The Dillinger Escape Plan, Carpenter Brut, Better Lovers, and more - Songwriting Royalties

This asset includes the public-performance royalties for a 190+-track catalog of original rock songs. Every time one of these songs is streamed, broadcast, performed live, or used in a film or TV show, a performance royalty is earned. The winner steps into that check for the next 30 years.

The catalog is anchored by The Dillinger Escape Plan, a New Jersey mathcore band; material from synthpop band The Black Queen, a hardcore supergroup, Better Lovers, and "Imaginary Fire," a vocal feature on Carpenter Brut's 2018 single.

Like many rock catalogs, the earnings reflect a certain steadiness that other genres struggle to achieve. For nine years running, annual earnings have held in a band between $5,000 to $7,500 — through a pandemic, the streaming transition, and a complete reshuffling of how listeners find heavy music. LTM came in at $6,290. The three-year average is $6,842. No trend up, no trend down, just a steady rock of earnings.

The source of earnings is broadly diversified. Streaming contributes 67% of LTM, satellite radio another 15%, with smaller shares from live performance, terrestrial radio, and digital video. Nearly half of LTM comes from outside the United States, spread across 96 countries. The top five tracks account for 27% of LTM; the other 73% comes from the bench. A clear indicator that these rock royalties come from a diverse set of songs that reach audiences wherever and however they listen.

For an investor, the case is the shape of the income. A 30-year term on performance royalties that has held its annual band for a decade, spread across 190+ tracks and 96 countries. The steady rock across a diverse audience and set of songs is what carries it.

The Dillinger Escape Plan is a genre-defining New Jersey band that paired extreme technicality with evolving melody, earning critical acclaim and the AIM Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music (2017). The catalog traces a clear arc: early tracks like "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants" (Miss Machine, 2004) established their precision and intensity; Ire Works (2007) introduced a more melodic, experimental edge with "Milk Lizard" (featured on CSI: NY) and "Black Bubblegum" (performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien); and "One of Us Is the Killer" (2013), a Billboard 200-charting release, cemented their reputation as one of the most innovative bands in heavy music.

Carpenter Brut is a leading figure in synthwave/darksynth with a global cult following built on cinematic, 80s-inspired electronic production. "Imaginary Fire" (2018) from Leather Teeth, featuring Greg Puciato on vocals, is one of his most recognizable releases — a more accessible, vocal-driven turn that expanded his audience beyond niche electronic circles.
Better Lovers is a hardcore supergroup formed by former members of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die, blending mathcore intensity with sharp, modern production and Puciato's aggressive vocals.

Killer Be Killed is a heavy metal supergroup formed in 2011 with members of Soulfly, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, and Converge. Their three-vocalist approach blends thrash, hardcore, and sludge across two Nuclear Blast albums: a 2014 self-titled debut and Reluctant Hero (2020).

The Black Queen is a Los Angeles synth-pop trio formed in 2013 with members from Dillinger Escape Plan, Nine Inch Nails, and Puscifer. Their lush, 80s-inspired sound blends synthwave, new wave, and R&B across Fever Daydream (2016) and Infinite Games (2018).