MARTY EXPLAINS THE STATE OF PUBLISHING

Marty Bandier explains the state of the publishing industry to the Financial Times (subscription required; story is behind a paywall), hinting that rather than starting a cigar wrapper farm after he exits his Sony/ATV leadership post in March, he might stay in the biz.

Besides predicting a flurry of deals in the near future, he also notes that the sale of SONGS for a reported $150m was “totally baffling” and that “power has shifted from the heads of record companies to streaming services,” so now "it's important to know Daniel Ek."

The publishing industry is ripe for consolidation thanks to streaming services, he says, which has made music once again appealing to private investors and hedge funds. "If you ask Goldman Sachs, they will tell you that the number of subscribers 10 years from now will be astronomical," he says. "That's part of the reason that people are spending a lot of money."

As for his future plans? “I can't picture myself on a beach, and my golf game sucks," he told the U.K. publication. "Maybe if I’m out there I can consolidate,” he says. We assume he’s not talking about the stock of Cohibas in his humidors.

For more on Marty, see his profile in our recent History of the Music Biz, Part 3: Rainmakers. Here's an excerpt.