"It's Rod Stewart on line 2. He's calling about the term sheet."
Given that Israeli venture capital is relatively staid both in terms of business models and investment focus. So it's always nifty to hear about people in the biz trying out much more inventive ideas.
A boutique London investment bank, Ingenious Media PLC, is financing comeback albums. Last month, it signed UB40, a reggae band that had a No. 1 hit in 1988 with the song "Red Red Wine." Other artists working on CDs for Ingenious include veteran rocker Peter Gabriel, and the techno punk band the Prodigy.
The firm, which specializes in media and entertainment deals, pays for the acts' music production, marketing and CD distribution. Its partners came up with the idea to start two funds to back faded groups three years ago. It has raised $79 million.
Fans often fill up concert venues to hear older acts perform their hits, but they typically shun their new record releases. Ingenious figured with the music industry suffering its worst downturn ever, record companies were reducing spending -- and some veteran acts would be eager for more support.
A different way of skinning a cat to be sure. Which leads to the obvious question: which has-been musical act would you like to fund?
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