Good morning, creators. ☀️ Welcome to Day 13 of the Toys and Beats Morning Report — your daily scan of the signals moving music licensing, brand licensing, and the toy world. Four signals worth watching today, and the last one is a 12-track journey through the seasons from inside our own catalog. Let's get into it.
MusicBird Buys the Majid Jordan Publishing Catalog — Writer's and Publisher's Shares Together
What happened: MusicBird, the song-rights investor, has acquired the publishing catalog of Toronto R&B duo Majid Jordan — Majid Al-Maskati and Jordan Ullman — in a package deal covering both the writer's share and the publisher's share. The catalog reaches beyond the duo's own four studio albums to songs they wrote for other artists, including Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home," and it takes MusicBird's portfolio past stakes in 2,000 songs. (Source: Digital Music News)
Why it matters: The cleanest catalog deals bundle every share of the publishing in one move — writer and publisher together — because that is what makes a catalog simple to license, simple to administer, and simple to value.
The ETS/Zillion angle: That bundled structure is how this catalog was built from day one. Every Epic Toy Sound record is registered with the writer, composer, publisher, and master held together at 100% — no split confusion, no chasing shares — which is exactly why our tracks can be cleared fast for creators, Shorts, and sync. Clean rights are a feature, and we ship them on every release.
Global Licensing Hits $389.8 Billion — and Licensed Toys Are Growing 2.5x Faster Than the Toy Market
What happened: New Licensing International study data released as Brand Licensing Europe opened in London (October 6–8, 2026) puts global sales of licensed merchandise and services at $389.8 billion in 2025, up 5.45%, with Character & Entertainment the largest property type at $161.8 billion and toys a $46.4 billion product category. Companion Circana data shows licensed toys across the EU5 up 20% year-to-date to August 2026 against 8% for toys overall — now 35% of all toy sales — with Pokémon still the No. 1 toy property. (Source: licensing.biz)
Why it matters: More than one in three toy dollars in Europe now carries a license. Fandom is not a niche on the shelf anymore — it is the shelf, and properties with a story, a character, and a soundtrack are the ones converting.
The ETS/Zillion angle: This is the Toys and Beats thesis with industry numbers behind it: characters plus collectibles plus sound, owned end to end. Our community lives it daily — browse the action figures collection at toysandbeats.com, and pair the shelf with the sound using creator packs like the Monster Within horror soundscape pack ($5.99).
Primary Wave Takes Kobalt — Independent Publishing Consolidates Around Royalty Tech
What happened: Primary Wave Music agreed to acquire Kobalt, the tech-driven independent publisher and administrator, from Francisco Partners, in a definitive deal announced March 23, 2026 with an investment from Brookfield — a combination Digital Music News reported would create an independent with over $7 billion in assets. Kobalt continues as a standalone operation under its current management, and the deal includes AMRA, its global digital collection society, alongside a catalog serving over a million songs. (Source: Digital Music News and Primary Wave Music)
Why it matters: Publishing value is concentrating in whoever owns both the copyrights and the royalty-collection technology. Administration — tracking every play, in every territory, and getting it paid — is now the competitive edge, not an afterthought.
The ETS/Zillion angle: We take that lesson seriously at independent scale: every release here is registered work-plus-recording before its visualizers go live, so collection is switched on from the first play. Owning the catalog, the masters, the publishing, the store, and the registration pipeline is our version of the same play — built for 250+ global collaborators instead of a boardroom.
HOUSE SPOTLIGHT: "The Seasons of Life" — Epic Toy Sound
What happened: Today's spotlight is The Seasons of Life, the 12-track Epic Toy Sound album released September 21, 2026 on Zillion Records (UPC 700766664163), with cover art by Manyakfunks. Across tracks like "Seed Money," "Breaking Ground," "Changing Winds," "Thunder Rolls," and "Sunset Value," the record moves like a year does — planting, growing, weathering, and harvesting — an instrumental journey built for long creative sessions.
Why it matters: Twelve tracks, one arc, zero skips in the story: this is the kind of full-length catalog depth that keeps paying — every track is a separate licensing asset, a separate visualizer, and a separate soundtrack for a creator's post.
The ETS/Zillion angle: The Seasons of Life sits in the rotation alongside the newest drops — Artetoyscol's No Stop EP is out now — and it keeps working the way the whole machine works: owned outright, registered, and driving everything back to toysandbeats.com. For more toy photography features and artist spotlights, visit Zillion Marketplace.
That's Day 13. Keep creating, keep collecting, keep licensing — the catalog and the shelf are the same business. One love. ✌️