songs and recordings within this acquisition, expanding their already significant legacy and commercial appeal. This will involve licensing the songs’ use or interpolation in new productions, promoting their consumption through streaming and physical formats, and ensuring optimized royalty collections.

In April 2024, Cutting Edge Group announced that it had secured US$500 million in new financing to fund further acquisitions, including the deal with AMC Studios, primarily via privately sourced, off-market opportunities.  CEG’s recent investments come at a pivotal time in film and TV music rights, where the proliferation of global streaming platforms, new technologies, and formats, coupled with a decrease in new original productions and the increased licensing of productions by studios to third parties, have all increased royalties flowing into the sector.