Why music rights deals are getting smarter w/ Michael Poster

The next wave of returns in music won’t come from buying bigger catalogs, but from buying smarter. In this episode, we sit down with Michael Poster, Partner and Chair of Music Acquisitions & Financing at Michelman & Robinson, to unpack how the market has broadened and matured, why “alternative” strategies aren’t alternative anymore, and how smart buyers are quietly creating value through structure, aggregation, and data-led uplift.

From sub-$10m deals to billion-dollar portfolios, Michael’s seen the full cycle: raising capital, rolling up catalogs, exiting to large asset managers, and now architecting the secondary sales that define the next phase of music as an asset class.

Brought to you by Standard Innovation.

03:01 – The shift that opened up an entirely new catalog market
05:22 – How small deals quietly turn into big-multiple exits
07:00 – The overlooked revenue streams buyers can instantly unlock
09:18 – Where value hides in disorganised or under-collected catalogs
11:24 – Why prepared catalogs win: clarity, confidence & better financing
13:05 – The private-equity playbook now defining catalog exits
25:54 – The next wave of deal supply most investors aren’t looking at
37:35 – The most underrated global rights opportunity right now

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► About Standard Innovation
Standard Innovation helps music rights funds improve catalog performance with better data, governance, and operational discipline.

► Episode links
Michelman & Robinson: ⁠⁠https://www.mrllp.com/⁠
Standard Innovation: ⁠⁠https://standard-innovation.com/⁠⁠

► Credits
Guest: Michael Poster — Partner and Chair of Music Acquisitions & Financing at Michelman & Robinson
Theme: “Meet Me” — Outlines (Written by Sam Cox) — Courtesy of Bespoke Records

► Keywords
Music Moneyball, music rights investing, catalog acquisitions, secondary sales, roll-ups, discounted cash flow, valuation, alternative strategies, sub-$10m deals, private equity structures, reps & warranties, RWI, metadata, royalty uplift, YouTube income, foreign mechanicals, catalog preparation, financing, AI in music, AI training data, payment models, Music Modernization Act, sync, sampling, NIL, EDM, Latin music, diversification, Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, asset managers, consolidation, Standard Innovation