Rumors have been flying around the music business for a few months now regarding the sale of a catalog by Allen Kovac‘s Better Noise Music (BNM) label.
Today (May 10), MBW can clear up what’s really been going on, via confirmation from Better Noise Music CEO Dan Waite and President Steve Kline.
MBW has confirmed that Allen Kovac sold 50% of the rock label’s 20-year-old catalog to Raven Capital in 2022.
Sources close to the deal tell MBW that the acquisition was priced “in the region of $100 million”.
Kovac was advised in the transaction by Tim Mandelbaum and the law firm of Fox Rothschild and by RBC Bank, Royal Bank of Canada.
The sale of 50% of the BNM catalog included titles from Awolnation, Papa Roach, Escape The Fate, Buck Cherry, The Hu, Bad Wolves, Dirty Heads, Drowning Pool, Hellyeah, Nico Vega, Cold, Attica Riots, amongst other deeper catalog albums from BNM’s history.
The sold catalog albums are now administered by Endurance Music Group, which is owned by Raven and headquartered in Nashville.
The Raven deal was entirely separate from the Kovac-managed sale of Mötley Crüe’s master recordings to BMG in 2021, which was in the same ballpark price-wise. (BMG called the deal at the time its “largest single catalog acquisition”, suggesting it was somewhere around the USD $90 million mark.)
What happens now to the windfall from Kovac’s deal with Raven Capital?
According to Waite and Kline, a significant proportion of this money has been – and is being – re-invested into Better Noise to build the label’s global footprint in the modern era.
Dan Waite, CEO of BNM, said: “The sale of half of the Better Noise Music catalog in 2022 means that many of our ambitions for acquisition and expansion are now possible.
“Many of our ambitions for acquisition and expansion are now possible… We have the deep pockets to spend on global marketing and promotion – in both USA plus International – that large acts expect.”
Dan Waite, Better Noise
“As Hard Rock and Alternative deals are ending at other labels, Better Noise Music is becoming the natural home for those acts that want ‘major label’ results with indie label sensibilities and attention to detail.
“We have the deep pockets to spend on global marketing and promotion – in both USA plus International – that large acts expect.”
BNM CFO, Harris Masood, added: “The sale provides the funds to synergistically expand BNM global staff, acquire other labels and catalogs. Meanwhile, it allows BNM to keep all frontline artists, and the active frontline albums from our current artists, plus our recent catalog titles, so 50% of the catalog remains in-house, a number that is growing each year with new releases”.
Allen Kovac moved from CEO to Chairman of New York-headquartered BNM last year; Dan Waite was promoted to the Chief Exec position, while Steve Kline was named President, adding the role to his responsibilities as COO.
Meanwhile, BNM continues to chalk up US chart success in the hard rock and alternative space.
The label currently has 3 of the Top 15 tracks (and 2 of the Top 10) in the Active Rock Mediabase radio chart: If It Doesn’t Hurt by Nothing More (No.3), This Is The Way by Five Finger Death Punch feat. DMX (No.6), plus Barely Breathing by From Ashes To New (No.11).
(As of the week ending April 22, BNM had 4 of the Top 15 on this chart, including Dark Void by Asking Alexandria.)
Additionally, BNM says it had the longest duration of any track at No.1 on the Mediabase Alternative Radio Chart in 2023 with Rescue Me by Dirty Heads, while This Is The Way (by FFDP and DMX) recently hit No.1 on Billboard‘s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.
Steve Kline, President/COO of BNM, said: “Better Noise Music has been the #1 Billboard Hard Rock imprint year-on-year, and the #1 Active Rock Radio label for 5 of the last 6 years.
“Better Noise Music has been the #1 Billboard Hard Rock imprint year-on-year, and the #1 Active Rock Radio label for 5 of the last 6 years.”
Steve Kline, Better Noise
“We are developing The Funeral Portrait and will break them like we did with Nothing More, Bad Wolves and From Ashes to New, and we continue to develop established acts like Asking Alexandria, giving them their first two number 1 hits of their long career.
“We have more new signings we are excited about to announce later in 2024”
Kline is on the advisory board to US-based indie label org A2IM, while Waite is on the Management Board of EU-based indie label org IMPALA – each keeping BNM close to digital innovations across the global business.Music Business Worldwide
