Photo Credit: Matt Spetzler (Jamen Capital), Richard Leach (Curve Royalty Systems), Charlie Lexton (Merlin)
About two months later, Merlin and Jamen Capital have officially completed their acquisition of Curve Royalty Systems from Virgin Music Group/Universal Music.
The indie giant and Matt Spetzler’s Jamen confirmed the purchase’s wrap today, after disclosing plans in June to scoop up the royalty processor. That EU regulators promptly signed off on the deal doesn’t come as a surprise; it was the European Commission itself that’d ordered Virgin/Universal Music to offload Curve.
Moreover, the close of Virgin/Universal’s since-wrapped Downtown buyout was contingent upon the full divestiture of Curve, which Downtown itself had bought in early 2023.
Now, as described by Jamen and Merlin, the “independent, standalone business” intends to pursue long-term growth under its existing team. Without diving into specifics, the buyers highlighted “plans to accelerate innovation” by adding new products and services.
And on the “existing team” front, Richard Leach will remain CEO of Curve, which is retaining the same “management and day-to-day” employees as before, according to the buyers.
“For our clients,” Leach said in part, “it is very much business as usual: the same team, products, service and commitment to protecting their data and interests. What changes is our ability to invest more ambitiously in the future. With the support of Jamen and Merlin, we can accelerate innovation, develop new products and continue building the elite-level infrastructure that music businesses need to manage increasingly complex royalty flows.”
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Jamen Capital (and Pipeline) founder Matt Spetzler in remarks of his own emphasized an objective of protecting “everything that has made the company successful while giving Richard and his team the resources to move faster, innovate and create even greater value for clients.”
“Curve is vital infrastructure for independent music businesses around the world,” concluded Merlin head Charlie Lexton. “Completing this acquisition secures its independence and ensures it remains neutral, trusted and closely connected to the community it serves. We are proud to back the team as it expands the platform and develops the next generation of products and services for the sector.”
With that, time will reveal Curve’s new offerings under the fresh ownership structure. Also worth mentioning is the growing professional relationship between Merlin and Spetzler, whose above-noted Pipeline advance platform set sail at 2026’s start and formerly partnered with Merlin soon thereafter.
And more broadly, the Curve sale’s close seemingly marks the formal end of a decidedly heated chapter for the music world; that some supported UMG’s buying Downtown while others vehemently opposed the play isn’t exactly a secret. Nor are the major’s post-purchase share-price woes, which seemingly solid revenue contributions from Downtown have thus far failed to alleviate.