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To provide shareholders with an attractive and growing level of income, together with the potential for capital growth, from investment in songs and associated musical intellectual property rights.
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Thanks for posting that link Laughton, interesting. I think they just need to keep calm and wait for central banks to reduce base rates, the rating will then turn back to a premium and they can start issuing shares again. I don't like the idea of them selling assets and reducing the NAV.
Https://www.standard.co.uk/business/don-t-stop-the-music-and-my-ps2-billion-fund-b1098390.html
Well, I guess he would say that, wouldn't he?
I bought at 122p in Sept 2020, so I'm sitting on a substantial loss.
5% yield doesn't look so good with current interest rates. It's a lot lower (more like 3%) if I calculate as % of my price paid.
I can't see anything coming that would cause a big rise, my initial idea of this as an income investment isn't working, so looks like I might cut my losses and use the money elsewhere.
I've been watching this for a long time; unsure about the validity of NAV and with questions about the founder, but ultimately, the financial results were good; the dividend has been consistent , is covered and appears to be sustainable. That's enough for me to open a small position.
Which is the situation for most of the ITs I own, either I'm very unlucky or the discounts on ITs are just too wide (over 17%). At some point the mood will change and the discounts will narrow or even get to premiums (remember them?).
Seems as though the market not overly enthused by MM's rather wooden reading of autocue during presentation and maybe more are coming to the same conclusion as jlovie.
Still a fairly big holding for me and keeping my fingers crossed that "value will out" --- eventually.
When I first invested it seemed clear, but now it seems like I don't benefit fully from the deals being done, and can't help thinking I've been conned.
If by "deals being done" you mean new songs being purchased that's becasue the company doesn't have the money to buy more catalogues. If you mean increases in royalty rates, synch deals announced (TV ads) and performaces (Superbowl) then yes we do benefit as they all increase the income for the existing catalogues.
"Despite our strong numbers, I am aligned with Shareholders in believing that the fundamental value and opportunity of the Company fails to be reflected in the current share price. As a result, we have been working with the Board, following consultation with many of our largest Shareholders, on a number of options to enhance Shareholder value. We look forward to updating the market prior to the AGM and the Continuation Vote."
I wonder what those options are.
I'd like to see clarification of the Blackstone HSC situation.
I think that's what holding this back, it's just not clear to me exactly how the setup works.
When I first invested it seemed clear, but now it seems like I don't benefit fully from the deals being done, and can't help thinking I've been conned.
Over £161 million in royalties being paid out
That's £21 million more than July last year, an increase of 15%.
Lots of mentions of Hipgnosis but pretty sure it must have been the Blackstone backed entity that was in discussions (we don't have the money). All adds to the confusion and not particularly helpful to shareholders in SONG:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/06/01/rod-stewart-abandons-sale-music-catalogue-hipgnosis/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/28/ultravox-singer-midge-ure-sells-music-rights-swiss-investor/
Still appetite for catalogues out there.
Ooops! Sorry, wrong board.
If it's happening there it must be happening or about to happen here and that can only be a good read across to HAT.
Thanks for replying. I had managed to find a couple RNS, usually for the bigger names (Shakira for example).
As you say, there van be multiple writers etc so was hoping there was an easy way to get information that deep. I'll keep looking and if I get anything useful I'll drop it in here incase it helps anyone else going forward.
You could look back at the relevant RNS (not as easy as it sounds) - it usually says something like "purchased catalogue of songs written/produced up to a certain date". But bear in mind that in many cases the writer(s) that Hypgnosis signs will not have written 100% of the song you're interested in. Lots of songs have lots of writers.
Try looking at Hypgnosis website -
Hey,
Been interested in this field for a while but most music purchasers seemed to be huge companies where the music section was a small slice.
Seen the Bieber news and initially thought it was this share but since seen it was a different joint venture with Blackrock which doesn't seem very clear in the terms?
Anyway, been looking at the last interim statement and the catalogue. Some good names, but is there a way to find exactly what albums/songs are owned? For instance there is a Red Hot Chilli Peppers catalogue, but there is a huge variance in popularity in their songs.
Seems like this could be a decent long term dividend play, especially if the value the company place on their catalogues is anywhere near right.
Laughton, many thanks for taking the time to reply!
So, SONG doesn't benefit directly from anything that Blackstone invests in under HSC. It has the right to co-invest (on equal terms?) but it doesn't have the cash to do so and can't raise any because of the NAV discount without diluting existing shareholders? So in reality, it can't benefit.
Sadly it sounds like Blackstone is using its financial muscle to turn MM's head (and the rest of HSM) away from the original investment thesis. I kind of liked the idea of "the people" (private investors!) owning the music we listen to and benefitting from it!
It's like one of those Dragon Den pitches when the Dragons realise that the real value of the company being pitched isn't included in the offer!
I'll keep tabs for now but probably not join the party yet (not that Justin Bieber was the attraction!).
Guitarsolo
Ha! I'm sure most of us feel the same.
SONG said at the time that the new entity was announced:
"SONG is expected to benefit from Blackstone's investment in HSM's management capabilities and will have the right to co-invest in future catalogue acquisitions alongside the new Blackstone-HSM partnership.
Andrew Sutch, Chairman of SONG said: "Our Investment Adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management's, new partnership with Blackstone highlights how successfully Merck has established songs and music rights as an asset class since founding and listing SONG three years ago. This new partnership will provide new co-investment opportunities for SONG, and we expect that continued investment in Hipgnosis Song Management will enhance returns for our investors."
They haven't explained exactly how SONG will benefit other than SONG will be able to co-invest in catalogues alongside the Blackstone backed entity. The problem is that SONG doesn't have enough(any) money to put up and as it's trading at, what they tell us is, a substantial discount to NAV they can't issue more shares to raise the money needed.
So we have to wait until, hopefully, potential investors realise that the NAV is real and the share price goes up and/or interest rates go back down and continue collecting the dividends generated by what we already own.
The huge sums being paid out for catalogues should help maintain the value of what we do own.
MM may think it a good idea to build the Hipgnosis name but I don't think the confusion every time a catalogue purchase announcement is made helps us in the long run. It just makes it sound a bit underhand to many.
Laughton, apologies in advance for asking about a probably done-to-death discussion here, but what is the relationship between the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Song Capital and Hipgnosis Songs Fund? Even if there is an overlap, does management have the option to put the more favourable deals in Blackstone's direction rather than SONG?
I've tracked this investment for many years as I am interested in the notion, but I fear being screwed over!
Many thanks,
Guitarsolo
Was wandering why no RNS
But to the "other" Hipgnosis.
I could well be wrong but I don't think so. SONG bought a cataloque consisting of 145 songs back in 2021. No mention of the deal covering future material written/performed by Shakira.
I guess massive success of her latest collaboration will help slaes/performances of her material that SONG do hold though.
Does anyone know if SONG has any stakes in Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53?
Just got round to reading last issue of Money Week and noticed it's tipped as one of THE Cheap Investment Trusts for 2023
https://moneyweek.com/investments/funds/investment-trusts/605615/7-cheap-investment-trusts-to-buy