Giant of indie music Concord said Friday that it has acquired parts of the music publishing and recorded music catalog of reggaetón superstar Daddy Yankee.
The deal includes certain rights to Daddy Yankee's songs, including “Con Calma,” his featured artist rights to “Despacito” and “Gasolina,” whose “unforgettable hook” and “revolutionary” beat brought it to the Bulletin boardThe Top 50 Latin Songs of All Time. The deal also includes certain name, image and likeness rights, according to a news release from Concord.
Concord declined to comment on the price. But earlier this month in a KBRA report on the Concord-backed security, the bond rating agency wrote that Concord acquired the listing of “a highly successful Latin music artist and songwriter” in 2024 and that those projects were valued at $217.3 million.
How Much Can Daddy Yankee Benefit From The Deal? The Latin hitmaker, whose Barrio Fino was the first reggaetón album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart in 2004, he sold that portion of his catalog several years ago to a fund he asked not to be named. This fund sold the assets to Concord, so the artist will not get a cut from this sale of his works.
But Bulletin board reported in July that Daddy Yankee still owns part of his publishing catalog, which is managed globally by Sony Music Publishing and partly by Spirit Music in the United States. From 2021 to 2023, Daddy Yankee's projects averaged 375,333 album consumption units, with 346,000 album consumption units so far this year, according to Luminate.
CRAZY FOR CATALOGS
Catalogs are a major revenue driver for Concord and the company's CEO Bob Valentine said this week that through various marketing, distribution, film and commercial licensing deals, the company regularly generates 5-15% more revenue than the assets it acquires from the previous owner.
“We can then create value for the artist, for our shareholders, for our debt holders, for our retirees — all the people who are invested in some way in this endeavor,” Valentine said, speaking at the Mondo conference. NYC to Brooklyn. “The two things we're talking about [with artists] it's how we're going to protect your legacy and how we're going to keep it alive.”
Concord's ownership—Michigan State Retirement Systems owns 93 percent—and the way it has recently financed acquisitions, through asset-backed securities, make it a uniquely long-term list buyer that aims to hold those assets for 30 -40 years.
The company also employs approximately 750 people worldwide and operates a label, a music publishing division and one of the most important theater companies with catalogs of Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection and others.
However, in some circles, Concord is best known for the 1.3 million songs it has acquired, including some of its biggest profitable assets, such as John Fogerty's Credence Clearwater Revival catalog and Phil Collins' song rights of Genesis.
Speaking at the Mondo.NYC conference, Concord described these works “as music and genres that fit so perfectly with an era that to own them … is to own that part of one's nostalgia.” Anyone who ever makes a movie about the Vietnam War will probably call Concord to license CCR's songs, Valentine says.
But Concord also owns Latin label Fania Records and Mexican label Musart Records, and several of the Latin artists it represents through its publishing division were nominated for Latin Grammys this year: Daymé Arocena's nomination for song of the year for “A Fuego Leto, Writers Julian Bernal and Sammy Soso Nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for Orchids performed by Kali Uchis and Camilo Lara's nomination for Best Cumbia/Valenato Album for Se Agradece performed by Los Ángeles Azules.
CALL THE POPE
Daddy Yankee's catalog will be managed from Concord's newly expanded Miami office, the company said.
“Ever since he hit the scene, Daddy Yankee has been at the forefront of not only reggaeton, but pop music in general,” Valentine said in a statement. “We were incredibly excited about this opportunity to work alongside Daddy Yankee to continue to build on his remarkable legacy and significance. His real and lasting cultural impact is clear, and Concord is thrilled to be a part of its history.”
Concord financed the acquisition of the Daddy Yankee projects by issuing a third round of asset-backed securities priced this week that bring total ABS to $2.6 billion. Daddy Yankee's catalog will contribute to ABS' collateral collection, according to the KBRA report. Concord has used previous ABS notes to acquire Round Hill Music Royalty Fund in 2023 and Mojo Music and Media in 2022.
This type of financing makes sense for Concord because of its scale — which exceeds the typical financing capabilities of most banks — and because it provides them with a fixed, low interest rate.
“The benefit of an ABS purchase is that we get a loan and the interest rate is fixed for 5 years,” Valentine said. “It doesn't change. All of a sudden you're financing at these fixed rates of return that are lower because of our scale and that changes the valuation dynamic quite dramatically.”
This is part of a new column Billboard is launching in which we'll unpack one financial issue a week about an artist in the news. Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions or advice, email me at ediltsmarshall@billboard.com.
