This article was published on Aug. 27, 2025, at 11:14 a.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
The music intellectual property (IP) fractional investment (trust beneficiary securities) platform Musicow has confirmed it is selling its distribution business (transaction). Musicow, which was conducting its business under the financial regulatory sandbox (innovative financial services), is now understood to be streamlining its distribution sector as it recently applied for a license for the investment brokerage business related to issuance in order to enter the regulated market.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 27th, Musicow has recently selected Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers as the lead manager and is reviewing the sale of its distribution sector among the issuance and distribution businesses it had been operating. Currently, it is conducting tapping (pre-demand surveys) aimed at potential acquirers such as securities firms, and plans to distribute a teaser letter (investment prospectus) next week. It is reported that it is considering a valuation of about 300 billion won, including 12 billion won for the technology asset sector and 20 billion won for the business sector.
Founded in 2016, Musicow offers fractional investment services for music copyrights (music revenue securities). It acquires parts of music copyrights from creators and splits them into shares, which are then auctioned off. The auction is a proprietary recruitment process for issuing new music revenue securities and can be seen as conceptually similar to stock public subscription. Once the music revenue securities are issued through the auction, investors can purchase them on the Musicow platform, which allows trading. Musicow is selling its business related to this distribution platform.
This follows the step that Musicow had to take to streamline its distribution sector as it decided to apply for issuance license approval. Originally, Musicow was designated in the first batch of the regulatory sandbox in September 2023 and could conduct business for another two years under relevant laws. However, the situation changed when Musicow decided to enter the regulated market through the revenue securities investment brokerage license established by the financial authorities last February.
Currently, fractional investment businesses, including Musicow, are primarily engaged in both issuance and distribution through the regulatory sandbox. However, according to the institutionalization of fractional investment, these businesses will face restrictions on the distribution of securities they have issued in order to prevent conflicts of interest, similar to other financial companies. As a result, Musicow announced on the 19th that it would graduate early from the regulatory sandbox and would apply for an investment brokerage license related to issuance, rather than distribution.
Musicow recorded approximately 15 billion won in revenue last year and posted an operating loss of 24 billion won. However, it is receiving high expectations as a leading fractional investment company. Musicow previously received an investment of 60 billion won from STIC Investments in 2023. At that time, the company's recognized valuation was approximately 700 billion won. Its cumulative investment attraction amount is 220 billion won.