Le Motif and Bolero: a 400-track catalog of French rap open to all
It's an unprecedented collaboration, the result of the meeting of two parallel visions. Le Motif, known for its commitment to the music industry and its fight for the independence of creators, is backing this announcement as its most successful attempt to change things in the music industry. Bolero will be offering for sale over 400 tracks from Le Motif's catalog of publishing rights, bringing together works by 150 renowned artists such as Fally Ipupa, Gazo, Tiakola, Morad, Booba, Wizkid, and many others.
This catalog represents 6 years of career (2017 to 2023), including the creation and release of timeless hits illustrating the rise of Rap/Hip Hop to the status of France's favorite musical genre. The catalog includes 14 diamond discs, 13 platinum and double platinum discs, and 25 gold discs. The editorial rights underlying each track will be sold in limited quantities at a rate of 3 to 4 sales per week from 29 January 2024. This initiative makes Bolero the largest decentralized music rights marketplace in the world and proves that a European company has the capacity to innovate on an international scale.
After CDs, piracy, and streaming: the music rights market
Last year, the total value of intellectual property in the music industry was estimated at 41.5 billion dollars (source: IFPI & CISAC). This asset, whose value has been well understood by many investment funds and industry executives (Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music, Believe, etc.), has attracted growing interest since the explosion in music consumption via streaming. Like Justin Bieber ($200M), Katy Perry ($225M), and Bob Dylan ($400M), many artists, producers, and composers have resold their catalogs in order to benefit from substantial liquidity in return. Bolero stresses that its model directly disrupts the private market and the practices of traditional players. According to William Bailey (Bolero), the private marketplaces artists, creators, and composers in an unfavorable position and takes away their creative control after the operation. These are pitfalls that an open, accessible, and liquid market can erase while creating a tangible link between listeners and artists.
The Song Shares’ revolution
Bolero has named its concept Song Shares. As the name suggests, these digital assets issued in limited quantities contain fractional percentages of musical rights, representing co-ownership of a musical work. The artist, producer, or composer can put a discretionary share of a catalog or musical work up for sale to obtain unprecedented liquidity over their intellectual property. Once the work has been sold in the form of Song Shares, each client of the platform owns a share of the rights (master or editions) and benefits from a proportional share of the revenue generated by the track.
Royalties are paid monthly or quarterly by Bolero, which administers the collection from collective management bodies (SACEM) for publishing rights and from producers and distributors for mastering rights. This innovative approach enables artists to sell their music rights freely while protecting their creative control, opening up a new era in the music industry.
Statement
- Le Motif, Artist, Producer & Entrepreneur: "I am confident in Bolero’s mission and work to continue to add value to this unique catalog. Bolero’s technology will introduce a new model for artists to obtain liquidity at more advantageous terms than they can obtain from existing institutions and companies. Future buyers will be able to receive transparent revenue percentages from publishing sources".
- William Bailey, Co-founder & CEO of Bolero: "To bring about positive and lasting change in any industry, you need the skills, the business model, and above all, the magic that is the spice of any entrepreneurial story: two visions coming together at the right time for the right reasons. We are very proud to be associated with Le Motif and to represent France as the driving force behind a disruptive innovation with an international impact. The music industry is going to evolve, and Bolero will be at the forefront of promoting the independence of creators."
About Bolero: Founded in 2021 by William Bailey and Arthur Amon to drive the next revolution in the music industry, Bolero confirmed the attractiveness of its model to emerging and established rap and electronic artists in 2023 and enters 2024 with a major announcement for the future of the artistic business model. The platform, created by music industry professionals and technology experts, aims to become the world's largest decentralized music rights marketplace, a standard for creators, and a revelation for the general public looking for innovative investment vehicles.
About Le Motif: Born on 4 April 1989 in Ixelles, Le Motif, whose real name is Olivier Lesnicki, is a Belgian artist, producer, composer, and entrepreneur from Brussels. He has collaborated with artists like Siboy, SCH, Timal, Dosseh, and Shay, and is a member of the producer group Le Sommet. He is recognized for his vision in democratizing technological tools and artistic business models.
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