Press Release
Ben Katovsky Joins Pipeline as CEO
Ben Katovsky joins Pipeline as CEO
Former Recognition Music Group CEO and BMG COO brings institutional investment expertise to Pipeline to help music companies and rights holders unlock the value of their IP and grow
London, October 15th, 2026 – Ben Katovsky has joined Pipeline as Chief Executive Officer, leading the next phase of growth for its financing and investment business for the music and wider creative industries. He will team up with Co-Founder and Chairman Matt Spetzler to expand the business, operating across Pipeline’s offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.
Pipeline aims to give music companies, rights holders and creators access to the capital, investment expertise and technology traditionally available to the industry’s largest players, enabling them to unlock the value of their intellectual property (IP) while retaining flexibility and control over how they finance and grow their businesses.
Katovsky has spent more than twenty years in music rights. Most recently, he was CEO of Recognition Music Group, where he oversaw its transformation into an integrated music rights company owning and managing more than 45,000 songs and recordings across over 145 catalogues. During his tenure, Recognition completed landmark asset-backed financings before agreeing the sale of its entire catalogue to Sony Music Publishing in a transaction completed in July 2026. Before that, he spent seven years at BMG, latterly as Chief Operating Officer, playing a central role in the company’s global growth. Across Recognition and BMG he has worked with companies that have invested in excess of $5bn.
Since launching in January 2026 with more than $200 million in capital, Pipeline has established a strategic partnership with independent music licensing organisation Merlin to offer its members advances against digital royalties. In March, it acquired music valuation firm Clarty Partners, bringing proprietary valuation technology, royalty ingestion systems and analytical infrastructure into the business. Clarty’s founders, former BMG executives Stéphane Hubert and Pierre Suignard, joined Pipeline to lead its investment underwriting division.
The investment activity surrounding Pipeline also reflects Spetzler’s broader commitment to the infrastructure underpinning the independent music sector. Before founding Jamen Capital, he was a partner and Co-Head of Europe at private equity firm Francisco Partners, where he played a key role in the firm’s approximately $750 million majority acquisition of Kobalt Music Group in 2022. Across more than 10 investments in music and audio, Spetzler has been involved in transactions representing more than $10 billion in value and in 2026 alone he has helped oversee over $7 billion in exits and realisations for companies on whose boards he served including Kobalt, Recognition and Muse.
Together, Katovsky, Spetzler and the Pipeline team bring extensive experience across music rights, investment, and business building, including involvement in some of the most significant music investments of recent years. That expertise will be available directly to Pipeline’s partners throughout the investment lifecycle, from structuring and financing transactions to managing rights over the long term.
Matt Spetzler said, “We started Pipeline because there is enormous value in music IP, and too many of the companies that own it haven’t had the backing to realise their ambitions. Ben is one of very few people who has built, financed and run a world-class rights business at scale, delivering very strong outcomes for investors while caring for the music and the people behind it. He is the perfect person to lead Pipeline into its next phase.”
Ben Katovsky added, “I’ve spent my career at the intersection of music, technology and investment, working with some of the most innovative companies in our business. Pipeline is building a different model for how companies and creators can access capital, giving songwriters, artists, labels and publishers greater flexibility and control over how they grow. Matt and the team have built something impressive and I’m excited to be joining them to empower the music and wider creative industries.”
ENDS
For further information contact:
Andy Saunders
Velocity Communications
Tel: + 44 (0) 7939 133050
andy@velocitypr.co.uk
Notes to editors:
About Pipeline
Pipeline is a finance platform for music and creative industries. Pipeline provides a flexible financing platform designed to help independent music companies unlock their IP value, access growth capital, and compete at scale.