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A Guernsey Cow in Guernsey, Channel Islands.
Holy cow! The new investment model for music publishing is centered in Guernsey, a small island in the English Channel.
Minneapolis. Seattle. Atlanta. Guernsey?
Most music executives probably don’t know much about the island, a 25-square-mile British Crown Dependency in the English Channel that’s best known for dairy cows and tax avoidance. But the way financial regulations there allow music publishing ventures to organize their assets and operations into separate companies has made it a surprising hot spot, and home to some prominent recent entrants in the business: Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited and Tailwind Acquisition Corp.
Guernsey
Guernsey, a small island off France s Normandy Coast, is having a moment in the music business. The self-governing British Crown dependency has accounted for well over $1 billion in music publishing rights acquisitions over the last two years. It s not a location typically associated with hyper-funded publishing catalog buyers, but its light regulations and proximity to the London Stock Exchange make it an attractive home for a new breed of music publishing companies.
Two Guernsey-based companies, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited, aren t typical publishing companies. They are collective investment schemes, a way for investors to buy into long-term assets that produce steady returns. Such funds typically have a board of directors but no employees to locate and exploit publishing catalogs. Instead, the funds make acquisitions based on the recommendations of investment advisors, separate companies that act like publishers but don t own pu