Business
Warner Bros. Discovery and Cutting Edge Group form JV to own and manage WBD's iconic music rights portfolio
Warner Bros and Cutting Edge partnering to enhance the music library's value LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:
About this update from Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. - Series A
[{"type":"text","content":"Warner Bros and Cutting Edge partnering to enhance the music library's value\nLOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD) and Cutting Edge Group (\"CEG\"), the leading specialist investor in and manager of media music rights, have partnered to create a joint venture (the \"JV\") through which they will co-own WBD's vast catalog of film and TV music. WBD will retain creative and operational control of the music rights while CEG, further to its investment into the business, will jointly manage the JV. The creation of the JV is, by value, one of the largest music rights deals ever transacted and spans almost 100 years of copyrights. \n \n\n \nTogether, WBD and CEG will focus on maximizing the distribution and revenue potential of the music portfolio, which contains more than 400,000 compositions and song cues, including some of the most recognized theme songs and scores in television and movie history. DWS Group is co-investing and sponsoring the transaction alongside CEG.\nThe library includes music from the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, DC Comics movies, as well as TV shows such as Friends, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, Two and Half Men, Succession, and The White Lotus. Other iconic films and TV series represented in the portfolio include Rebel Without a Cause, The Exorcist, A Star is Born, Blade Runner, Shawshank Redemption, The West Wing, ER, Full House, Sex and The City and Gossip Girl. \nThe compositions from the Warner Brothers, HBO and Turner Networks catalogs will continue to be administered by Universal Music Publishing Group, while those from the Discovery/Scripps Networks catalog will remain under the administration of Sony Music Publishing.\nPaul Broucek, President, Music, Warner Bros. Discovery, said: \"This partnership with CEG is the perfect way to expand access to our unparalleled music library while honoring our long history of strong creative oversight and protecting the integrity of the works and artists. Together with CEG, we can find new and exciting ways to entertain a new generation of fans.\"\nPhilip Moross, CEO of Cutting Edge Group, said: \"This truly is an iconic assembly of catalogs created over almost a century by one of Hollywood's original studios and to have the opportunity to invest in and manage this JV alongside WBD is an incredibl...