EVDIV 65 - The Music Industry: Structure, Rights, and Value

Paul Sipio
This course breaks down how the modern music industry works: how music is financed, distributed, monetized, and valued, and why copyright sits at the center of the entire system. Designed for artists, managers, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals, it offers a clear, practical map of who gets paid, when, and why.

Across 13 weekly sessions, participants explore the full music value chain from creation to monetization, the difference between songwriting and recording rights, and how money flows among artists, labels, publishers, platforms, and advisors. The course treats copyright as economic infrastructure, showing how rights are created, licensed, enforced, and monetized across global markets, including how landmark transactions, from initial public offerings to music catalog securitizations and multi-billion-dollar acquisitions, are built on that foundation.

Using current case studies and real-world transactions, including the Warner Music Group’s IPO, Universal Music Group’s spin-off from Vivendi, Concord’s asset-backed securitizations and subsequent merger with BMG, and Sony Music Group’s acquisition of iconic and marquee music catalog rights, including Queen and Recognition Music Group, participants leave with a practical understanding of how creative work becomes economic value, how that value is divided across the industry, and how to engage more strategically as a creator, operator, or investor.

Biography: Paul Sipio is a managing director in the origination group at Apollo Global Management. Sipio has led Apollo’s long-term financing partnerships in the music industry with Sony Music Group and Concord. Prior to joining Apollo in 2021, Sipio worked in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Investment Banking group at Goldman Sachs as well as at Universal Music Group. Sipio received his M.B.A. with Honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and he graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Music from Northeastern University. Sipio is a professor on the music adjunct faculty at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He also serves as an advisor on the board of Yale School of Music, a trustee on the board of Kaufman Music Center, and a director on the board of Behind the Book.

One Section Available | 13 Classes Total | Extension Holiday Schedule

Thursdays 6:30–8:30pm ET

September 17–December 17

In Person Only

$910