HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired selected recorded and publishing assets of Blackbear, the hit songwriter and artist whose credits include “Hot Girl Bummer,” “Do Re Mi” and songwriting collaborations like Justin Bieber‘s “Boyfriend.”
In the U.S., Blackbear’s catalog has generated 4.45 million album consumption units, according to Luminate. While the deal announcement doesn’t specify what portion of the Blackbear catalog has been acquired, HarbourView said its acquisition encompasses both publishing and recorded music assets.
In addition, the deal also includes Blackbear’s publishing interest in collaborations with such artists and songwriters as Bieber, Pharrell Williams, Linkin Park, G-Easy, Machine Gun Kelly and 2 Chainz, among others.
“This catalog provides unflinching honesty offering an insight into difficult life journeys that many global fans can relate to,” HarbourView founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares said in a statement. “This transparency creates a powerful sense of unity mobilizing his mission of inspiring his audience to be unapologetically themselves. His brilliant artistry has opened doors for him to work with artists such as Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, and Machine Gun Kelly. We are ecstatic to work with Blackbear and his team to make a further positive impact through authenticity.”
With this acquisition, HarbourView continues to move forward acquiring current pop, hip-hop, R&B, Latin and pop-punk on a path different from most private equity-backed music asset investors, which tend to invest in legacy music.
Fox Rothschild served as legal counsel to HarbourView in this transaction, while Blackbear (born Matthew Musto) was represented by Paul Rothenberg and Joseph Duthie of Rothenberg, Mohr & Binder, LLP.
https://www.billboard.com/pro/blackbear-music-assets-sale-harbourview-catalog-publishing-stake/