Two Rock Albums: Masters & Copyrights

Description

This auction is for ownership of the masters and sound recording copyrights for two albums by the rock band Evans Blue. Royalties include earnings from sales and online streaming of the songs as well as income from YouTube. In the last 12 months, together the two albums have made $72,384 in royalties.

The first album is Evans Blue's self-titled record released in 2009. Since its release, “Evans Blue” has made a total of $539,689 from sales and streaming. Videos for the biggest single from the album, “Erase My Scars,” have more than 10 million combined views on YouTube. The second album is Evans Blue's most recent record, “Letters from the Dead,” released in April 2016. To date, it has earned $38,940 from sales and streaming. Songs from both albums have more than 9 million plays on Spotify.

Digital sales and streaming royalties are growing throughout the music industry. Streaming royalties are on the rise for these albums as well. While digital sales account for 76% of the albums' total revenue since 2009, streaming accounts for 52% of total revenue in the last 12 months. Each of the albums is distributed to online media outlets all over the world by TuneCore. The vast majority of revenue has come from iTunes, but other sources include Spotify, Amazon, and Google Play.

One great thing about owning the sound recording copyrights is that you'll have complete control over future licensing opportunities for the masters. You'll be able to seek new distribution channels and find sync placements in TV and film. And you'll be entitled to 100% of the earnings with no obligation to pay any other parties (see the important notes below).

Key Drivers

1. Digital and streaming royalties are growing worldwide, and this catalog is driven by digital revenue. In fact, 100% of the reported revenue comes from digital sales and streaming. And with TuneCore distribution in place, most of the work of getting the music out there has already been done.
2. Evans Blue has built a large following, mostly through grassroots campaigns. As a result they currently have over 275,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and over 242,000 followers on Facebook. They are working on a new album and supporting tour with a tentative release date of 2018. New albums and tours can often result in increased income for a band's back catalog.
3. You'll own the sound recording copyrights and masters. That means that you'll have full control over the future licensing and monetization of these albums. You'll be able to seek sync placements for TV and film and license the albums for use in digital media libraries. That includes new distribution channels that have not yet been invented.

Important Notes

• The investment term is “at least 35 years” because U.S. copyright law gives artists and songwriters the right to terminate a copyright assignment after 35 years. Evans Blue have not assigned these copyrights before, so they may have the right to terminate this assignment beginning in 2052. Click here to learn more about copyright termination.
• The label currently owns the sound recording and is the seller. Evans Blue and the label have historically split all revenue from these sound recordings 50/50. But, as a part of this sale and in exchange for 50% of the winning bid, the band has signed a waiver of all future royalties generated by the master recordings. That means that the winner of this auction will receive 100% of the income and will not have to pay the band for sales and streams (including mechanical royalties).
• The musical composition copyrights are not included. The band and songwriters will maintain ownership of the publishing rights, including sync and public performance of the compositions.

What is being sold?

100% ownership of the masters and sound recording copyrights for the albums “Evans Blue” and “Letters from the Dead” by Evans Blue. This includes ownership of the TuneCore accounts for each album, which pay royalties for digital sales and streaming. You'll also own the Rights Owner's share of non-interactive digital performance royalties, paid by SoundExchange.

How does this asset make money?

As the owner of the sound recording copyright, you will earn royalties every time one of these songs or albums is purchased, downloaded, or streamed online. You'll receive royalties when the songs are played on satellite radio as well. You'll also be able to license these songs for use in TV or film, which would generate a synchronization royalty.

What rights are included?

	Musical Composition	Sound Recording
Copyrights included?	—	Yes
Rights:	Mechanical Public Performance Sync	Sales Streaming Sync
Sources:	Internet Streaming, AM/FM & Satellite Radio, Digital Downloads, CD Sales, TV/Film/Commercial Placements & Performances, etc.	Internet Streaming, Satellite Radio, Digital Downloads, CD Sales, TV/Film/Commercial Placements & Performances, Samples, etc.
Distributors:	—	SoundExchange, TuneCore

About the Royalty Distributors

TuneCore is New York-based independent digital music distribution service, founded in 2005. TuneCore offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell or stream their music through online retailers such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, Tidal, and others

SoundExchange is an independent nonprofit collective management organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties to featured artists and copyright holders. Since inception, they have paid out more than $4 billion in royalties. In 2015 alone, SoundExchange paid out $803 million in digital performance royalties – a record-setting annual distribution for the organization.