A new company called Royalty Flow has signed a letter of intent to purchase at least a 15 percent stake in the income stream from royalties stemming from Eminem’s catalog, according to a report from Billboard.
The company plans to target income streams from other prominent musicians in the future and eventually go public. Investors will be paid dividends from the royalties once the company is listed on NASDAQ.
Royalty Flow will be acquiring the income stream from FBT Productions, the production company owned by early Eminem collaborators Bass Brothers. The duo—made up of brothers Mark Bass and Jeff Bass—produced hits like “Lose Yourself,” “Sing For the Moment,” “Without Me,” “Superman,” and “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.”
According to Billboard, FBT Productions has earned roughly $7.9 million per year from its share of Eminem’s royalties. It’s estimated that the Detroit rapper’s catalog has sold 172 million albums worldwide, making Em one of the top-selling artists of all time.
However, Em himself hasn’t been consulted about Royalty Flow’s purchase. “Eminem is not involved in any deals for the sale of recording royalties and has no connection to this company,” a spokesperson for Interscope said in a statement to Billboard. “The decision to offer the royalty stream for sale or otherwise was made independently by a third party who retains royalties for an early portion of his catalog and Eminem was not consulted.”
While the future of the company remains to be seen, it plans to raise up to $50 million in a new type of corporate crowdfunding process created by the Obama administration. If successful, Royalty Flow will pioneer a new form of music investment that typically hasn’t been available to the public.
