Nielsen has agreed to sell its music data division to Valence Media, the parent of dick clark productions, Billboard and the MRC film and television businesses.
The deal reunites Nielsen’s data with the music industry charts produced by Billboard and Valance said it was creating a new MRC Data Division that it said will be a comprehensive global provider of data and analytics to the music industry.
“By bringing Nielsen Music Products and Billboard back together, we’re answering the request from the music industry for a more coordinated, powerful, agile and global suite of independent measurement products,” said Deanna Brown, president of the Billboard-The Hollywood Reporter Media Group, who will also oversee MRC Data. “The new MRC Data division will leverage our scale and global, multimedia perspective to operate as a true accelerant for our music business colleagues and stakeholders.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Nielsen recently announced plans to divide itself into two companies, one of which will be focused on media measurement. It has been conducting a strategic review to determine whether or not to sell some or all of its businesses.
“Nielsen Music and Billboard have long partnered to offer a complete picture of music performance and artist activity for the largest, and most important, music markets in the world,” said Nielsen Global Media chief product and technology officer Karthik Rao. “We’re confident MRC Data will lead the next wave of growth in a business that is evolving faster than Drake drops hits.”
