The Round Hill Music Royalty Fund invested a staggering $342 million on music IP, including “a 29.1% investment in RH Carlin Holdings,” between early August of 2020 and June of 2021’s end. The corresponding portfolio included north of 118,000 compositions and 750 master recordings (excluding The O’Jays’ 532-track recorded catalog), and royalty income totaled $16,288,444 during the stretch.
These and other noteworthy figures came to light in the Round Hill Music Royalty Fund’s newly released earnings report, which, as mentioned, covers the period from August of 2020 (when the entity was incorporated, having arrived on the London Stock Exchange last November) and June 30th, 2021.
Worth noting off the bat is that “approximately 75% of the compositions are older than 20 years,” and some 75 percent of the fund’s revenue during the period derived “from titles released more than 20 years ago.”
Regarding Round Hill’s precise financial position as of June 30th, total current assets were worth $23,944,194. (Both the company and competing UK-based song-investment fund Hipgnosis use USD as their main currency.) Non-current assets, on the other hand, were worth $333,316,985, $273,937,974 of which derived from catalogs and $59,379,011 of which was attributable to “financial assets at fair value through profit or loss.”
Round Hill’s total liabilities, for their part, came in at $37,946,664 throughout the roughly 11-month window, and the song fund reported royalty income of $16,288,444, as initially mentioned. Total comprehensive loss for the fund reached $2,191,714 during the period.
The Round Hill Fund listed “amortisation of catalogues” as its largest expense ($8,824,140) during the reporting period, followed by “investment management fees” ($1,788,531) and “legal and professional fees” ($990,146), respectively. However, the fund enlisted Round Hill Music proper to serve as “investment manager” – meaning that the entirety of the $1.79 million tranche will reach the business “in cash,” with “$864,592 outstanding” as of June 30th.
The overarching Round Hill Music (ostensibly “the sixth largest music publisher in the U.S.”) is likewise set to benefit from a “performance fee,” which rested at $304,232 at the period’s conclusion (with the full amount outstanding) and is “usually payable predominantly in Shares subject to an 18 month lock up arrangement.”
Lastly, regarding the windfall that Round Hill itself will receive from the song fund, the publisher’s administration work entitles it to “10% of all net income it collects on behalf of the Group” – or $850,717, with $497,707 outstanding as of June 30th. And separately, a third Round Hill Music Royalty Fund was incorporated on September 22nd.
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the earnings report is the Round Hill Fund’s breakdown of the sync-licensing payments that the stretch turned in.
For instance, “the latest Expedia advertisements featuring comedian Rashida Jones” include a cover of Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself,” and the placement brought the reporting entity a $265,000 fee. (“All By Myself” likewise made $30,000 in a placement in the final season of the U.S. version of Shameless, per the document.) And Jimmy John’s licensed The Hollies’ “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” for a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, paying $100,000, according to the text.
“‘Aymo’ as recorded by Gramatik was originally featured in a Porsche advertisement that first aired during Super Bowl LIV, but was just renewed for a second year at US$72,500,” the text continues. “The Turtles’ ‘Happy Together’ is being used in a Toyota Hybrid commercial out of the UK for £250,000 [$338,630 at the present exchange rate].”
Other sync placements (and their respective fees) outlined by the Round Hill Fund include:
- $164,000 – Honne’s cover of “What a Wonderful World” (penned by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele) in “a digital campaign for Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis”
- $62,500 – A cover of Howie Day’s “Collide” (co-written by Kevin Griffin) in a General Motors Periscope video introducing the company’s “new focus on safety and emissions”
- “>US$44,000” – A modified version of “Before He Cheats” (written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear) in a State Farm radio advert
- $75,000 – Valerie Broussard’s “Hold On To Me” in a trailer for Kevin Hart’s Fatherhood – as well as $14,700 for Broussard’s “Shadow Self” (recorded by LSDREAM) in an NFL post-season promo
- $70,000 – Weezer’s cover of “Happy Together” (written by Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon) in a trailer for the forthcoming Ron’s Gone Wrong
- $50,000 – Gil Scot Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” in a trailer for The Roots’ drummer Questlove’s Summer of Soul
- $40,000 – The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” (written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley) in a trailer for Apple TV+’s Physical
- $20,000 – Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” (written by Jani Lane) in an episode of CBS’s Young Sheldon
- $25,000 – Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (written by Jim Steinman) in Netflix’s forthcoming Maid
- $20,000 – Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” – also authored by Steinman – in an episode of Netflix’s Q-Force
- $19,400 – “Best Day of My Life” by the American Authors in an ad spot for ABC’s Call Your Mother
- $37,500 – “Good Lovin’” (written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick) in a promo for the Hulu original Lisey’s Story