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Photo Credit: Pepi Stojanovski
Are additional song rights investments in the near-term cards for Shamrock? Possibly, as the firm has officially closed its Content Fund IV with $813 million worth of capital commitments.
Shamrock Capital formally announced that oversubscribed fourth fund’s final closing today. All told, the LA-based entity’s 11-year-old “Content Strategy” is said to have north of $3.3 billion in assets under management when accounting for both equity and debt.
Now, the portfolio appears poised to continue growing – including with the potential addition of more music IP. It was only last year, on the heels of considerable controversy and headaches, that the firm offloaded its interest in Taylor Swift’s body of work.
Will those headaches prompt Shamrock to rethink its song rights approach moving forward? That remains to be seen, though Swift’s IP came up during an Amplify Music Investment Summit panel earlier in May.
Responding to a question about the impact of “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings on Shamrock’s investment, Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl reiterated that the firm had still come out ahead when all was said and done.
“The investment was good,” Kyncl communicated in part. “Because the people who care about the re-recorded version are the superfans of Taylor, but the vast number of casual users don’t really pay attention. And Shamrock has benefited. So their numbers went up. It’s like one of those counterintuitive things, but that’s exactly what happened.”
In any event, Shamrock’s Content Fund IV isn’t solely eyeing song rights plays. Rather, “premium, cash flow generating content and media rights across the evolving global entertainment landscape” are on the table, according to higher-ups.
And the content and rights at hand could come from music, film/TV, sports, gaming, and “creator economy opportunities” alike, Shamrock emphasized. Elaborating on the strategy, Shamrock partner Jason Sklar indicated that today’s “content landscape has never been more complex or more compelling.”
“We are witnessing a fundamental restructuring of how IP is created, owned, and monetized – and we believe we are uniquely positioned to see how all of these content worlds connect and converge,” Sklar said in part.
“This fundraise is built on a simple but powerful conviction: the most valuable content assets are the ones that fans return to across generations, regardless of where or how they consume them. We are long-term investors, and the trust we have earned alongside artists, creators, and rights holders is the foundation of everything we do,” the nearly 11-year Shamrock vet proceeded.
Notwithstanding the non-core nature of Shamrock’s fourth content fund, it’d be an understatement to say that plenty of cash is waiting to be deployed on music IP and adjacent assets. During the past two months alone, Domain Capital, Chord Music, Avex Music, Primary Wave, Seeker Music, and now Shamrock have confirmed plans to invest a cumulative $4.7 billion or so.
