Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.

We learned this week that historic music trade expo Midem is returning to Cannes, France, in early 2023, with a new owner.

Midem’s former owner, Reed Midem, confirmed in December that it would no longer be operating the 55-year-old event.

The City of Cannes Municipality has now acquired the Midem brand from RX France – the owner of subsidiary Reed Midem – and will be running the event under the leadership of Cannes Mayor, David Lisnard.

The aim for Midem, according to the City of Cannes, is for it to become the “unmissable global meeting place” for the music business, which it promises “will be accessible to as many people as possible thanks to affordable accreditation prices”.

Also this week, Cinq Music raised $100 million from its Los Angeles-headquartered parent GoDigital Media Group.

GoDigital confirmed that it’s investing its largest funding round yet into Cinq and that the funds will be used by Cinq to “purchase music rights, both masters and publishing, and to further its international expansion”.

Plus, Justin Blau’s $55 million-backed blockchain-based music investment platform Royal revealed that Spotify‘s Director, Premium Content Strategy Darya Pourshasb has joined the company as Head of Global Artist & Label Partnerships.

Pourshasb will oversee artist relations and music partnerships at Royal, and tells MBW that she’ll be “looking to bring a variety of artists to the platform, from independent artists to icons that span musical genres and markets”.

Elsewhere, Bob Roback is leaving his role as CEO of Ingrooves Music Group after seven years, while US-headquartered music distribution and payments platform Stem confirmed this week that it’s raised $20 million in new funding.

Here’s what happened this week:

1) MIDEM IS SAVED: HISTORIC MUSIC TRADE EXPO RESURRECTED IN DEAL WITH CITY OF CANNES

Five months ago, it looked as if Midem would likely be gone for good.

The 55-year-old music trade expo’s then-owner, Reed Midem, confirmed in December that it would no longer be operating the event, which had historically been held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France.

But now, a new twist in the tale: MBW has confirmed that Midem will be back in Q1 2023… with a brand new owner.

MBW understands that, after a year of negotiation, RX France – the owner of subsidiary Reed Midem – recently sold the Midem brand to the City of Cannes Municipality…..

2) CINQ MUSIC RAISES $100M FROM PARENT GODIGITAL TO BUY MUSIC RIGHTS, EXPAND INTERNATIONALLY

This week, GoDigital confirmed that it’s investing its largest funding round yet into Cinq – USD $100 million – in order for Cinq to “purchase music rights, both masters and publishing, and to further its international expansion”.

In a press release, GoDigital confirmed that its music portfolio is backed by Bank of America as lead lender, with East West and Union Bank rounding out the syndicate.

Additional details of the $100 million Series D funding round were not disclosed….

3) SPOTIFY’S PREMIUM CONTENT STRATEGY DIRECTOR DARYA POURSHASB EXITS, JOINS JUSTIN BLAU’S NFT PLATFORM ROYAL

Darya Pourshasb, Spotify’s Director, Premium Content Strategy, since 2018, has joined blockchain-based music investment platform, Royal.

Pourshasb joins Royal as Head of Global Artist & Label Partnerships, and will oversee artist relations and music partnerships at the company.

Royal tells MBW that Pourshasb will be focused on bringing a variety of artists to the platform “from independent artists to icons”….

4) BOB ROBACK STEPPING DOWN AS CEO OF INGROOVES MUSIC GROUP AFTER 7 YEARS

Bob Roback is leaving his role as CEO of Ingrooves Music Group seven years after joining the distribution and services company, MBW can reveal.

In that time, Roback has led Ingrooves through significant revenue growth, as well as global expansion into territories including Australia, Brazil, Japan, India, South Africa, and Spain.

One defining moment for Roback’s tenure as Ingrooves boss was the sale of the Los Angeles-headquartered company to Universal Music Group in 2019. (UMG was previously a minority shareholder in Ingrooves.)…

5) MUSIC DISTRIBUTION AND PAYMENTS PLATFORM STEM RAISES $20 MILLION IN FRESH FUNDING ROUND

US-headquartered music distribution and payments platform Stem confirmed this week that it’s raised a $20 million new round of funding.

The investment is being led by QED Investors, a significant venture capitalist firm in the fintech space.

It’s also being supported by Block, Inc., a global techn and financial services company. QED Investors and Block, Inc. are joined by previous Stem investors Slow Ventures and Quality Control…

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide