Snapper Music // Press & Promo Coordinator (London)

Como No & La Linea // Director (London/Hybrid)

UK Music // Chief Executive (London/Hybrid)

Ambassador Theatre Group // Ticketing Ops Senior Assistant (London)

Domino // Promo Dept Coordinator (London/Hybrid)

The Ivors Academy // Chief Executive (London/Hybrid)

Deviate Digital // Digital Marketing Assistant (London)

TOP STORY

Linkfire announces changes to C-level team, de-lists from NASDAQ First North exchange

Linkfire, the Copenhagen-based smartlink platform widely used by artists, record companies and podcasters, has ended the year with a double announcement: it will rejig its senior management team and delist from the Stockholm-based Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in January. This means that the company will return to private ownership, with existing investors keeping their stake and a new shareholder agreement.

Lars Ettrup – co-founder and CEO of Linkfire – is stepping down as CEO and will take a “strategic advisory role” in the business, while Tobias Demuth - the company’s CFO since 2017 - will step down “by the end of February”, with Chairman Jesper Møller and board member Ole Larsen assisting the company’s “strong operational finance team”. Linkfire’s new CEO effective 1 Jan 2024 is Jeppe Faurfelt, the company’s co-founder and current Chief Commercial Officer.

Writing about the news on LinkedIn, Ettrup made it clear that it was a “no-drama decision”, saying “all stories have different chapters, and as Linkfire will soon be a profitable and private company again, my work in the CEO capacity is done”.

The dual announcement came after an Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders held on 21 Dec 2023.

That EGM was first announced on 29 Nov 2023 and followed a previous statement on 17 Jul 2023 that the company’s board of directors intended to initiate the delisting, citing “a period of very limited liquidity in the trading of the company’s shares and a very weak share price development, which have made it difficult for the company to meaningfully perform on its objectives of being listed”.

Those objectives would generally include the ability to secure financing to grow the business or be able to make acquisitions of other businesses using the company’s stock rather than cash - both things that are only generally possible if the share price is strong. Limited liquidity significantly increases the risk around finance and acquisitions, as poor liquidity can make it hard for shareholders to sell their shares. A combination of the two can have a very negative impact on a company’s ability to grow.

The EGM had initially been due to be held at the end of August, but in early September the company said - without disclosing why - that it would now be held “later in the second half of 2023”. The delay may have been due to the renewal of various partnerships, or might have been to allow existing investors to assess their options before activating the EGM process.

On 22 Nov 2023 - a week before the EGM date was announced - the company said that it had concluded a new 30 month debt finance facility of approximately €5 million with annual interest of 17% from existing shareholder Meng Ru Kuok, “repayable in whole or in part in the interim in case of future equity or debt raises during the term of the loan”. Kuok is CEO and founder of music industry investment company Caldecott Music Group, which counts Bandlab and NME among its portfolio.

The move to take the company private makes a lot of sense. Click 'read more' to find out why...

CMU's 2023 RECAP

2023's strangest, most ridiculous or just down-right odd music business stories

Each day in CMU Daily we round off our news summary with 'And Finally' – a funny, ridiculous or (if we’re in the mood) poignant story. As 2023 comes to an end, we thought we’d look back at some of our favourite stories from the last year, including Drake's un-rideable theme park, Snoop's morbid fear of horses and more...

LABELS & PUBLISHERS

Hipgnosis Songs Fund cautions investors about latest catalogue valuation

The publicly-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund has cut the valuation of the music catalogues it owns by 9.2% and also warned investors to be cautious of that valuation. This was all set out in HSF's delayed financial results for the first half of the current financial year, which also reference the ongoing tensions between HSF and its investment advisor, Hipgnosis Song Management.

A statement from HSF's new Chair, Robert Naylor, says: "In spite of the positive music market and like-for-like income growth of the company’s assets, the company’s operative net asset value, which reflects the fair value of its assets as determined by the independent portfolio valuer, has fallen 9.2%".

The new lower valuation, Naylor confirms, "primarily reflects the material reduction in expectations" in relation to the royalty rate changes introduced by the US Copyright Royalty Board. It emerged in October that HSF was cancelling a proposed dividend payment to shareholders because the windfall due from changes made by the CRB to the song royalties paid by streaming services was less than half than originally expected.

Even with the revision downwards, Naylor continues, the board of HSF remains concerned about the reliability of the current valuation of its catalogues. "The board are aware of multiple data points and transactions within the market which are at material discounts to the implied fair value of the company’s assets", he explains.

With that in mind, the board sought guidance from HSM. It, however, initially declined to give an opinion. "After repeated requests from the board", Naylor goes on, "eventually [HSM] provided an opinion which was heavily caveated. In the absence of further evidence or insight from the investment adviser, on which to base a judgement on the valuation of the company’s assets, the board has concerns as to whether the fair value is reasonable".

"Consequently", he adds, "the board recommends that investors use the fair value and the operative NAV with a higher degree of caution and less certainty than might otherwise be attached to it as an accurate reflection of the fair value of the company’s assets".

Naylor's statement also provides an update for shareholders on the strategic review of HSF's operations, which was launched amid growing criticism among investors of the fund's previous board and its relationship with HSM.

Specific issues raised by investors, he says, include concerns around financial reporting and disclosure at HSM, and the fact Hipgnosis Songs Management is majority owned by funds advised by Blackstone, as is Hipgnosis Songs Capital, another music rights owning fund also advised by HSM.

Earlier this year HSM proposed a sale of some of HSF's catalogues to Hipgnosis Songs Capital at a discount as part of a plan to boost the HSF share price. The proposal was rejected by HSF shareholders.

Regarding financial reporting, Naylor says he believes that HSM's newish Chief Financial Officer Dan Pounder - who was appointed in September - is effectively dealing with past problems. However, the perceived "mismanagement of conflicts of interest is harder to address, but we will seek to do so in the coming months".

It remains to be seen what proposals are made as the HSF strategic review progresses.

CMU MASTERCLASSES

Power through 2024 with CMU's Masterclasses – book your place now to get our early bird rates

As the music industry prepares to return from the Christmas break, CMU is launching a brand new series of online masterclasses for 2024. Each Tuesday from 30 Jan CMU's Chris Cooke will share expert insights on the latest trends and developments in the music business. Each masterclass will be delivered live at 2.30pm UK time every Tuesday from 30 Jan, with the opportunity to ask questions. All will be available on-demand following the live delivery - so attendees can access the materials at any time. Bookings are now being taken at special early bird rates. 

LEGAL

Nevermind artwork lawsuit revived on appeal

The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court in the US has revived a lawsuit which claims that the cover of classic Nirvana album ‘Nevermind’ constitutes “child pornography”, with appeal judges concluding that a lower court was wrong to dismiss the case based on the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit was filed against Nirvana in August 2021 by Spencer Elden who appears, as a baby, in the artwork. The band's lawyers argued that, with the specific claims being made, Elden should have launched his litigation no later than 2019. However, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that, because Nirvana continue to sell copies of ‘Nevermind’ that feature the original artwork, that deadline does not apply.

Elden appears nude on the ‘Nevermind’ artwork, of course. It was on that basis that his lawsuit claimed that the band and their label “knowingly produced, possessed and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so”.

In response, Nirvana pointed out that Elden had previously spoken positively about his appearance on the legendary album cover and that he had recreated the image multiple times as a teenager and adult, albeit wearing shorts. However, the key legal argument centred on the timing of the lawsuit.

Nirvana's lawyers noted that there is a ten year statute of limitations for the legal claims contained in Elden's lawsuit. Although, given the photos were taken when Elden was a baby, legal action was required within ten years of Elden turning eighteen rather than from when the photo was taken. Nevertheless, that was 2019. The original judge hearing the case agreed that Elden had therefore waited too long to go legal. As a result, his lawsuit was dismissed.

However, Elden's lawyers countered that, because Nirvana continue to sell copies of ‘Nevermind’, they continue to cause new harm to Elden to this day, and therefore the statute of limitations should not apply. With that in mind, they took the matter to the appeals court, which has now sided with Elden.

“We hold that, because each republication of child pornography may constitute a new personal injury”, the Ninth Circuit judges wrote, “Elden’s complaint alleging republication of the album cover within the ten years preceding his action is not barred by the statute of limitations”.

As a result, the lawsuit will now return to the lower court. A legal rep for Nirvana told the Associated Press that the ruling was a “procedural setback” and that his clients will continue to “defend this meritless case”.