9 November 2020

One Media iP Group Plc

("One Media” or the "Company")

Formation of TCAT Limited Subsidiary

One Media iP Group Plc (AIM: OMIP), the digital music rights acquirer, publisher and distributor, announces that the Company has incorporated a new subsidiary, TCAT Limited, and appointed an experienced management team for its Technical Copyright Analysis Tool (“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.

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. TCAT is eligible for government (financial) support from (the regional development agency) Invest Northern Ireland.

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.

Ed will be joined on the Board of TCAT Limited by Robin Abeyesinhe as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, who has over 30 years’ public and private European finance experience.

Michael Infante, Chief Executive Officer of One Media iP, and Alice Dyson Jones, Chief Operating Officer of One Media iP and Director of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), will also join TCAT Limited’s Board.

Dr Benoit Hudza, who currently leads a team of engineers, data scientists and researchers to bring Artificial Intelligence to cloud operations, has been appointed as an adviser to the Board of TCAT Limited. 

The senior management team will consist of:

·       Gareth Waller as Chief Technology Officer. Gareth has significant experience developing highly scalable customer engagement platforms for the retail sector.

·       Kevin King is based in New York USA (the focus of TCAT’s client list) and as Head of International Sales will lead the sales initiative for TCAT. His experience in all social music destinations and his previous work with major record labels, digital distributors and leading digital streaming sites is important to the marketing of the service. 

·       Dr Giuseppe Malavolta, Dr Mahroo Rockni and Mr Philip Miles, all highly experienced software developers who have been integral to TCAT’s development to date, will also take up positions in TCAT Limited.

The team, now consisting of a number of Big Data technology industry professionals, will be expanded in due course to provide the expertise required to grow the platform and develop new initiatives and tools in music anti-piracy, digital music fingerprinting and music data analysis.

Michael Infante, Chief Executive Officer of One Media iP, commented: “After four years of developing and growing TCAT’s capabilities in-house, the Board has identified the need for TCAT to operate as an independent entity within the Group in order to realise its full potential.

“With a number of major record labels already subscribing to TCAT’s services on a retained basis, we are confident that, with the provision of additional resource and technical expertise to expand the software’s capabilities and usages, there is significant opportunity to gain new traction within the industry.  Our intention is for TCAT to become a mobile anti-piracy and audit tool for composers and artists as we build the portal to allow for future application access.

“Under the direction of a highly experienced and motivated management team, the Board has every confidence in TCAT’s growth trajectory as it enters the next phase of its development. We look forward to providing further updates in due course.” 

-Ends-

One Media iP Group Plc Michael Infante - CEO Claire Blunt – Chairman	+44 (0)175 378 5500 +44 (0)175 378 5501
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nominated Adviser) Liam Murray Jo Turner Ludovico Lazzaretti	+44 (0)20 7213 0880
Cenkos Securities plc (Broker) Max Hartley Max Gould Michael Johnson (Sales)	+44 (0)20 7397 8900
Yellow Jersey PR (PR & IR) Charles Goodwin Annabel Atkins	+44 (0)20 3004 9512

About One Media iP Group Plc

One Media is a digital music rights acquirer, publisher and distributor. The Group specialises in purchasing and monetising intellectual property rights with proven, repeat income streams. One Media adds value to its content by maximising its availability in over 600 digital stores globally, including Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon and Spotify.

One Media’s music is also widely used for synchronisation in film, TV and digital gaming whilst its video content is primarily viewed on YouTube where One Media operates over 20 YouTube channels as a certified partner.

One Media is listed on the London Stock Exchange on the AIM index, under the symbol ‘OMIP’.

For further information, please visit www.omip.co.uk and www.tcat.media

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company’s future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.