Big Loud Shirt founder Craig Wiseman, who’s inked a deal with Round Hill Music. Photo Credit: Round Hill
Round Hill Music (LON: RHM) has announced the acquisition of “the remaining share” of Big Loud Shirt’s catalog as well as a 50 percent interest in “the writer’s income streams” of Craig Wiseman, who launched the indie publisher back in 2003.
Round Hill – that is, the publicly traded catalog fund – reached out to DMN today with word of the investment. Though execs opted against disclosing the transaction’s precise financials “due to commercial sensitivities,” they did note that the Big Loud Shirt deal has increased their company’s stake in the country music catalog at hand to 100 percent.
Factoring also for the agreement with Craig Wiseman, Round Hill’s latest play extends to north of 1,200 works – about 75 percent of which are at least seven years old, the purchasing party communicated. Furthermore, the involved IP experienced a roughly 200 percent streaming revenue boost between 2017 and 2021, per Round Hill, which pointed to both country’s stateside popularity and the genre’s growing prevalence across the pond.
Wiseman has penned works recorded by commercially prominent acts such as Kenny Chesney (including “Summertime” and “Young”), Tim McGraw (“Live Like You Were Dying” and “My Old Friend”), Brooks & Dunn (“Believe” and “That’s What It’s All About”), and Morgan Wallen (“Happy Hour” and “Talkin’ Tennessee”), to name just some.
Meanwhile, the broader Big Loud Shirt catalog is said to contain songs released by the likes of Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, and Luke Bryan, among a number of others. In a statement, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Wiseman relayed that he was “thrilled” with his expanded Round Hill tie-up.
And in remarks of his own, Josh Gruss, CEO of the overarching Round Hill Music LP, said in part: “We have a terrific working relationship with Craig, who we have known for many years, and are deeply familiar with these songs. This investment not only enables us to further increase Round Hill Music’s exposure to the fast growing Country music genre, but also provides an exciting opportunity for us to leverage our in-house platform to manage these incredible songs, maximising their income streams and further growing their value.”
During Q1 2023, Round Hill – which, like Hipgnosis, is grappling with a per-share stock price that represents a steep discount to its reported net-asset value – achieved a 20 percent jump in “like-for-like” revenue, according to the appropriate earnings report. When the market closed today, the fund’s stock was worth $0.71 per share.