Downtown’s AVL Digital Group Acquires FUGA

Market-LeadingB2B Music Technology and Services Company Joins Downtown Music Holdings’Portfolio of Music Distribution, Artist & Label Service Businesses

NewYork and Amsterdam, January 22, 2020 — Global musiccompany Downtown Music Holdings (Downtown), announced today that itssubsidiary, AVL Digital Group (AVL), has acquired FUGA®, the Netherlands-basedB2B music technology and services company. FUGA will continue to function as astandalone business within Downtown’s suite of distribution and monetizationcapabilities operated across AVL. As part of a broader enterprise, FUGA, itsclients and partners will benefit from expanded resources, infrastructure andglobal scale to more quickly bring to market added services and unparalleledinnovation for music industry rights holders.

 “We could not be more enthusiastic aboutbecoming part of the Downtown portfolio. This acquisition will give FUGA the backingto achieve our global ambitions in this space so we can continue serving theindependent music community, developing our service offering and improving ourtechnology. We share a common business approach and philosophy with Downtown,one rooted in providing control and flexibility for creators and rights holders— it is a perfect fit,” said FUGA CEO Pieter van Rijn.

 With a flexible technology platform thatprovides content management, workflow and distribution services, delivering tomore than 260 different digital service providers globally, FUGA enablesdistributors, record labels, artist services companies and other rights holdersto directly reach the world’s music streaming market. In addition, FUGAprovides full service marketing, promotion, monetization and label services tothe rapidly growing independent music sector. At present, more than 500different businesses, such as labels, artist platforms, distributors and otherrights holders around the world rely on FUGA’s technology and services tosupport their operations.

“Pieterand the team at FUGA have built an impressive business that offers clients animpeccably high level of service. Their robust technology, well-earnedreputation for innovation on behalf of the clients they serve, and globalperspective of the digital music industry are welcome additions to our existingset of capabilities and services,” said AVL CEO Tracy Maddux,

“Theexceptional team at FUGA and their unique focus on providing best-in-classcapabilities has put the company at the forefront of empowering the fastestgrowing sector of the music industry. Following our acquisition of AVL,integrating FUGA is a natural next step for Downtown in developing businessesthat support a more equitable and innovative music ecosystem,” saidDowntown Music Holdings CEO Justin Kalifowitz.

In recent years, advances in musiccreation and distribution, as well as broader shifts in how music is discoveredand consumed, have proven to be a boon for the industry, particularlyindependents. According to recent reporting from Billboard,approximately 35 percent of the global recorded music industry is nowcontrolled by independents. In fact, independent artists are a significantgrowth driver within the recorded music sector, bringing in $1.6B in 2018, anincrease of 34 percent compared to just nine percent growth for the rest of themarket, according to MIDiA Research. Capitalizing on these trends,Downtown has been methodically building out a “full-stack” global musiccompany, most recently with last year’s acquisition of AVL, which includes theCD Baby®, Soundrop®, DashGo? andAdRev® businesses.

AboutDowntown

Downtown Music Holdings is a global companythat owns, manages, and develops businesses with a vision for a more equitableand innovative music ecosystem. With operations across North America, Europe,Asia, Australia, and Latin America, we are the world’s leading provider ofend-to-end services to artists, songwriters, labels, music publishers, and otherrights holders. Through our portfolio of companies — Downtown Music Publishing,Songtrust®, AVL Digital Group, and Downtown Music Studios — we manage millionsof music copyrights, with a catalog that spans nearly 100 years of popularmusic, including music for film and television, and the single largestindependent sound recording catalog in the industry. Our integrated platformshelp democratize global music rights management and simplify the distribution,monetization, and promotion of creative works.

AboutAVL Digital

AVL Digital Group is a global network of musicdistribution and monetization brands, including CD Baby®, AdRev®, DashGo? andSoundrop®. With a diverse client base of more than 900,000 artists, labels andother rights holders, AVL distributes and monetizes more than 10 million tracksacross popular streaming services, including Amazon Music?, Apple Music™,Spotify™ and YouTube™.

AboutFUGA®

FUGA are the industry-leading technology andservices company for international rightsholders, offering best-of-breeddigital supply chain integration alongside dynamic promotion and marketing. Atthe company’s core is the FUGA platform, launched in 2008 in conjunction withleading music partners. Connected to over 260 digital service providersworldwide, FUGA’s platform manages 5.5 million tracks, with over 5 milliondeliveries every month.

FUGA are listed on the highest tier for bothSpotify™ and Apple™’s preferred distributors: a Preferred Plus distributor andencoding house for Apple and preferred label distributor and recommendeddelivery platform for Spotify. FUGA are also an active contributor and memberof the DDEX consortium for digital supply chain standards. FUGA are alsopartnered with Verifi Media as part of a coalition to spearhead development ofa global blockchain ecosystem. In July 2019, FUGA acquired publishing andworkflow platform Songspace. The standalone platform centralises essentialpublishing assets such as metadata, audio files, agreements and writer contactsand also identifies gaps in data such as accreditation and lyrics. Theacquisition works towards FUGA’s goal of enabling clients to manage all rightsdata under one roof.

FUGA’s flexible platform enables their 500+clients to vary services across different DSPs so that they can developcatalogue management, distribution, marketing, licensing and royalty accountingactivity as their needs evolve. The first in the marketplace to also offerflexibility for deal arrangements — whether direct, aggregated or a combination— FUGA are the number one choice for some of the world’s top labels, managementcompanies and distributors, including Epitaph Records, Ultra, Tommy BoyEntertainment, Curb, Mom + Pop, mtheory and Domino.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, FUGA also operatesout of New York, London, Milan and Seoul.

PressContacts

For Downtown/AVL - Anne-Taylor “AT” Adams, atadams@downtownmusic.com

For FUGA - Jasper Watkins, jasper@namepr.co.uk