Guest
Alan Wallis
Alan Wallis is CEO at Dynamite Songs, as introduced on the show.
Episodes (1)
Alan Wallis, CEO of Dynamite Songs, explains why he avoids catalogs under ten years old, how sync licensing drives value, and how cost of capital shapes deals.
Questions these episodes answer
What is the difference between owning a song's copyright and owning a writer's share?
The copyright is ownership and control of the song, meaning the right to license it, place it in sync deals and exploit the underlying work. The writer's share is only an entitlement to a portion of the income the song earns, with no control over how it gets used, so it is pure passive income.
From: Music IP Rights — Valuing Catalogs, Due Diligence & The 10-Year Rule
Why does Alan Wallis avoid buying catalogs of songs under ten years old?
He says a song's income needs time to settle to an underlying, predictable level before he can trust it, and until then there is no way to know whether a young song will become an evergreen hit or fade out, so Dynamite Songs treats roughly ten years as its cutoff for a catalog to be credible.
From: Music IP Rights — Valuing Catalogs, Due Diligence & The 10-Year Rule
Why does sync licensing matter so much to a music catalog's value?
Sync is the one part of a catalog's income a rights holder can actively negotiate, since streaming and performance royalties are paid at fixed set rates set by others. Wallis says sync can reach 20 to 40 percent of an older catalog's income when the catalog is broad enough to place several songs regularly with music supervisors.
From: Music IP Rights — Valuing Catalogs, Due Diligence & The 10-Year Rule
How does the cost of capital affect who buys music catalogs?
Wallis says private equity money is the most expensive, costing roughly 9 to 10 percent, which pushes those funds toward buying catalogs to build up and sell on again for a premium. Pension fund money costs closer to 6 percent, letting those investors buy passive, long-term income streams and simply hold them.
From: Music IP Rights — Valuing Catalogs, Due Diligence & The 10-Year Rule
What mistake do sellers often make when approaching a catalog buyer like Dynamite Songs?
Wallis says many sellers, especially those coming through brokers, cannot clearly say what they are actually offering. They may call it the publishing when what is for sale is really only the writer's share of income rather than the copyright, so Dynamite has to establish exactly what is being sold before any deal can move forward.
From: Music IP Rights — Valuing Catalogs, Due Diligence & The 10-Year Rule