SONGS IN PLAY?

Sources close to the situation say SONGS Music Publishing has definitely been put into play. According to one potential buyer, a book has been prepared by Lion Tree Advisors. Word is that possible bidders include, well, pretty much everyone.

While SONGS will fetch a tidy sum if sold, a sale isn’t considered inevitable. Sources say the company faces no funding issues, and that partners Matt Pincus, Ron Perry and Carianne Marshall—who oversees global sync and creative services and runs the West Coast office—could, after reviewing all offers, decline to proceed. Founded in 2004 with $5m, the pubco has flourished in recent years with such signings as Lorde, The Weeknd, Diplo, X Ambassadors and recent breakout XXXtentacion.

Acquiring SONGS would more than double the marketshare slice of a comparably sized indie with the requisite deep pockets (its marketshare was 2.2% in the Q2 rankings but has averaged 3.5% over the last nine quarters). The company has been Top 10 in publisher share for 14 straight quarters and has been #6 for nine.