Special Report: The Evolution of Music Licensing
By Gary Symons, TLL Editor in Chief The Bob Dylan music deal with Universal Music has shown that for musicians and music companies, the times truly are a’changin’. But, in truth, that change was coming long before Universal stroked a check for a reported $300 million to $400 million, in return for Dylan’s entire music catalog of roughly 600 songs. Also in December Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks sold 80 per cent of the rights to her catalog of songs she wrote to music publisher Primary Wave for a reported $100 million. In August, Imagine Dragons sold their catalog for more than $100 million to Concord Music Publishing. What should have gained a lot more press, however, were the other deals happening in 2019 and building momentum through 2020. For… . . . read more
UNO Celebrates A Half Century of Fun and Games
UNO Launches Yearlong Lineup of Products, Partnerships and Celebratory Events to Commemorate 50th Anniversary Mattel is launching a full year of new products, partnerships and events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Uno. Uno was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins of Reading, Ohio, who played it with family and friends. As it became more popular in the Cincinnati suburbs, Robbins invested $8,000 to have 5,000 copies the game produced, which he originally sold at his barbershop. Later some local businesses began to sell it as well, and then Robins sold the rights to a group of friends headed by a local funeral director for $50,000 plus a 10 cent royalty payment per pack of cards. The funeral director, Robert Tezak, formed International Games to market Uno from the… . . . read more
Kangaru Lands a Sweet Deal with Perfetti van Melle
Kangaru, a producer of scented stationery and activities, and candy maker Perfetti van Melle are enjoying the sweet smell of success through their new licensing program. Development is now underway as Kangaru Brands expands its merchandise offerings for 2021-2022 with its first licenses from Perfetti van Melle. Kangaru will offer innovative bright and colorful scented stationery and art materials for three of Perfetti’s top brands in the U.S., including Chupa Chups, Mentos and Airheads. Kangaru is one of the fastest growing toy and stationery companies in the world. Kangaru develops, manufactures and markets creative branded products for kids through adults in 80 countries internationally. They specialize in product categories which include both scented and non-scented Stationery items, Arts & Crafts, Science & Activity Kits, Creative Coloring & Books, Toys, Plush… . . . read more
Garbage Pail Kids Face Off With Madballs
Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the venerable-but-irreverent Madballs™ brand, and The Topps Company, owner of the renowned-yet-subversive Garbage Pail Kids® brand (“GPK”), have teamed up for a collaboration that playfully pits classic 1980s icons and “co-heavyweights of gross” against one another. The collaboration will feature all-new 1980s inspired artwork from veteran Madballs and GPK illustrators and kick off with a number of consumer goods partners, including trading cards, collector toys, soft lines, collectible augmented reality pins, and more. As an original “gross out” brand of the 1980s, Topps released its Garbage Pail Kids series of trading cards in 1985, featuring hilariously revolting characters with appropriately irreverent names. Fifteen different card series were produced over the next three years in addition to a Garbage Pail Kids animated series and a full slate… . . . read more
Boat Rocker Hires New Director of Licensing
Boat Rocker Media has appointed Denise Gomez to the newly created role of director of licensing for its Boat Rocker Studios division in the Americas. Gomez formerly worked with WarnerMedia, where she spent 14 years at Cartoon Network in a variety of roles, most recently as senior director of licensing. In her new position with Boat Rocker, Gomez will manage licensing & promotions across all genres with a heavy focus on its kids and family brands in the US, Canada, and Latin America. The move comes as Boat Rocker’s new Dino Ranch program is headed to Disney Junior and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) this month, and has recently signed toy and publishing deals with Jazwares and Scholastic, respectively. Other titles Gomez will be focusing on include Kingdom Force, Remy and… . . . read more
Toy Revenue in UK Sees 5% Boost in 2020
The toy industry in the UK followed global trends, which generally have seen a significant boost in sales and revenue despite—or perhaps because of—the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales were particularly hot during the first lockdown during the spring in Britain, which saw an astounding 22 per cent boost in spending for the sector, according to figures from The NPD Group. Sales in the UK fell off from that early high, but remained strong overall with total sales revenue ringing in at $4.5 billion (3.3 billion pounds), which allowed the country to maintain its position as the largest market for toys in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world. This revenue boost for the toy sector occurred even as retailers wrestled with an extremely difficult environment for sales, due to rotating… . . . read more