Episode Description

What happens when a hit song, a music catalog, or even a celebrity's name and likeness becomes part of a probate estate? In this episode, Sam welcomes Iver Scott of Scott Valuation, LLC, a specialist in intellectual property valuation, to break down how IP assets are valued in an estate context — from discounted cash flow analysis to the rare cases where comparable sales can apply.

Iver shares what goes into valuing music catalogs, how reversion and recapture rights affect value, and the critical distinction between valuing an asset immediately before versus after an artist's death — a nuance that played out in a landmark tax court case involving the Michael Jackson estate.

Iver's insights are essential listening for any probate professional who may encounter IP assets in an estate.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How intellectual property valuation sits at the intersection of art and science
• Discounted cash flow analysis explained — and why future cash flows are worth less than cash in hand today
• When comparable sales methodology works for music catalogs (and when it doesn't)
• The role of genre, commercial trajectory, and an artist's "S curve" in valuing a song
• Reversion and recapture rights and how they impact the value of music copyrights
• Inside the Michael Jackson estate valuation — name, image, and likeness under the microscope
• Why the timing of a valuation (immediately before vs. after an artist's death) can mean a difference of tens of millions of dollars in estate tax

Resources from this Episode

Website: scottvaluation.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iver-scott

Email: [email protected]

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