The first half of 2026 was a lot.
In Billboard‘s midyear report on the biggest deals of 2025, we highlighted five transactions, three of which were worth more than $1 billion. At the same point this year, we’re highlighting a baker’s dozen of deals — and the top five mergers, acquisitions and capital raises in the first half alone were worth more than $16 billion combined.
It’s not just the music industry. The first half of this year saw $2.77 trillion worth of deals inked worldwide, up 48% from the year-ago period and the best first half for mergers and acquisitions since the dot com bubble burst in 2002, the New York Times recently reported, citing data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
Conflicts and natural disasters from Iran to Ukraine to Venezuela have rocked energy markets and sent the cost of many goods upward, while the hundreds of billions of dollars invested to fuel the AI bonanza have some fearing a bubble. Those events have created financial windfalls for institutional investors —particularly those with oil and gas and AI holdings in their portfolios — and consolidation in many industries.
Institutional investors flush with cash continue to tune in to music royalties and privately-held music companies because they are a good value and provide stable investments mostly unaffected by the broader macroeconomic upheaval.
The list of deals below covers every merger, acquisition, investment or capital raise publicly announced or closed for a music company that was worth more than $500 million through early July. As always, we never want to be wrong, so if you see something missing from this list, do reach out.
