[Fmpro] Getty Finalizes Pump Audio Acquisition, $42 Million Deal

[Dana from Serious Vanity Music]

It's not sounding much better in today's article, Kerry.  Now they're 
"revolutionizing" licensing.  I get that they want to make things easy for 
their client base, but there shouldn't have to be a cost to music makers in 
order to accomplish that.

Getty Officially Confirms Pump Audio Acquisition

Seattle-based Getty Images confirmed its acquisition of Pump Audio on 
Wednesday morning.  The acquisition, a $42 million agreement, follows a 
string of nosebleed financing and buyout efforts within the digital music 
space. The Pump Audio purchase price is anything but down-to-earth, though 
the image giant outlined big opportunities ahead.  Pump Audio offers a 
platform that allows advertisers, film producers and other parties to 
license independent music off-the-shelf through an automated mechanism. 
"Getty Images believes that this acquisition provides an excellent entry 
into commercial music licensing,"the company explained in an official 
statement.  "Pump Audio is a proven innovator who has made it easier and 
more affordable for customers to license music for commercial use."

Strategically, the acquisition allows Getty to broaden its media portfolio, 
and potentially revolutionize synchronization and performance licensing 
markets.  But despite the obvious benefits and vision, a $42 million tag 
feels frothy, though Getty alluded to an immense revenue potential.  During 
its official announcement, Getty estimated that commercial synchronization 
and performance licensing is roughly a $3 billion business, one that could 
grow substantially.

That forms the underpinning for the broader play ahead.  "Today there is 
wide agreement in the music industry that the market for commercial music 
licensing is fragmented, inefficient and confusing, just as the imagery 
market once was," said Jonathan Klein, cofounder and chief executive of 
Getty Images. "We are confident that bringing our digital distribution, 
ecommerce expertise and our customer relationships, as well as our 
understanding of intellectual property, to the music industry will have a 
similarly positive impact."

Permalink: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/062007getty

Related article:

"Getty Finalizes Pump Audio Acquisition, $42 Million Deal," June 19, 2007
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/061907getty

Dana Detrick-Clark
Serious Vanity Music: http://www.seriousvanity.com
The Anatomy of an Album: http://album-anatomy.livejournal.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kirbyko3 at aol.com>
To: <fmpro at nxport.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Fmpro] Getty Finalizes Pump Audio Acquisition, $42 Million 
Deal


> (resending...got a mailer-daemon on the first send)
>
> I love Pump Audio -- they do really great things for composers and 
> artists -- but this is a kick in the gut. It doesn't bode well for those 
> of us who have our music repped by Pump. If Getty is taking it over, that 
> means that we're looking at total devaluation of the music that we have in 
> Pump's catalog. The writing is on the wall: a broadcaster will be able to 
> license music for $1 per cue, or something ridiculously low like that. 
> Tracking of fees and cuesheet delivery will fall into the giant corporate 
> abyss of Getty, instead of resting in the capable hands of the great folks 
> at Pump, who do a killer job of chasing down payments and cuesheets in a 
> really timely way.
>
> I'm seriously bummed to hear this news. Big time.
>
> Kerry Muzzey
>