Warner Music Group acquires playlisting firm X5 Music
Warner Music Group announced its acquisition of Swedish digital compilation company X5 Music Group (X5). The company specializes in licensing deep catalogue and specific genres of music to make playlists, streaming, and downloadable products. X5 originally developed its current speciality by licensing and curating classical repertoire before expanding into other genres. The acquisition positions Warner to take advantage of new opportunities for its own deep catalogue and repertoire around the world. X5 will continue to work with third-party partners.
The move solidifies Warner’s commitment to the streaming sphere, and comes two years after the major label acquired streaming compilation brand Playlists.net. X5, which was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Stockholm, will continue to operate as a standalone company under its existing management, lead by CEO and co-founder Johan Lagerlöf. The company’s operations will be overseen by Tim Fraser-Harding, WMG’s President, Global Catalog, Recorded Music.
“X5 is an incredibly exciting company that has done great things in the digital space,” said Fraser-Harding. “This team, led by Johan, has an impressive ability to curate specific genres of music and create engaging and accessible digital products and playlists. We hope to help X5 grow its business in the years ahead and believe that we in turn will benefit hugely from its experience.”
Stu Bergen, CEO, International and Global Commercial Services, WMG, added: “It is a pleasure to welcome X5 to the Warner Music family. X5 will bring its unrivalled expertise to bear on behalf of the vast range of music we are honored to be promoting around the world.”
“Our business is to increase the value of catalog music by putting it in the right context,” Johan Lagerlöf corroborated. “We are excited to be working with the amazing catalog of Warner Music Group and look forward to harnessing our scalable business model to increase its value. X5 has helped pioneer the digital music business for more than a decade and now we are bringing our unique expertise and experience to WMG.”
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Categories: Music