Artisan provides advisory services and makes investments in the media + entertainment industries

We work with businesses that are built upon the strength of amazing content and brands

Overview

Artisan was formed in 2016 by Brian Richards to provide advisory services and make investments in the media + entertainment industries. With deep experience and expertise across these sectors, especially the content industries, we provide highly specialized transaction services to our clients.

Prior to founding Artisan, Brian was Co-Founder and Managing Partner at MESA, a premier investment bank specializing in the media + entertainment industries. As a leader at MESA, Brian was involved in hundreds of transactions across all sectors of traditional and digital media, with a deep specialty in the content industries. MESA was acquired by Houlihan Lokey in 2015.


$6+ Billion

In transaction value across the media + entertainment sectors


100+ Deals

Completed by Artisan + MESA

 

Advisory

Artisan provides advisory services to select clients in the media + entertainment industries. Services include sell-side advisory for companies and catalog owners, buy-side advisory and capital raising, both debt and equity. Key sectors include:

  • Music

  • Film

  • Television

  • Digital Media

  • Publishing

  • Live Entertainment

  • Education

  • Children’s Media

  • Consumer Brands

  • Agencies

  • Photography

  • Software

Music Specialty

Artisan is one of the most experienced advisors in the music industry, with 50+ transactions completed across recorded music and music publishing. With extensive reach across strategic buyers and financial investors, we work with select record labels, music publishers and catalog owners to achieve their goals.

Selected Historical Deals + Investments

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Investments

Artisan makes equity and debt investments in the media, entertainment and consumer industries. Specifically, we seek to invest or acquire businesses that are built upon the strength of strong content, consumer brands or other forms of intellectual property.

We will consider a range of deal structures including:

  • Company Acquisitions

  • Equity Investments

  • Debt Investments

  • Structured Investments

  • IP Catalog Acquisitions