Why are major music companies using other people's money to buy copyrights? (Talking Trends)

<p><b>Welcome to the latest episode of Talking Trends, the weekly podcast from </b><a href='https://musicbusinessworldwide.com/'><b>Music Business Worldwide</b></a><b> (MBW) – where we go deep behind the headlines of news stories affecting the entertainment industry. Talking Trends is supported by </b><a href='http://www.volymusic.com/'><b>Voly Music.</b></a><b><br/><br/>This week on Talking Trends, MBW founder, Tim Ingham, responds to the news that </b><a href='https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/blackrock-teams-with-warner-to-launch-new-750m-music-buying-fund-via-influence-media/'><b>Warner Music Group is co-investing in a new music acquisition fund</b></a><b> with investment giant BlackRock. <br/><br/>Ingham notes that this is Warner&apos;s second co-investment fund in recent years – following its Tempo Music vehicle with Providence – but also points out that Sony Music Group invited outside capital from Eldridge Industries last year in its acquisition of the Bruce Springsteen catalog.<br/><br/>Why are these major music companies not entirely using their own funds to make these acquisitions?<br/><br/>Ingham suggests that it could be because they&apos;re hedging their bets against threats to the potential future growth of the music industry.</b><br/><br/>&quot;<b>Demand in the music marketplace today, largely driven by these Wall Street investment banks, means that multiples being paid for music rights have infamously gone wild,&quot; notes Ingham. &quot;This comes with risks. If the music market changes, or is hit by some kind of slowdown in growth, the prospect of getting a return on these investments can suddenly disintegrate.&quot;<br/><br/>Ingham highlights three key areas where the future value of music rights could be hit by a slowdown. <br/><br/>They include:<br/><br/>1) &quot;A fear that the growth in music subscription streaming in the future might not be as sunny as some analysts estimate.&quot; <br/><br/>Ingham notes that Goldman Sachs is currently predicting that over 1.2 billion people will be