Avex lifts S10 stake to 85% as Silverstein leads new music group
Avex now owns 85% of Brandon Silverstein's S10 Entertainment. The holding covers S10's management, recording and venture arms and was announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, according to Billboard.
The increase builds on a relationship that started in 2020. That year Avex launched its U.S. division and began investing in S10. Avex later described that early backing as its entry into the global artist management business.
Silverstein stays at the centre of the enlarged operation. He is chief executive of both S10 and the newly launched Avex Music Group. He also sits on the board of Avex Music Group and holds equity in it as a partner.
His remit is broad. It spans recorded music, publishing, live entertainment, touring and investments. In practice that puts one executive across artist deals, song rights, concerts and the group's wider bets.
Avex has also taken full control of S10 Music Publishing. It acquired 100% of the publisher. Publishing covers the song itself, the words and melody, separate from any particular recording.
At the time of that acquisition, the publisher's catalogue included songs recorded by Justin Bieber, Drake, Tate McRae, Doja Cat, Post Malone and Rihanna. A catalogue here means the bundle of song rights that earns royalties when music is streamed, played, covered or synced to film and adverts.
Avex Music Group added another high-profile signing in March. It agreed a global music publishing administration partnership with Bruno Mars. Administration means the company handles licensing, collection and paperwork for a writer's songs in exchange for a fee or commission.
That partnership began after Mars completed his previous contract with BMG/Warner Chappell in the summer. No new music was announced alongside the deal.
The group is also buying. Avex Music Group launched a $100 million fund to acquire music copyrights, companies and publishing catalogues over the next 12 months. Its first purchase was the publishing catalogue of songwriter Infamous, a collaborator of Teddy Swims.
For fans, this means less visible change than the numbers suggest. The same founder runs S10, but inside a larger Japanese-owned group with more money to buy song rights and sign writers.
