Vine Alternative Investments has acquired the rights to the 100-plus song publishing catalog of Sean Douglas, a producer and songwriter with a genre-spanning resume that includes tracks by Demi Lovato ("Sorry Not Sorry"), David Guetta ("Hey Mama"), Jason Derulo ("Talk Dirty"), Thomas Rhett ("Die a Happy Man"), and Lizzo ("Like a Girl").
For its inaugural deal in music, Vine acquired both Douglas' writer's share and co-publishing. Previously, Vine acquired film and television assets including Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and Lakeshore Entertainment. "The acquisition of his catalog will strengthen our portfolio and aligns with Vine's strategy of identifying valuable royalty streams and IP of the highest caliber within the media and entertainment space," said Vine partner Rob Amir in a statement.
An alternative investment firm like Vine is increasingly common in financing. Low interest rates mean investors get little return -- even a negative return -- from bonds and instead put money into unregulated entities such as hedge funds, private equity firms and venture capital, unregulated alternatives to banks and publicly traded companies. PwC forecasts that alternative investment assets under management will reach $13.9 trillion this year, up from $11.2 trillion in 2016, and will rise 8.7% annually to $21.1 trillion.