In this week's Deal's roundup, Merlin and Jamen complete their acquisition of Curve Royalty Systems and more.
Global investment firm KKR has invested in one of India’s largest entertainment companies, BookMyShow. Under the new agreement, funds managed by KKR have acquired a minority stake in BookMyShow, providing support for the live entertainment company’s next phase of growth as it scales and deepens its offerings in India.
Over the past few years, BookMyShow Live, the live entertainment experiential division of BookMyShow, has brought Lollapalooza India, U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Travis Scott, Linkin’ Park, John Mayer, Guns N’ Roses, Post Malone, Def Leppard and Justin Bieber to the Indian market.
KKR’s “global perspective, deep expertise and strong understanding of consumer businesses will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of our journey,” said BookMyShow founder and CEO Ashish Hemrajani in a release.
BookMyShow adds to KKR’s global portfolio of media and entertainment investments, including Internet Brands, ByteDance, Chord Music Partners, Epic Games, PlayOnSports, OverDrive, Superstruct and Simon & Schuster.
BookMyShows also counts Network18 (part of Reliance Industries Limited), Accel Partners, Elevation Capital, Stripes Group, and TPG as longstanding investors. — Taylor Mims.
Jamen Capital and Merlin completed their acquisition of Curve Royalty Systems, which provides royalty processing services to the music business, from Virgin Music Group after the transaction received final approval from the European Commission.
Curve’s leadership, team, brand, products, services and clients remain the same following the deal.
The sale of Curve was a condition of European regulators’ approval of Virgin’s acquisition of Downtown Music, Curve’s previous owner. Regulators were concerned that by taking ownership of Curve, which processes royalties for many of Virgin parent company Universal Music Group’s competitors, UMG would have unfair visibility into its rival companies’ financial data.
Curve’s clients include Armada, Defected, Epitaph, Exceleration, Reservoir, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Virgin Music Group, Netflix and BBC/Demon. — Chris Eggertsen.
David Lieberman Artists Representatives was acquired by executive Allen Moon and renamed Moon Artists Management. Moon, who has spent more than 25 years helping build the company alongside founder David Lieberman, will now assume ownership and leadership of the firm, having officially acquired it in August 2025 and launched Moon Artists in 2026.
Over his career, Moon has worked for artists and dance companies including the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Akram Khan Company, Circa, Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Nashville-based talent agency The Neal Agency (TNA) struck a partnership with WIN Artists that will allow TNA clients to extend their influence across the broader entertainment business, including film and TV.
WIN, a division of Patrick Whitesell and Jason Lublin‘s agency WIN Sports Group, was launched by Josh Pryatt to help grow clients’ careers in various arenas.
Added Pryatt, “Austin and his team represent generational artists whose influence reaches well beyond music, and our partnership is designed to match that ambition.
By expanding into film, television, and strategic brand ventures, WIN Artists will help TNA’s clients build enterprises that define the next era of entertainment.”.
Iggy Azalea invested “a substantial six-figure sum” in SHIFT, the parent company of AI-powered creator platform Fanvue — which allows fans to pay creators directly — and the AI infrastructure it runs on, according to a press release.
In the wake of the investment, Azalea will become the founding member of SHIFT’s creator advisory board.
Haven Houzin House, a label venture from BMG songwriter-producer Jeff “Getty” Gitelman (Jessie Murphy, Hozier, H. E. R., Victoria Monet) and Theron Thomas (who won the Grammy for songwriter of the year, non-classical, in 2024), partnered with Republic Records on its artist Tig3r Lewis.
The labels jointly released Lewis’ debut EP, Mr. Right Now, on Aug. 14. — Chris Eggertsen.
Cinq Music Group announced a distribution partnership with Nairobi-based artist development and creative services company, Soul HQ. The move expands Cinq Music’s investments in African music.
Fotemah Mba, head of A&R and African Expansion at Cinq Music Group, said, “Partnering with Soul HQ allows us to champion artists who are shaping the future of global sound.
Faiza’s leadership at Soul HQ has been instrumental in building a strong platform for East African talent, and this partnership is an important part of Cinq’s continued expansion and investment in the East African music ecosystem.
Altair brings a fresh sound and undeniable value as an emerging talent to our roster, and this release is only the beginning of what Cinq and Soul HQ will accomplish together.” — Ariel King.
DICE has entered several new ticketing partnerships in the U. S., including with Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, N. Y., Pacific Northwest-based promotion company ViVid Presents, The Originals in Miami, Phase 3 Presents and Studio 60.
Drum and bass label Metalheadz has entered a global distribution partnership with LabelWorx. Since the label’s founding in 1994 by Goldie, Kemistry and Storm, and has been host to artists including Doc Scott, Adam F, Ed Rush and Grooverider.
Goldie said, “When you come from a legacy with a label such as Metalheadz, it has to be respected, and it’s about detail within the company, protecting the IP and furthering the ability for expansion with an organized team.
This move with LabelWorx expresses that in full, where so many have failed. Metalheadz is not just a label. It’s been a solid foundation for over 30 years for cutting-edge drum and bass music.” — Ariel King.
Thirty Knots and Interscope Records have formed a strategic partnership for Temper City’s upcoming debut album.
Peter Rugo and Joey Papoutsis, co-founders of Thirty Knots, said, “We are incredibly proud of what Temper City and the Thirty Knots team have accomplished with ‘Self Aware.’ We believed in the band and the song from the beginning and independently built their first release into a No.
1 Alternative record and one of the biggest songs in the world. We are thrilled to be working alongside Interscope on the band’s upcoming album and the next chapter of Temper City.” — Ariel King.
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