Festicket Acquires Event Genius and Ticket Arena

Festicket has acquired cashless point-of-sale platform Event Genius. The sale includes Event Genius’ consumer-facing brand, Ticket Arena. The terms for the deal weren’t disclosed in the acquisition announcement. Event Genius was founded by Reshad Hosse…

Ahead of Its High-Profile UMG Deal, Tencent Music Is Suddenly Getting Grilled by Chinese Regulators

Look like Chinese regulators are having a little kerfuffle with Tencent Music.  Will this complicate Vivendi’s partial sale of Univeral Music Group? Just a few weeks after Chinese internet and media giant Tencent Holdings announced its intentions to pu…

Yes, Toy Maker Hasbro Now Owns Death Row Records, One of the Most Controversial Rap Labels in History

Hasbro’s purchase of Entertainment One for the Peppa Pig franchise means they now own Death Row Records. Just last week, the popular toy manufacturer struck a deal to acquire eOne Entertainment for $4 billion. Hasbro’s main interest was the Peppa Pig a…

Hasbro Acquires eOne Entertainment — Including eOne Music — In a $4 Billion Deal

Toy manufacturer Hasbro has been aggressively expanding into the entertainment business. As part of this push, the company announced that it had purchased eOne for $4 billion.  eOne is the company behind the popular children’s animated show Peppa Pig a…

After Selling Big Machine for $300MM, Scott Borchetta Is Snapping Up Music Row Properties

  Equipped with a substantial sum from his high-profile, $300 million sale of Big Machine Label Group, Scott Borchetta is turning his attention to Music Row properties. Scott Borchetta’s holding company, Super 98 Holdings, LLC, has purchased nearly an …

The Highly-Leveraged Hipgnosis Snaps Up The Chainsmokers Catalog

Hipgnosis Songs has announced another major catalog deal, fresh off the Benny Blanco acquisition. This time they’ve acquired the rights to 32 songs from The Chainsmokers. The terms for the deal were not disclosed, but Hipgnosis has acquired 100% copyri…

K-Pop Powerhouse Big Hit Entertainment Acquires Superb

Bit Hit Entertainment has announced its acquisition of Seoul-based music game company Superb. The K-pop powerhouse declined to reveal any details around the arrangement — at least beyond the top level.  According to an email sent to Digital Music News,…

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Acquires Benny Blanco’s Hit-Heavy Catalog

Hipgnosis Songs Fund has acquired copyright ownership to a large number of songs in Benny Blanco’s catalog. Hipgnosis now has 100% copyright ownership to 93 songs, which have been streamed over 10 billion times. Some of the catalogs include Blanco’s sh…

Entercom Drops Nearly $70 Million on Two Podcasting Acquisitions

Who says Spotify gets to have all the fun? Entercom, a Pennsylvania-based broadcasting company and radio network, has acquired two prominent podcast companies, Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Media. The companies cost Entercom a total of $70 million.  T…

Sony Music Bulks Up Merchandising Unit With Araca Group Acquisition

Sony Music’s merchandising unit has acquired The Araca Group, a New York-based entertainment company and merchandise-production agency. The Araca Group’s resources (and some employees) will be absorbed by Sony Music’s merchandise brand, The Thread Shop…