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 … [Read more...] about Special Report: The Evolution of Music Licensing
Content Licensing
Neil Young to Cash In on Music Catalogs
Canadian rock star and songwriter Neil Young is out of the blue, and heavily into the black, after selling a 50 per cent interest in his music catalog for an estimated $150 million US. As noted in this week's Special Report from The Licensing Letter, the past four years and 2020 in particular have seen a massive increase in the value and scale of music catalog deals. Sales … [Read more...] about Neil Young to Cash In on Music Catalogs
Z2 Retells Legend of Elvis in Comic Book Form
Z2 Comics has acquired a license to the story of rock'n'roll icon Elvis Presley, and will release the singer's biography in the form of a graphic novel. The graphic novel will be released in partnership with Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Elvis Presley Estate. Elvis: The Graphic Novel was written by Chris Miskiewicz, who wrote a similar piece on the Grateful Dead for Z2, … [Read more...] about Z2 Retells Legend of Elvis in Comic Book Form
Streaming & New Media Updates
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com NBCUniversal is launching a new in-house streaming service in early 2020. Similar to Hulu's service, there will be a mix of ad-supported and free tiers—and the ad-supported tier will be available free to all 52 million subscribers of Comcast and European broadcaster Sky. However, unlike Disney's new service launching this year … [Read more...] about Streaming & New Media Updates
M&A & CSR
Contact the editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com Apple nabs the rights to the late Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts brand following a highly competitive bidding process. The deal will see Apple team with DHX, which already has a stake in the Peanuts franchise, to produce upcoming projects, including new specials and animated shorts, exclusively for Apple TV. Under the new … [Read more...] about M&A & CSR
Experiential & Content Initiatives: From Theme Parks to Boxing Matches
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. CBS Films enters into an exclusive national partnership with Six Flags Entertainment for a unique Halloween theme park experience that brings horror flick Hell Fest to life in CA, NJ, and IL. New themes areas include The Mausoleum, an increasingly narrow hall that forces guests to feel the touch of death; The Mask Room, a … [Read more...] about Experiential & Content Initiatives: From Theme Parks to Boxing Matches
Content Kings: Cloudco, Streaming & Services
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. American Greetings Entertainment (AGE) rebrands as Cloudco Entertainment following a recent spinoff by the former division of American Greetings into its own stand-alone company. Cloudco now owns kids brands including Care Bears, Holly Hobbie, Madballs, Buddy Thunderstruck, and Tinpo. Long-time owners the Weiss family retains … [Read more...] about Content Kings: Cloudco, Streaming & Services
TV Talk: Series With Licensing Potential
Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com The average consumer has 4.5 different sources (up from 3.7 in 2014) to choose from when they’re ready to watch a TV show, including linear TV, DVR, VOD, Netflix, and Hulu, according to Hub Entertainment Research. Among younger viewers aged 18-34, the number of platforms is even higher at 5.1 average platforms. Only 39% of viewers … [Read more...] about TV Talk: Series With Licensing Potential
M&A: Publishing Has a New Face
Publisher Watch: News Shake-Ups Hearst’s King Syndicate Feature and Emerging Tech divisions launch the conglomerate’s first AI-voice enabled entertainment for Amazon Alexa. Trivia Treat is meant to offer a challenging and fun daily gameplay experience for players around the world with games and puzzles. The NYT is stepping up its content licensing game with the re-branding and … [Read more...] about M&A: Publishing Has a New Face
Experiential Watch: Stage Shows, Events & Attractions
Discovery Consumer Products collaborates on a line of apparel and accessories with British pop artist Philip Colbert of The Rodnik Band. Labelled Discovery Shark, the dedicated pop-up shop opened at Old Spitalfield's Market in the U.K. leading up to the Discovery Channel's week-long event of shark programming. Zag Heroez Entertainment partners with Mills Entertainment to … [Read more...] about Experiential Watch: Stage Shows, Events & Attractions