CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2026 17 Most Influential CEO 2026: Music Rights Investment Leadership – UK & Leading Music Catalogue Investment Platform 2026 – Europe With music rights having become institutional and the big allocators growing comfortable, it is no longer about explaining why music belongs in an investors’ portfolio, it is about how best to get exposure to it. In a market filled with opportunistic financial buyers, Star Music Fund stands out for its combination of unrivalled music knowledge and commitment to quality and discipline. Founder and CEO Vasileios Touronis caught up with us for more following both his and the platform’s recognition in this feature. Star Music Fund is a Londonbased platform responsible for buying and looking after evergreen music rights across songwriting, recording, and publishing. It aims to be the best home for those who own the rights, and at the same time provide a disciplined way for serious institutional capital to get into this increasingly popular asset class. Vasileios explained: “Music has gone from being a curiosity that investors weren’t quite sure about to something that sits comfortably alongside any other private-markets strategy, and we treat it with exactly that level of rigour.” Disciplined, bespoke, and committed to stewardship, Star Music Fund is set apart in the fact that it brings together three things rarely found under one roof: deep music expertise coming from hands-on industry experience, investment discipline from people with real financial backgrounds, and an operations team capable of turning analysis into fast and clean execution. This distinction is the difference between a specialist like Star Music Fund and a standard financial buyer, with the former seeing the right deals found earlier, priced more accurately, and actively managed once they are secured. Across the more than $500M of midmarket deal flow the company has handled, most has reached first-look or exclusive channels as opposed to the usual crowded auctions. In his role as the CEO of Star Music Fund, Vasileios prides himself on fusing a lifelong love of music with more than 30 years of experience working at the likes of CBS Records and the music data analytics platform Bitsonic, the latter of which he co-founded. A collection of more than 50,000 vinyl records shows his passion for music, and means he knows the genres, artists, and stories behind the catalogues his company looks at. “I think the combination of really knowing the music and bringing genuine analytical and financial discipline is unbeatable in this market”, Vasileios told us. “It’s what lets us value a catalogue both as a piece of art and as a cashflowing asset.” As a leader, Vasileios is a strategist who sets the standard for others to follow, rather than giving a lot of instructions. Because a specialist investment business like this favours the quality of judgement far more than the amount of activity, this CEO has a high bar for what he will underwrite and does not shy away from holding people to it. Whilst his self-reliance and strong opinions on how things should be done remain, Vasileios now hires people he genuinely trusts and then gets out of their way. He still follows up on the things that matter, but a newfound belief that the strongest version of a high standard is one the whole team owns, not one he polices on his own, now guides this CEO. Commenting on the multitalented group behind Star Music Fund, Vasileios told us: “We’re a senior team with decades of experience across music, investments, and operations, plus our technology partners, all pointed at one goal – building the leading platform in music rights investing. The mix is deliberate, because it brings together kinds of expertise that don’t usually sit together.” This unique foundation has seen Star Music Fund settle at the $1–10M catalogue range, as there is far more deal flow and much less of a crowd here than at the trophy end of the market. A big part of Star Music Fund’s success here comes from earning the trust of sellers. A music catalogue is so much more than a financial asset for artists, songwriters, and their families, and they will only hand over their life’s work to a buyer they truly believe in. Having won this trust one deal at a time, Vasileios recognises the importance of continuing to deepen relationships and staying structure-agnostic, and his ultimate ambition is to make Star Music Fund the reference platform for music rights in Europe, raising the standard of underwriting and building a team strong enough to carry the company beyond himself. Vasileios’ dedication to his company makes him more than fitting of inclusion in this feature celebrating the year’s most influential CEOs. Contact: Vasileios Touronis Company: Star Music Fund Web Address: starmusicfund.com AIM-Jun26253
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