The catalog of nearly 500 songs written, recorded or produced by Tedder covers all of OneRepublic’s songs – including hits “Apologize”, “Secrets” and “Counting Stars” – as well as Tedder’s work with artists like Beyoncé, U2, Paul McCartney , Adele, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Jonas Brothers.
Going forward, KKR will collaborate with Tedder to “expand the success and reach” of his music and OneRepublic, according to a press release.
Formerly known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., KKR has a long history of investments in the music industry. She partnered with Bertelsmann for the music rights joint venture BMG Rights Management in 2009, controlling 51% until Bertelsmann took full control in 2013, and also invested in music or adjacent companies like Gibson Brands, DJ equipment manufacturer Pioneer AlphaTheta, controller of TikTok ByteDance, Epic Games and Nielsen.
KKR also made an offer for Vivendi in 2006, in partnership with Warner Music Group in an unsuccessful bid to acquire EMI Music in 2010, and was evaluating a $ 23 million bid to acquire Universal Music Group in 2019.
The company is now investing in the Tedder and OneRepublic catalog in part through its $ 2.8 billion Travel Opportunity Fund, created to focus on investment opportunities caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Almost a year since the pandemic stopped touring and the revenue that comes with it, Tedder is not the only artist who wants to profit from his catalog. The past year has seen a boom in sales of music publishing catalogs, especially thanks to the growing interest of companies like Merck Mercuriadis‘Hipgnosis Songs Fund e Larry MestelMain Wave song. Just last week, Hipgnosis announced deals with Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham and Jimmy Iovine, while Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog of publications to Universal Music Publishing last month.
“We were looking for a strategic partner to help us build on Ryan’s incredible success and find new ways to empower his artistic genius,” President of Patriot Management Ron Laffitte said of the deal. “KKR stood out immediately because it understands that the artist must be at the center of everything that involves the creation of the creator.”
“We are excited to partner with Ryan in his extraordinary creative work and to look for future opportunities together,” added KKR partner and president of Gibson Brands Nat Zilkha. “At KKR, we are focused on a series of investment initiatives in the music and entertainment industries and we believe that Ryan’s unique combination of artistic brilliance and business acumen will help us to expand these efforts.”
Tedder and OneRepublic were represented in the transaction by Jordan Keller and Sarah Smith Keller, Turner, Andrews & Ghanem; and Latham & Watkins and FTI Consulting served as consultants to KKR. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.