This latest podcast is special because it harkens back to 2000 when I wrote a paper in law school about the use of securitizations to disrupt the music industry.  

I mused about the disruption of the music industry and the demise of the traditional way of doing business.  I wasn’t far off!

The music industry has undergone enormous changes with the advent of streaming. The demand for content has never been higher with new ways to monetize content.Add to that the fascination of NFT’s and the new attention into the divisibility of artists rights. Finally, with rock-bottom interest rates and an insatiable hunger for non-correlated returns, music rights have become a popular asset class for investors.

To help think about this, I went to the source, DAVID PULLMAN.

David is a pioneer in music industry finance. His firm THE PULLMAN GROUP covers many aspects of the music industry including publishing and mechanical rights, royalty management, loans, advances and securitizations.

We get into:

Pullman's background in finance and investment bankingWhat went into the Bowie transaction and why it was contemplated in the first place The challenges of working with complicationWhat the later transactions with artists like James Brown and Holland Dozier Holland were likeHow streaming services like Napster and then iTunes, Pandora and Spotify changed the dynamicsHow the Bowie Bond has come out the other side and is relevant to new players in the industry.

(For some context into the Bowie Bond and the concept of Intellectual Property Securitization, here is Quick Synopsis from INVESTOPEDIA and a Summary from WIKIPEDIA)

We also talk a lot about what it was like to work with someone like David Bowie. Bowie himself was not only the driver of musical trends, he was a savvy businessman, futurist and technologist as well.

His vision for the scope and power of the internet and its impact on the accessibility of music and the music business itself was extraordinary. Listen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPpiYG9_058&t=1s

Finally, and some of the issues with future music financings and his thoughts on the impact of NFT’s.

Without further ado . . .

DAVID PULLMAN.

As an extra bonus . . . .

Here is a 5 minute outtake of the podcast with David Pullman- in this morsel, we talk about his experience with David Bowie and how the song “Fame” represented a major pivot in Bowie’s career AND Pullman’s!

https://frazerrice.com/blog/preview-david-pullman/
The bonus 5 minute outtake on working with Bowie and the gift of "Fame"

Finally, here is a list of the 2022 GRAMMY NOMINEES:

https://nypost.com/2021/11/23/grammy-nominations-2022-full-list-of-nominees-new-categories/

https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/