KKR Invests in Music Catalog of Ryan Tedder and OneRepublic

Leading global investment firm KKR, together with Ryan Tedder, songwriter, musician, producer and lead vocalist of OneRepublic, today announced that KKR has agreed to acquire a majority stake of the music catalog of Tedder and OneRepublic, including music publishing and recorded music rights. Following the acquisition, Tedder will retain an interest in his music alongside KKR. Tedder’s management, Patriot Management, and artist development company mtheory, through its MTC Music Royalties fund, will also participate in the equity transaction. Interscope Records will continue to own the master recordings of OneRepublic.

The catalog includes nearly 500 songs written, recorded or produced by three-time Grammy winner Tedder for OneRepublic and other artists, including songs Tedder has written with Beyonce, U2, Paul McCartney, Adele, Stevie Wonder, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Jonas Brothers, Thomas Rhett and all OneRepublic songs including their massive hits “Apologize,” “Secrets” and “Counting Stars,” which just passed 40 million in sales and is one of the highest selling singles in Interscope Records’ history. Songs written by Tedder have sold over 420 million copies, or the equivalent of 63 billion streams.

Centered around an “artist-first” approach and in collaboration with Tedder, KKR plans to leverage the firm’s vast network, resources and global scale as well as its deep experience successfully investing in market-leading music, digital, media and content businesses to expand upon the success and reach of Tedder and OneRepublic’s music.

“The music industry is undergoing an incredible period of transformation,” shared Tedder. “Streaming and all forms of digital content are not only providing new avenues for how we consume music, but also for how artists can reach new audiences in a much more immersive way. KKR really stood out to us from every metric that mattered and it truly impressed upon me and my team their commitment to music as a true focus and passion moving forward.”

“We are excited to partner with Ryan on both his extraordinary body of creative work and on pursuing future opportunities together. At KKR, we are focused on a number of investment initiatives across the music and entertainment industries and we believe Ryan’s unique combination of artistic brilliance and business acumen will help us amplify these efforts,” said Nat Zilkha, Partner at KKR and Chairman of Gibson Brands, a portfolio company of KKR.