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eOne buys Audio Network
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 12 April 2019
Content company Entertainment One has bought British production music firm Audio Network in a $215 million deal that, says the former, “locks eOne’s position as a leading end-to-end global independent music brand”. So that’s nice isn’t it? I’m all for locking positions.
Founded in 2001, Audio Network provides music for movies, telly shows and advertising. Which is like any other production music company, except its licensing approach was innovative because the company sat outside the collective licensing system when it came to providing a licence for the actual synchronisation (as opposed to any subsequent broadcast).
This allowed the company to offer more flexibility in it licences than competing music libraries in the UK that licensed through collecting society MCPS.
Although it will become an eOne subsidiary moving forward, Audio Network will continue to be led by its CEO Robb Smith, with co-founder Andrew Sunnucks also still involved as Chair.
Confirming the deal, eOne boss Darren Throop said: “As we continue to unlock the power and value of creativity for artists, we are very pleased to welcome Audio Network, whose passionate management team and ambition align entirely with ours. The combination of eOne’s front-end commercial artist catalogue and Audio Network’s extensive premium production music creates a one-stop solution for business customers seeking high-quality music”.
Meanwhile Sunnucks added: “Our relationships with artists and composers have been at the heart of our business from the very start. In joining eOne, we are becoming part of an incredible global entertainment family and will have the continued opportunity to create and record the world’s best music and share it globally”.
