Round Hill Music returns to acquisition mode with a flurry of new catalog acquisitions

 

Round Hill Music, the pioneering music rights acquisition platform founded in 2010 has acquired several catalogs which include hit songs “I Love It” by Icona Pop (feat Charli XCX), “Physical” by Olivia Newton John, “Kiss Me More”  by Doja Cat (feat SZA), “Do You Think I’m Sexy” by Rod Stewart and “Vacation” by Dirty Heads among many others.

 

The collection of acquisitions encompasses the publishing catalogs of songwriters Terry Shaddick, Linus Eklow and Carmine Appice, as well as publishing assets of the band Dirty Heads and a selection of Al Stewart’s master rights.

 

Comprising a range of different rights and income streams, the acquisitions further diversify the Company’s portfolio of music assets and align with its strategy of investing in time-tested catalogs with further growth potential in the modern music market.  

 

These transactions bring Round Hill’s catalog value under management back to over US$1 billion, following the 2023 sale of its London Stock Exchange-listed fund to Concord in 2023 for US$463 million. Round Hill continues to manage five private funds.

 

Linus Eklöw is a Swedish DJ, record producer and songwriter.  Linus co-wrote and produced Icona Pop's international mega hit “I Love It”, alongside Patrik Berger and Charli XCX. “I Love It” features vocals from Charlie XCX and was the song that helped launch her to pop stardom in 2012, now boasting over a billion streams on Spotify. Round Hill Music’s acquisition includes Linus Eklöw’s full catalog of songs, including dance hits “Runaway (U & I)” and “No Money” by electronic Swedish duo Galantis, which also have a billion streams each.

 

Terry Shaddick is best known for co-writing Olivia Newton-John’s 1980 hit Physical, which reached number 1 in six countries and was ranked the #1 song of the decade for the 1980s by Billboard. Round Hill Music has acquired Shaddick’s half of this song including administrative control of the copyright, as well as Shaddick’s share of Doja Cat’s 2021 chart-topping hit “Kiss Me More” (which has accumulated over 2 billion streams on Spotify) and Benson Boone’s latest single “Mystical Magical”.

 

Carmine Appice first came on the scene as the drummer for Vanilla Fudge in the 1960’s and later would go on to playing drums in Rod Stewart’s backing band, co-writing songs such as “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Young Turks” with Rod Stewart.

 

Dirty Heads are a reggae rock band from Southern California formed in 2002 that have released eight studio albums. Dirty Heads tour frequently and are often associated with bands like Slightly Stupid, Sublime and 311. Their song “Vacation” has racked up hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify and billions of views on Tik Tok. The deal includes publishing and artist royalties.

 

Al Stewart is a Scottish born singer songwriter whose signature hit from 1976, “Year of the Cat” is a yacht rock staple.

 

Josh Gruss, CEO, Round Hill Music, said: “From timeless pop hits to reggae rock, yacht rock and electronic music, these catalogs contain songs with proven commercial success. Spanning different genres and eras, these songs have huge potential for further monetization across streaming, film, advertising and much more. There’s no better proof of this than Benson Boone’s latest single ‘Mystical Magical’, which reimagines Olivia Newton-John’s iconic 1981 hit ‘Physical’ in its chorus. Tracks like ‘Physical’ go to the very heart of Round Hill’s strategy – finding and celebrating songs which can continue to resonate with new generations long after their original release.”

 

These new catalogs join Round Hill Music’s US$1.1 billion portfolio of over 200,000 copyrights under management, including songs performed by iconic artists such as George Harrison, Elvis Presley, Bruno Mars, Chaka Khan, Morgan Wallen, Goo Goo Dolls, Bryan Adams, Matchbox Twenty, The Killers, Meat Loaf, Madonna and many more. Following this latest series of acquisitions, the firm will be leveraging its 50-strong in-house team to ensure that the legacies of these works are extended for years to come, through strategic marketing and royalty optimization, which in turn will generate value across multiple revenue channels, including streaming, licensing and synchronization.

 

This news follows the Company’s recent announcement of Katie Kowinski’s appointment as Chief of Investor Relations & Business Development, Jeff Bunder as Global CFO, and James King as Chief of Capital Markets driving the firm’s operational and capital raising efforts as it expands this portfolio of music rights.