Primary Wave Music has acquired music rights from the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr of the legendary grunge band, Alice In Chains. The deal will see the publisher acquire a stake in Layne Staley’s and Mike Starr’s music publishing catalog, as well as master royalty income stream. Some of the royalties acquired include Man In the Box, Rooster, and No Excuses, as well as their hit recording Would? which was released in 1992 and appeared in the film Singles, and on the Singles soundtrack.

BMG has acquired the music interests of iconic American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist John Lee Hooker from his estate. The agreement includes his entire publishing catalog (Boom Boom, One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, Boogie Chillen, among others), co-acquired with BMG’s longstanding partner Fujipacific Music. The deal also includes John Lee Hooker’s entire recorded and performance royalty income, as well as a selection of Hooker’s recorded catalog spanning Alone, Vol. 1 (1980) through Black Night Is Falling (2020), acquired solely by BMG.

AKB founder, Lisa Alter, spoke with The Tennessean on the craze surrounding the buying and selling of music catalogues that has escalated throughout 2021 and is continuing into 2022. Lisa spoke on a number of different aspects that can and will affect the structure of music transactions.

Female-led Influence Media announced a new alliance in partnership with funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Alternative Investors and Warner Music Group to create a music rights platform that will invest in and manage premier compositions. The fund has already acquired stakes in catalogs from songwriter/producers involved with Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, and Justin Bieber.

Lisa Alter recently sat down with acclaimed music journalist Larry LeBlanc at CelebrityAccess for “In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc.” In the interview, Lisa discusses a number of topics, including her experience closing major deals during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend of prominent musicians selling their music catalogs, guiding clients in an increasingly competitive market, and musicians’ rights in light of new social media platforms.

KKR Credit Advisors is selling asset-backed securities supported by publishing and sound recording royalties, as well as recoupment of artist advances, for a portfolio of songs valued at more than $1.1 billion, according to a presale report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The diverse catalog of 65,000 songs underlying the transaction, including hits from The Weekend, Stevie Nicks, and Maroon 5, was owned by Kobalt Capital Limited and administered by Kobalt Music Publishing, an independent music-rights company. The offering is being led by Credit Suisse and KKR.