|
Kilometre Music Group Partners with Grammy-winning
Producer Nineteen85
Catalog Acquisition Includes Hits “One Dance” and “Hotline Bling”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2022
Toronto, ON – Today, music publisher Kilometre Music Group announced a partnership between its Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund (the Fund) and Nineteen85, involving the acquisition of his iconic catalog of modern pop, rap and R&B hits. The 118-song catalog includes many of Drake’s biggest global streaming hits including “Hotline Bling”, “Hold On We’re Going Home”, “Too Good”, and the #1 Billboard hit “One Dance” that spent 10 consecutive weeks in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016.
Drake is the first artist to reach 50 billion Spotify streams, and the Nineteen85 songs acquired by the Fund are responsible for over 5 billion of that total. In addition, the acquisition also includes the 2018 R&B hit ‘OTW” by Khalid (featuring Ty Dolla $ign and 6lack), and the DJ Khaled release “For Free”, which hit #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016.
In recognition of his incredible songwriting and music production skills, Nineteen85 has been nominated for numerous GRAMMY Awards, including Producer of the Year in 2017. That same year he had two GRAMMY wins for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Song Collaboration for Drake’s “Hotline Bling”.
Kilometre President of A&R and Acquisitions, Rodney Murphy said, “I have known Nineteen85 for over 10 years and I am always amazed by his constant professionalism and how pervasive his musical contributions have been to popular culture. He doesn’t just create hits; he creates iconic cultural moments that leave a profound impact on everyday life with his timeless pop anthems. We are honoured that Nineteen85 has trusted us to be stewards of his life’s work.”
Kilometre CEO, Michael McCarty stated, “Kilometre Music Group is only a year and a half old, and we are well on our way in building the business that we said we would. We have a portfolio of some of the world’s biggest pop, hip-hop and R&B hits from the last 20 years, with most of these songs being created by Canadian artists and songwriters. We are reclaiming the financial rewards of the ‘Canadian Invasion’.”
Nineteen85 had this to say about the deal and partnership: “Kilometre’s mission and approach is something that really matters to me. I’m impressed by what they’ve accomplished in a short amount of time. As a proud Canadian, I trust my catalog in the hands of Kilometre”.
With these new acquisitions, Kilometre boasts an impressive portfolio of over 1,000 songs, with the Fund co-owning 7% of Spotify’s “Billions Club” – songs with 1 billion streams or more, and four of the ten most streamed Spotify songs of all time: The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”, Drake’s “One Dance”, “Closer” by the Chainsmokers, and “Sunflower” by Post Malone. Other key songs in the portfolio are The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears”, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, “Havana” by Camilla Cabello, Post Malone’s “Circles”, Flo Rida’s “Whistle”, Pitbull’s “Timber”, Travis Scott’s “Butterfly Effect” and “Sucker” by the Jonas Brothers. As per company policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund is available to international investors and accepts new subscriptions monthly.
-30-
ABOUT KILOMETRE MUSIC GROUP
Kilometre Music Group was co-founded by Michael McCarty and Rodney Murphy in 2021 in partnership with Barometer Capital Management Inc., an independently owned Toronto investment firm with over $1 billion of assets under management. Together they created Barometer Global Music Royalty Fund, a Limited Partnership with a targeted size of USD $200 million.
| 
