NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MidOcean Partners, a premier middle market private equity firm focused on the business services and consumer sectors, announced today that it has acquired Music Reports, Inc. (“Music Reports”), a leading independent provider of music rights data, administration, and management services, from ABRY Partners and the company’s co-founders, Ronald Gertz and Douglas Brainin. MidOcean’s investment will be used to accelerate Music Reports’ growth, both through organic product initiatives, as well as potential acquisitions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Music Reports is a leading independent provider of music rights data, administration, and management services. The company leverages its proprietary and continuously updated music and cue sheet databases, Songdex and Cuetrak, to deliver a full technology-enabled platform of advanced rights, payments, and royalty solutions for the music and entertainment industries. Music Reports was founded in 1995 and is based in Woodland Hills, CA.
Barrett Gilmer, Managing Director at MidOcean, commented, “The global recorded music industry is experiencing compelling growth driven by application development, smartphone penetration, and distribution. MidOcean identified an enormous need for specialized data and service providers to help navigate the incredibly complex web of rights, licenses, and payments. We believe Music Reports serves this need better than anyone in the world, and we are excited to support Dhruv and the management team to grow our new music services platform in the US and internationally.”
Dhruv Prasad will join Music Reports as President and CEO from MidOcean, where he has served as an Operating Partner since 2019. Prior to joining MidOcean, he was the co-CEO of Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE:TSQ), a multi-platform diversified local media, entertainment, and digital marketing services company that he co-founded in 2010. From the inception of Townsquare until joining MidOcean, Mr. Prasad was part of the team that formed its initial business plan, recruited its senior management team, identified, executed, and integrated over 40 acquisitions, took Townsquare public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, and consistently delivered revenue and EBITDA growth that led the broadcast industry. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters and is a graduate of Leadership Music, Dartmouth College, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Prasad has also made an equity investment in Music Reports alongside MidOcean.
"I’m thrilled to join the team at Music Reports and am excited about the opportunities to drive growth with MidOcean in this platform,” said Mr. Prasad. “Music Reports has the most complete database and most advanced technology in the space. Leveraging these significant core assets, our vision going forward is to build out the back office that powers the rapidly changing music ecosystem, and to dedicate ourselves to enabling fair, accurate, transparent, and timely payments between music users and music owners.”
Industry pioneers Ronald Gertz, Music Reports’ outgoing Executive Chairman and co-founder, and Douglas Brainin, the outgoing CEO and co-founder, will remain involved with the company as Senior Advisors. In this role, Mr. Gertz and Mr. Brainin will leverage their combined six decades of experience and history of innovation in music copyright to support Mr. Prasad and the senior management team of Music Reports, as well as help to ensure a smooth operational transition to new ownership.
“For twenty-five years, Music Reports, the company that we built together, has been helping clients navigate the complex landscape of music royalties, while building an industry-leading global rights administration platform,” said Mr. Gertz and Mr. Brainin. “We are excited for this next step in the company’s growth trajectory and look forward to working with Dhruv to execute the company’s mission to deliver best in class solutions to the greater media and music industries.”
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as legal advisor to MidOcean. Piper Sandler served as financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster LLP acted as legal advisor to Music Reports.
About Music Reports
Music Reports is a leading independent provider of music rights data, administration, and management services. Music Reports leverages its proprietary and continuously updated music and cue sheet databases, Songdex and Cuetrak, to deliver a full technology-enabled platform of advanced rights, payments, and royalty solutions for the music and entertainment industries. Music Reports was founded in 1995 and is based in Woodland Hills, CA. For additional information, please visit www.musicreports.com.
About MidOcean Partners
MidOcean Partners is a premier New York-based alternative asset manager that specializes in middle market private equity and alternative credit investments. Since its inception in 2003, MidOcean Private Equity has managed approximately $4.8 billion of committed capital and has targeted investments in high-quality middle market companies in the consumer and business services sectors. MidOcean Credit Partners was launched in 2009 and currently manages over $7.5 billion across a series of alternative credit strategies, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and customized separately managed accounts as of June 30, 2020. For more information, please visit MidOcean’s website www.midoceanpartners.com.
