Digital music rights acquisition, publisher and distributor One Media iP Group has launched a copyright infringement division called TCAT Limited.
The London-listed firm said it has also appointed an experienced management team for its Technical Copyright Analysis Tool or “TCAT”.
One Media and TCAT
TCAT is a ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) platform which was developed in-house at One Media to detect copyright infringement within legitimate digital music stores.
The creation of the subsidiary is part of TCAT’s next phase of development to become a leading anti-piracy service for the music industry.
One Media said TCAT currently provides a range of services to two major record labels and the world’s largest media distributor on a retained basis, and its services are also used by organisations that represent the interests of the recording industry worldwide.
TCAT Limited is based in Belfast, a leading technology hub with a large pool of highly qualified employees.
To enhance and scale TCAT for wider use across the industry and other markets, the company has appointed an accomplished management team to operate the subsidiary, led by Dr Ed Vernon OBE, Strategic Adviser to BT Ireland, a Foundation Board Trustee of Queen’s University, a Belfast Harbour Commissioner, and adviser to a number of technology businesses.
Ed will be appointed Non-executive Chairman and holds 8% of shares in TCAT Limited under a JV deal.
Market update
One Media also updated the market with a trading update and expects to report a 30% surge in earnings, bucking the challenges many firms are facing amid the COVID pandemic.
In a trading update, the firm said it expects to report revenues for year of around £4m and earnings before tax and other items of £1.4m, an increase of 14% and 30% respectively on the prior year.
One Media also retains a healthy cash position with an unaudited cash balance of £6.7m.
Following a recent successful fundraising in August 2020, the company continues to evaluate acquisition opportunities to be executed primarily through its Harmony IP asset release programme and full catalogue acquisitions.
Michael Infante, CEO of One Media iP, commented: “Based on the Group’s strong performance to date and the continued growth in music streaming, the Board is confident in the outlook for the business as we remain focused on exploring further acquisition opportunities.
“We are also encouraged to observe that the sector continues to attract significant investment from outside of the industry, which we believe will help to build further interest in our business and strategy.
“We look forward to keeping the market updated as we continue to deliver on our growth strategy.”
One Media is due to report its full year results in March 2021. The shares leapt 18.6% to 6.7p following Monday’s news.