Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Cutting Edge Group have formed a significant joint venture focused on WBD's extensive film and TV music catalog, marking one of the largest music rights deals in industry history.

The partnership encompasses over 400,000 compositions and song cues, including iconic music from properties like Game of Thrones, various comic-book films, and The Shawshank Redemption. While WBD will maintain creative and operational control over the music rights, Cutting Edge will co-own and jointly manage the catalog.

Key aspects of the deal:

• Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Publishing will continue their existing administration roles for portions of the catalog
• Germany's DWS Group is co-investing in the transaction
• The partnership aims to maximize distribution and revenue potential of the music rights
• Cutting Edge brings expertise from their existing portfolio of stakes in over 1,000 films and 45,000 tracks

Philip Moross, Cutting Edge founder and CEO, emphasized the historic significance of the deal, stating: "This truly is an iconic assembly of catalogs created over almost a century by one of Hollywood's original studios." He noted that this partnership represents the culmination of years of work and validates their specialist expertise in the market.

This joint venture emerges after WBD's previous attempts to sell its music library outright, demonstrating a strategic shift toward partnership rather than complete divestment of these valuable music assets.

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