VENUSNOTE LIMITED

1. Industry Classification

Venusnote Limited is classified under SIC 90030 – Artistic Creation, within Section R (Arts, Entertainment and Recreation) of the UK SIC hierarchy. In practice, the balance sheet profile identifies this not as a trading creative services business but as a music catalogue rights-holding and royalty-collection vehicle — a structure common among established recording artists. The key indicators are:

• An intangible asset note showing copyright with an original cost of £2,944,201, fully amortised to nil — the hallmark of an acquired or capitalised music catalogue whose amortisation period has expired.
• Revenue recognised on a "rendering of services" basis, consistent with licensing and royalty flows rather than product sales.
• Accruals and deferred income of £666,838 (2023: £852,361), typical of royalty advances received from publishers, labels or collecting societies and released over time.
• A minimal operating footprint: 2 employees (including directors) and audit exemption under s477 Companies Act 2006.

The current directors, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxname shown to subscribers and Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxname shown to subscribers, together with the six persons with significant control (each holding 25–50%, several via trustee arrangements), indicate a collectively owned artist vehicle with family trust participation — standard practice for heritage acts managing succession and estate planning around a valuable catalogue. The company files under the small companies regime (FRS 102 Section 1A) and has opted not to file its profit and loss account, which limits public visibility of turnover — itself typical of artist-owned entities.

2. Relative Performance

Against sector norms, Venusnote is a significant outlier on balance sheet strength. The vast majority of SIC 90030 companies are micro-entities — sole traders and single-artist vehicles with net assets in the low five figures and negligible cash reserves. Venusnote's metrics place it comfortably in the top decile of the classification:

Because the P&L is not filed, movements in retained earnings are the best proxy for profitability (assuming no distributions). That proxy reveals a distinctly cyclical earnings pattern: a strong 2019 (+£636k), losses in 2020 (−£130k) and 2021 (−£89k) coinciding with the pandemic shutdown of live music, near breakeven in 2022, then recovery in 2023 (+£304k) and 2024 (+£148k). Cumulative net assets have risen from £114,832 (2018) to £986,901 (2024) — an almost ninefold increase — while cash has been sustained above £1.6m in four of the last five years.

The volatility in debtors (£3.67m in 2023 falling to £858k in 2024) and the 2023 spike in "other creditors" (£2.74m) reflect the lumpy, settlement-driven nature of royalty accounting — large receivable positions around active release/touring cycles, followed by collection and distribution.

3. Sector Trends Impact

Several structural trends in the UK music economy directly shape this company's performance:

• Streaming and catalogue consumption: UK recorded music trade revenues have grown at high single digits annually (BPI-reported revenues of roughly £1.4bn), with catalogue titles taking a rising share of on-demand streams. Heritage catalogues benefit disproportionately, and collecting society distributions (PRS for Music, PPL) have reached record levels — a direct tailwind for a rights-holding entity.
• The post-pandemic live recovery: The company's loss-making 2020–21 and strong 2023–24 mirror the industry-wide touring collapse and subsequent record-breaking live rebound. Live activity drives not only performance income but uplifts in streaming, sync and neighbouring rights across the associated catalogue.
• Catalogue valuation cycle: The 2019–22 boom in music catalogue acquisitions (and its subsequent cooling as interest rates rose) is relevant context: Venusnote carries its copyright at nil net book value, meaning the balance sheet almost certainly understates the economic value of its core asset. Fully amortised IP means future royalty income flows through with no amortisation drag — an increasingly conservative position relative to market valuations of comparable catalogues.
• Interest rates: With £1.7m cash on deposit and an interest income accounting policy, the higher-rate environment since 2022 provides a modest secondary earnings stream unavailable in the near-zero rate era.
• Risks: income concentration in a single catalogue; exposure to USD/EUR-denominated royalty settlements against GBP reporting; dependence on DSP royalty rate negotiations; and the structural complexity of trust-held PSC stakes, which is manageable but requires careful governance.

4. Competitive Positioning

Venusnote does not compete for customers in a conventional sense; its "competitive set" is other artist-owned catalogue vehicles and independent music publishers. Against that peer group:

Strengths - Ungeared, highly liquid balance sheet — no debt, cash covering all creditors, and positive working capital throughout the seven-year record, including through the pandemic that bankrupt­ed many live-dependent businesses. - Fully amortised IP — earnings are unburdened by non-cash charges, and the catalogue's market value is invisible on the balance sheet. - Minimal cost base — two employees and no fixed assets mean very high conversion of royalty revenue to profit; typical artist vehicles carry far heavier administrative overhead. - Institutional-grade compliance — filings current, no overdue obligations, full accounts filed despite exemption entitlements.

Weaknesses / constraints - Single-catalogue concentration with earnings tied to release and touring cycles, as evidenced by the 2020–21 losses. - Limited transparency — the small companies regime and unfiled P&L restrict external assessment of revenue mix (streaming vs sync vs performance) and margin structure. - Thin governance infrastructure typical of artist vehicles, with a two-director board and no audit — acceptable at this scale but a constraint on institutional counterparties compared with audited publishing entities.

Filings also indicate the accounting reference date has moved to 31 July, which would align future reporting more closely with royalty settlement cycles.

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