Influence Media Partners, backed by BlackRock Alternative Investors and Warner Music Group, has completed its acquisition of Anthem Entertainment's music publishing, film and TV catalogs in a deal valued at more than $600 million, Music Business Worldwide reported. The deal was first signed on July 29 and closed on November 5.
The acquisition covers more than 24,000 released songs and over 60,000 unexploited works, including Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again," Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," and Rush's "Tom Sawyer," along with film and television publishing rights connected to the Spider-Man, Men in Black and LEGO Ninjago franchises.
A seller exiting after two failed attempts
Anthem's majority owner, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, sold the catalog after two previous attempts to find a buyer, in 2017 and 2022, did not result in a deal. Goldman Sachs advised Anthem on the transaction, while Truist led the debt financing arranged for Influence Media.
The purchase builds on a $750 million copyright-investment fund Influence Media established with BlackRock Alternative Investors and Warner Music Group in 2022, extending a broader trend of institutional investors treating music catalogs as a stable, long-duration asset class, similar to real estate or infrastructure, given the steady royalty income older hit songs continue to generate through streaming, sync licensing and performance rights.
What's next for the catalog
Influence Media is expected to look for new sync-licensing opportunities for the catalog's film and TV-adjacent rights, as well as continued streaming royalty collection across the thousands of songs involved. The deal adds to a wave of major catalog acquisitions in recent years as artists and estates cash out rights in a market that has shown sustained investor appetite for music royalties even as broader markets have been more volatile.
