International music catalogs — including K-pop, Afrobeats, Reggaeton, and Bollywood — are experiencing a surge in institutional buyer interest driven by global streaming removing language barriers. UMG’s $65–70 million acquisition of Thailand’s RS Group catalog and Beyond Music’s $250 million K-pop portfolio demonstrate that non-English catalogs are now commanding serious acquisition valuations. The era of Western-only catalog investment is over.
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Why the Global Catalog Market Has Permanently Shifted
For most of the recorded music industry’s history, catalog acquisitions were dominated by Anglo-American repertoire. The economics were simple: the US and UK were the largest royalty-paying markets, and English-language music traveled most easily across borders. Non-English catalogs generated strong domestic income but faced barriers to international royalty collection.
Streaming demolished those barriers.
When Spotify launches in a new market, every song in its catalog — regardless of language or origin — becomes immediately accessible to every subscriber. A Thai pop song from 1995 that had generated royalties exclusively within Thailand can now be streamed by listeners in Brazil, Nigeria, or Germany. The same infrastructure that collects royalties for a US pop hit collects royalties for a K-pop track, a Bollywood score, or an Afrobeats album.
This structural shift has two immediate consequences for catalog valuation:
- Historical royalty income understates future potential. International catalogs that generated modest royalties before streaming are now seeing structural tailwinds as global streaming penetration increases.
- Institutional buyers are recognizing geographic diversification value. A catalog generating income from Korean, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and Western markets simultaneously is less exposed to any single market’s streaming economics than a purely domestic catalog.
These dynamics have created a genuine global market for non-English music rights — with institutional capital flows to match.
K-Pop: The World’s Most Valuable Non-English Music Export
The Scale of K-Pop as a Global Asset Class
K-pop is no longer a niche category. South Korea’s K-pop album exports exceeded $300 million for the first time in 2025, reaching a record $301.7 million — up 3.4% from the prior year. Japan remains the largest market at $80.6 million, followed by China at $69.7 million and the United States at $64 million, with meaningful volumes in Germany, Taiwan, France, and Poland.
The streaming performance of K-pop is even more significant than physical exports. BTS’s “Butter” spent ten consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. BLACKPINK songs like “Kill This Love,” “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” “Ice Cream,” and “Pretty Savage” each have over 500 million streams on Spotify. The Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters in 2025 placed four K-pop songs simultaneously in Billboard’s Hot 100 Top 10 — a cultural market penetration that no other non-English language music has achieved at this scale in the US market.
For catalog investors, this performance data means K-pop publishing rights and master recordings are generating royalty income in the highest-paying streaming markets on Earth — not just in South Korea.
Beyond Music: The Dedicated K-Pop Catalog Investment Firm
The clearest evidence that K-pop has matured into a legitimate asset class is the emergence of specialized institutional investors. Beyond Music, founded in Seoul in 2021, has invested approximately $250 million to acquire over 35,000 K-pop tracks — making it comparable in portfolio size to US-based HarbourView Equity Partners. The firm has raised more than $400 million from Korean private equity and institutional investors including Pax Capital and KB Securities.
Beyond Music operates “like a specialized asset management company,” as CEO Jinwoo Jo described to Billboard. Its acquisition strategy focuses on both current K-pop megahits and older Korean evergreen songs — with the latter category generating surprisingly positive streaming trajectories as catalog material from before the streaming era finally reaches global audiences.
Key Beyond Music acquisitions in 2025 include:
- Bekuh Boom’s 33-song publishing catalog, including BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love,” “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” “Ice Cream,” “BOMBAYAH,” and “Pretty Savage” — each with over 500 million Spotify streams
- A stake in BTS’s “Butter”, which dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks
The financial terms of these deals were not publicly disclosed, but the strategic logic is clear: songs with 500 million+ streams are generating seven-figure annual royalty income, and at standard publishing multiples (15x–18x NPS), individual song rights from BLACKPINK or BTS are multi-million-dollar assets.
How K-Pop Catalogs Are Valued Differently
K-pop catalog investment operates with nuances that Western-focused investors are still learning to navigate. As Billboard reported from the Beyond Music CEO:
Cultural specificity in acquisition: Korean management companies structure deals differently from Western publishers. Direct songwriter relationships and company-level master acquisition require cultural sensitivity and trust-building that Western buyers lack. This creates a competitive advantage for specialized local players like Beyond Music — but also means that K-pop catalog sellers have multiple viable buyer options depending on their specific situation.
Recency risk: Many of K-pop’s biggest catalog assets are relatively new — under seven years old. Unlike a 50-year-old rock catalog with decades of proven durability, a 2019 BLACKPINK hit carries more uncertainty about whether streaming income will remain elevated as the group’s popularity evolves. Buyers manage this through diversification (mixing current hits with vintage Korean classics) and active management (sync placements in Korean dramas, global ads).
The sync advantage for K-pop: Beyond Music’s deal with Japanese beer brand Asahi Super Dry, using BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” in a global advertising campaign timed to the group’s world tour, illustrates the unique sync opportunity in K-pop. The genre’s global fanbase creates brand association value across multiple territories simultaneously — making K-pop sync placements potentially more valuable than comparable Western equivalents.
Older Korean classics as structural tailwind: Jinwoo Jo told Billboard that vintage songs in Beyond’s collection have experienced unexpected streaming surges because many of them were only recently made available on streaming platforms. Korean management companies and artists historically lagged Western markets in digital distribution — meaning a catalog of Korean music from the 1990s and 2000s is, in effect, newly released to global streaming audiences. This creates a structural growth tailwind that Western catalog buyers cannot replicate.
UMG’s Thailand Acquisition: The Blueprint for Emerging Market Catalog Investment
If K-pop is the template for mature non-English catalog investment, Universal Music Group’s acquisition of Thailand’s RS Group catalog demonstrates the model for emerging market opportunities.
The Deal Structure
In 2023, UMG acquired a 70% stake in RS Group’s recorded music catalog — Thailand’s second-largest, comprising more than 10,000 master recordings, 6,000 copyright ownerships, and publishing rights and licenses dating from 1981-2022, covering more than 960 artists. The initial transaction valued the 70% stake at approximately $45 million plus potential bonus payments.
In September 2024, UMG completed the acquisition of the remaining 30% for approximately $18–20 million — bringing the total acquisition cost for Thailand’s second-largest recordings catalog to $65–70 million.
The implied multiple is revealing: UMG stated at its Capital Markets Day in September 2024 that after one year of integration, the ~$70 million purchase price would represent “an effective 11.5x EBITDA multiple in a market that is growing rapidly.” For context, US and UK catalog purchases routinely trade at 15x–18x NPS/NLS — suggesting UMG is acquiring comparable Thai assets at a structural discount to developed-market equivalents.
The Strategic Logic
UMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge articulated a “triple-prong” strategy in high-growth markets at the CMD event: local A&R, services for local entrepreneurs via Virgin Music Group, and strategic M&A of existing catalogs. The specific “high-potential” markets named included China, India, Nigeria, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand.
The Thailand rationale is compelling: Thailand’s recorded music revenue grew 20% in 2022 to exceed $100 million for the first time. UMG’s revenues in Indonesia grew eightfold since 2015, with 25x expansion in EBITDA. These are developed-market-level growth rates in markets where catalog acquisition multiples are still priced at emerging-market levels.
This multiple differential is precisely the investment opportunity that international catalog buyers are pursuing. The gap between what a catalog generates in royalties today (which reflects historical streaming penetration) and what it will generate as streaming grows in emerging markets represents future value that buyers can capture by acquiring now.
Afrobeats, Reggaeton, and Bollywood: The Next Waves
K-pop and Southeast Asian catalogs are the most developed non-English acquisition markets in 2026, but investor attention is expanding rapidly to other genres.
Afrobeats: Africa’s Creative Economy Goes Global
Afrobeats — originating in Nigeria and across West Africa — has become a global genre. Wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido, and Afrobeats-influenced artists are generating hundreds of millions of streams across Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. The genre has penetrated Western pop charts in ways that were unimaginable five years ago.
The catalog investment market in Africa is nascent but developing rapidly. According to LinkedIn analysis published in early 2026, “international investors, funds, and aggregators are increasingly interested in acquiring African catalogues” as the genre’s global expansion continues. Notable early-stage activity includes Mr. Eazi — himself an Afrobeats artist — reportedly acquiring the catalogs of African artists through investment structures.
The key challenge in Afrobeats catalog investment is that many catalogs appear “low-earning” in historical royalty data not because they lack value, but because royalties were never properly registered, collected, or administered. There are systematic gaps in PRO registration, international royalty collection, and sync licensing that represent both a risk and an opportunity. Buyers who can improve royalty collection infrastructure on an undermonetized African catalog can generate significant post-acquisition income growth.
Afreximbank has signed a $1 billion initiative to support creative industries in Africa — signaling institutional recognition of the sector’s economic potential. As formal royalty collection improves across the continent, African catalog valuations will converge toward developed-market levels.
Latin Music Catalogs: Proven Track Record, Growing Demand
The Latin music catalog market is more mature than African alternatives. The $217 million Concord acquisition of Daddy Yankee’s catalog in 2024 is a marquee example of institutional capital deploying at scale into Latin music rights. For more detail on Latin catalog valuation specifically, see our article on Latin Music Catalog Valuation.
Reggaeton and Latin trap in particular have demonstrated durability in streaming data: Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” and “Despacito” (with Luis Fonsi) are among the most-streamed songs in the history of recorded music. Latin catalogs with comparable streaming footprints command US-comparable multiples.
Bollywood: The 1.4 Billion Person Market
India’s music market is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world, but remains relatively undermonetized in terms of formal royalty collection and international catalog acquisition. Bollywood’s century-long catalog of film music, bhangra, classical fusion, and contemporary pop represents an enormous untapped asset for institutional buyers.
UMG’s Capital Markets Day explicitly named India as a “high-potential” acquisition market. The structural opportunity is similar to Southeast Asia: a large, culturally vibrant music market where streaming penetration is rapidly increasing but where historical catalog transactions have been priced at developing-market multiples.
How International Catalogs Are Valued Differently: The Key Adjustments
International catalog valuation requires adjustments to the standard multiples that Western advisors apply:
Historical Royalty Understatement
The most important adjustment is accounting for systematic historical undermonetization. International catalogs — particularly those predating streaming — may show lower historical royalties than comparable US catalogs simply because:
- Distribution and digital availability was limited or absent
- PRO registration was incomplete or informal
- International royalty collection was not systematically pursued
- Sync licensing was primarily domestic
Buyers evaluating international catalogs must model potential royalties — what the catalog would generate with proper registration, modern distribution, and active licensing — not just historical actuals. This requires more analytical work but reveals the true opportunity.
Growth Market Premiums and Discounts
Catalogs in fast-growing streaming markets (Southeast Asia, Africa, India) may deserve growth premiums — applying a higher multiple to current income to reflect above-average future growth trajectory. The UMG Thailand deal effectively prices in a growth premium by accepting an 11.5x EBITDA multiple (below current Western standards of 15x+) in exchange for above-average organic income growth.
Conversely, catalogs in markets with political or economic instability may warrant discount multiples due to collection risk.
Currency and Collection Risk
International royalties are often paid in local currencies and must be collected through local collecting societies. Collection efficiency varies significantly: sophisticated markets like South Korea, Japan, and the UK achieve collection rates comparable to the US, while developing markets may achieve substantially lower rates. Buyers factor collection efficiency into effective royalty yield calculations.
Catalog Life and Cultural Durability
The cultural durability test is the same globally: does this music retain meaning to successive generations? Classic Bollywood scores, foundational K-pop hits, and golden-era Reggaeton have demonstrated this durability at global scale. Newer catalog releases in these genres carry more recency risk than equivalent Western legacy catalog.
For Non-English Catalog Owners: Understanding Your Market
If you own rights to international music catalog — whether K-pop publishing, Thai pop masters, Afrobeats recordings, or Bollywood film scores — the current market is genuinely interested in what you hold.
The relevant buyer universe has expanded beyond the three major labels. Dedicated international investors like Beyond Music, specialist funds emerging across Southeast Asia and Africa, and Western buyers with explicit emerging-market strategies (UMG, Concord, Primary Wave) are all actively evaluating non-English catalog opportunities.
To maximize your valuation:
1. Establish proper royalty registration globally. Ensure your catalog is registered with collecting societies in every territory where it has streaming or performance income. Unregistered royalties are unquantified value — buyers cannot pay for income they cannot verify.
2. Document income from non-obvious sources. International catalogs often generate income from: drama and film placements in domestic markets, streaming on regional platforms not tracked by Western analytics, neighboring rights in territories with active collection societies.
3. Prepare streaming data across all platforms. Provide data from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and relevant regional platforms (Melon in South Korea, JioSaavn in India, Boomplay in Africa). Buyers cannot value what they cannot see.
4. Engage advisors with international experience. The cross-border complexity of international catalog sales — including foreign tax considerations, currency issues, and local rights structures — requires advisors who have done these transactions before.
5. Understand the comparable transaction landscape. The UMG RS Group deal at ~11.5x EBITDA and Beyond Music’s K-pop acquisitions establish market benchmarks. Understanding where your catalog sits relative to these comparables determines your negotiating leverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do K-pop catalogs sell for the same multiples as US pop catalogs?
A: Not typically — but the gap is closing. Leading K-pop publishing rights from BLACKPINK or BTS are approaching US-comparable multiples due to their demonstrated global streaming performance. More niche or older Korean catalog trades at discounts (10x–14x NPS) relative to Western evergreen catalog (15x–18x NPS). The discount reflects recency risk and collection complexity rather than underlying musical quality.
Q: Can I sell my Afrobeats or Bollywood catalog to Western buyers?
A: Yes. Major publishers including Concord, Primary Wave, and UMG (through Chord Music) are actively evaluating international catalog acquisitions. UMG has explicitly named Africa (Nigeria) and India as “high-potential” acquisition markets at its 2024 Capital Markets Day. Specialist funds and aggregators are also developing acquiring programs for these markets.
Q: How does streaming in developing markets affect international catalog values?
A: Positively for catalogs in high-growth markets. Thailand’s recorded music revenue grew 20% in a single year. UMG’s Indonesia revenues grew 8x since 2015. These growth rates are significantly higher than in mature markets. Buyers who acquire international catalog at current multiples capture the upside from expanding streaming penetration.
Q: What is Beyond Music and should I contact them about my K-pop catalog?
A: Beyond Music is a Seoul-based music IP investment firm that has invested ~$250 million across 35,000+ K-pop tracks since 2021, backed by $400 million from Korean institutional investors. They are a primary buyer for K-pop publishing rights and master recordings. For K-pop catalog sales, they are a natural first contact alongside major label publishing arms.
Q: Is the international catalog market as liquid as the US market?
A: Less liquid today, but the gap is narrowing rapidly. The US market has 100+ active buyers; international markets are earlier in development with fewer dedicated buyers. This means sellers face a smaller buyer universe — but also face less competition for seller attention from acquisition-focused buyers. The right broker with international relationships can access the relevant institutional buyers efficiently.
For more on partial catalog sales and structuring international deals, see our article on Partial Catalog Sales. For tax considerations in cross-border transactions, consult a specialist in international music IP taxation.
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