Business News
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Universal Music Group (UMG) reached a strategic agreement with ProRata.ai, a new company that enables generative artificial intelligence platforms to fractionally attribute and compensate content owners. Bill Gross, chairman of technology incubator Idealab Studio — which launched ProRata — will serve as CEO. ProRata’s technology allows generative AI platforms to attribute and share revenues on a per-use basis with content owners while preventing “unreliable content from driving AI answers,” according to a press release. In addition, ProRata is building a consumer AI answer engine set to launch this fall that will feature the company’s attribution technology.
“Current AI answer engines rely on shoplifted, plagiarized content,” Gross, the inventor of the pay-per-click monetization model underlying internet search, said in a statement. “This creates an environment where creators get nothing, and disinformation thrives. ProRata is pro-author, pro-artist and pro-consumer. Our technology allows creators to get credited and compensated while consumers get attributed, accurate answers. This solution will lead to a broader movement across the entire AI industry.”
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In his own statement, UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge said, “We are encouraged to see new entrepreneurial innovation set into motion in the Generative AI space guided by objectives that align with our own vision of how this revolutionary technology can be used ethically and positively while rewarding human creativity. Having reached a strategic agreement to help shape their efforts in the music category, we look forward to exploring all the potential ways UMG can work with ProRata to further advance our common goals and values.”
Along with UMG, ProRata has struck early agreements with media publishers including the Financial Times, The Atlantic and Fortune.
In describing the technology, the release reads: “ProRata’s technology analyzes AI output, measures the value of contributing content and calculates proportional compensation. The company uses a proprietary algorithmic approach to score and determine attribution. This attribution method enables copyright holders to share in the upside of generative AI by being credited and compensated for their material on a per-use basis. Unlike music or video streaming, generative AI pay-per-use requires fractional attribution as responses are generated using multiple content sources.”
ProRata is in “advanced discussions” with additional news publishers, authors, and media and entertainment companies. The company’s leadership team and board of directors include executives who have held senior roles at Microsoft, Google and Meta, as well as Michael Lang, the president of Lang Media Group and one of the founders of Hulu. Early investors include Revolution Ventures, Prime Movers Lab and Mayfield.
Immersive technology, media and entertainment company Cosm raised more than $250 million in funding to drive the growth of its “Shared Reality” venues — described in a press release as an “experience that seamlessly bridges the virtual and physical worlds by merging state-of-the-art visuals with the energy and excitement of the crowd and elevated food and beverage service.” The new funding round includes existing investors Steve Winn and Mirasol Capital and first-time investors Avenue Sports Fund led by Marc Lasry, Dan Gilbert‘s ROCK, Baillie Gifford, and David Blitzer‘s Bolt Ventures. Cosm will use the funds to scale, grow its technology and media business units, and speed up the development of more Cosm venues worldwide. The second Cosm venue is slated to open in Dallas later this year, with a third in Atlanta recently announced. “Cosm venues are a new paradigm in live sports, music, and artistic entertainment,” said Chris Evdaimon, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, in a statement. “The mesmerizing viewing experience guarantees the Cosm customer the best seats in the arena and the best viewing angle at any moment of the live event, at an affordable ticket price.”
HYBE Interactive Media (HYBE IM), the interactive media and games division of the storied K-pop company, raised $80 million in a round led by Makers Fund with participation from IMM Investment and parent company HYBE. The funds will be used to expand the company’s games publishing and development efforts, allowing HYBE IM to invest in more games, introduce them in global markets and bolster the division’s in-house development capabilities. HYBE IM’s previously-released titles include Rhythm Hive and BTS Island: In the SEOM. It’s also signed publishing contracts for Macovill’s OZ Re:write and Flint’s RPG Astra: Knights of Veda.
Believe acquired Doğan Music Company, Turkey’s largest independent record label, four years after purchasing a 60% majority stake in the company in 2020; it acquired the remaining 40% of the company for 38.3 million euros ($41.84 million). The transaction is pending approval by the competition regulator.
The U.K. office of Believe signed a global services deal with electronic music brand fabric. Under the agreement, fabric joins the client base of b:electronic, Believe’s electronic music imprint and part of the company’s label & artist solutions division. B:electronic will provide genre specialist label management, video and audience development, editorial and marketing partnerships internationally, and distribution for both catalog and new releases. Fabric’s labels include fabric Originals, fabric Records and Houndstooth, while a new imprint is slated to launch in the near future.
Beatchain partnered with Indian radio network Radio City India to launch Muzartdisco, a digital platform and app that will allow Indian artists to release and promote their music using Beatchain’s A&R tool and artist services platform. Through the platform, artists can also compete for opportunities including studio sessions; mentoring; collaborations with established artists, writers and producers; radio breakout campaigns, social media shoutouts and other opportunities courtesy of Radio City India; and more. Meanwhile, A&R teams using the platform will be able to find artists using a tailored filtering process that makes it easier to find talent that aligns with their mission and niche. According to a press release, Radio India is the country’s leading radio network, boasting a listenership of more than 69 million across 39 cities.
Sports and entertainment collectibles company Panini America partnered with The Rolling Stones to produce the first fully licensed, career-spanning trading card set for the band. Titled Prizm The Rolling Stones, the set will chronicle the Stones’ 60-year recording and touring history, with additional collections to come.
AEG Presents partnered with Jacobs Entertainment — a developer, owner and operator of gaming and entertainment facilities — on Globe Iron, a new indoor 1,200-capacity venue in Cleveland that was once home to the Globe Iron Works Foundry built in 1853. AEG, which will operate and exclusively book the venue’s programming, already books and operates two other Cleveland venues: the Agora Theatre and the Jacobs Pavilion.
Indie record label The Programm, led by Peter “S.Y.” Pestano, struck a joint venture with LLC4/Capitol Records to break new artists, starting with Mexican-American rapper NHC Murda 60x. The joint venture will be steered by Orlando Wharton, executive vp at Capitol Music Group, president of Priority Records and CEO of LLC4. NHC Murda 60x and other Programm artists will have the potential to be upstreamed under the deal.
Independent entertainment company Unity 7 Entertainment announced a distribution partnership with Forecast Music Group (The Orchard/Sony), which will provide global distribution, marketing and promotional support for Unity 7’s artist roster. The partnership will kick off with the release of hip-hop artist Alantra’s debut single, “Get It,” which is set to drop on Sept. 5.
AI-powered, ethically-trained music generation company Soundful teamed with SoundCloud and Kaskade on an AI songwriting competition that will offer the winner a chance to perform alongside Kaskade and have their winning track completed and released by Kaskade as a featured artist.
Warner Music Group’s stock was up around 3% Wednesday (Aug. 7) as investors optimistically received its fiscal third-quarter earnings report, which showed that streaming revenue continues to grow for the third-largest major music company.
On a call discussing the company’s earnings, Warner Music Group (WMG) CEO Robert Kyncl answered questions and shared his perspective on Spotify’s bundling controversy; discussed what WMG is doing to get more mileage out of its catalog; and shared a broad update on the company’s previously-announced $200 million cost savings/reinvestment plan — while remaining mum on the more recent executive restructure that’s been reverberating through the music industry since last week.
See below for three major takeaways from the call.
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Bundling is not inherently bad
Overall streaming revenue was up 5% for Warner this quarter, with recorded music streaming revenue up 8.7% — reflecting growth in subscription revenue of 7%. While that was welcome news to investors, the subject of Spotify’s contentious decision to bundle music and audiobooks — allowing them to qualify for the lower mechanical royalty rate reserved for bundles under the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) Phonorecords IV agreement — did not go unmentioned. But in his opening remarks and later, during a Q&A period with analysts, Kyncl said the company derives its streaming earnings from a diversity of partners and appeared to tamp down talk of the controversy that erupted over the bundling policy.
“I know that investor attention has recently been focused on the dynamics between labels and DSPs, with some speculating that we’re adversaries playing a zero-sum game. That’s simply not the case,” Kyncl said. “We’re actively engaged with our partners around ways to drive growth for all of us. Streaming dynamics remain healthy … with plenty of headroom for subscriber growth in both established and emerging markets … across multiple partners. Also, price optimization and improvements in the royalty models will provide ongoing opportunities for additional growth.”
Kyncl went on to note that bundling, which could result in lower payments to songwriters, has been used in other industries, like TV, for the purpose of market expansion. “The job of wholesalers like the music companies is to ensure that the sanctity of our pricing are in line with each other. You can expect us to pursue that strategy,” Kyncl said. “As it relates to CRB, I don’t see it as something that will persist in the long term.”
Radio silence on executive restructuring
WMG executives did not directly discuss the internal restructuring plans made public last week, which led longtime co-leader of Atlantic Records and Atlantic Music Group chairman/CEO Julie Greenwald to announce she was stepping down on Tuesday (Aug. 6). During his opening remarks, Kyncl did highlight the “commercially and creatively … successful” partnership between WMG and 10K Projects — whose CEO/founder Elliot Grainge has been picked to succeed Greenwald — by noting English-Cypriot singer-songwriter Artemas’ single “I Like The Way You Kiss Me,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Global Excl. U.S. chart in April.
However, Kyncl did share details about a restructuring plan he mentioned on WMG’s last earnings call, which included selling the entertainment websites Uproxx and HipHopDX — with the overall goal to increase investment in music, technology and new skill sets and deliver $200 million in savings by the end of fiscal 2025.
“The majority of changes have already been implemented,” Kyncl said. “We are laying a strong foundation to accelerate our progress and yield greater value over time. We made improvements to our royalty systems and the tools used to identify unclaimed revenue, we overhauled our global supply chain, unlocking our ability to scale our third-party distribution business, and we’ve transformed our proprietary tools that identify fan trends while building new ways to engage with super fans.”
Catalog optimization is a major priority
One area where Kyncl is investing in technology is through a project he says is aimed at increasing the “performance of catalog…across all of our DSPs.”
Speaking of recent spikes in streaming for artists in Warner’s “deep” catalog — like Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman — as well as “shallow” catalog like Ed Sheeran, Kyncl said generating continued digital success stories for those acts is a top priority.
“We have a project on this across our technology and business teams to move down the entire catalog and make sure it’s properly optimized for streaming and on every large DSP,” he said on the call. “All of this augments our marketing campaigns against catalog which we have done in the past and continue to do and we’re applying more and more frontline focus on catalog.”
Boosted by double-digit growth in recorded streaming and helped by major releases from Beyoncé and Future & Metro Boomin, Sony Music said on Tuesday that total revenue grew 23% to 442 billion yen ($2.7 billion) during its fiscal first quarter, which ended June 30.
Sony’s operating income improved 17% to 86 billion yen ($534 million) and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) jumped 30% to 108 billion yen ($671 million). Adjusted OIBDA margin improved to 24.4%.
Both of Sony’s music divisions — recorded music and publishing — posted similarly solid year-over-year gains during the period, resulting in the ninth consecutive year of growth on the recording side and 11th straight year of gains for publishing.
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Recorded music revenue increased 26% to 299 billion yen ($1.8 billion), with subscription and ad-supported streaming up 19% to 197 billion yen ($1.2 billion) and accounting for roughly 66% of that recorded segment tally. Physical revenue sunk 5.6% to 24 billion yen ($150 million), year over year, while Sony’s “other” category — lumping merchandise, live performances and licensing revenue from synch, public performance and broadcast — jumped 81% to 73 billion yen ($453 million).
Sony said some of its top sellers for the fiscal quarter were Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER, Future and Metro’s WE DON’T TRUST YOU, Travis Scott’s UTOPIA and SZA’s SOS. Some non-all-capped wins included Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old, 21 Savage’s american dream and Doja Cat’s Scarlet.
Music publishing revenue rose 28.7% to 97 billion yen ($602 million). Streaming revenue climbed 36% to 56.5 billion yen ($351 million), while publishing’s “other” category grew 19.7% to 40.1 billion yen ($249 million) when compared to the year-ago period. The company disclosed that as of March 31, its publishing division either owned or administered approximately 6.24 million songs, an increase of 14% in the last two years.
Sony Music’s visual media and platform revenue declined 7.1% to 39.7 billion yen ($246 million). The segment includes mobile gaming, software for PCs and game consoles, and software development contracts.
Looking ahead, Sony Music Entertainment raised its forecast for full-year revenue by 3% to 1.7 trillion yen (approximately $11.5 billion) with a projected operating income increase of 5% from the previous forecast in May to 20 billion yen.
Warner Music Group reported on Wednesday strong streaming revenue growth and keeping a lid on its costs helped offset declines in merchandise and physical music sales in the company’s third fiscal quarter.
Quarterly net profit rose nearly 14% to $141 million from $124 million in the third quarter last year. Overall revenue fell by 1% to $1.554 billion from $1.564 billion in the year ago quarter due to the roll off of BMG’s distribution deal and a difficult comparison to the year-ago quarter, which included a $7 million benefit from the Copyright Royalty Board in Phonorecords III.
The company’s digital revenue and streaming revenue were up 4.7% and 5.5% respectively, as subscription revenue grew 7%. Recorded Music streaming revenue increased 5.0%, and music publishing streaming revenue increased 7.9%.
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“Our strong subscription streaming growth in [the third quarter] was driven by the performance of our music and healthy industry trends,” Warner Music Group chief executive Robert Kyncl said in a statement. “We’re nurturing the next generation of artists and songwriters, creating fresh impact for our iconic catalog, and working with our partners to increase the value of music. Our commitment to long-term artist development, combined with a flatter structure in recorded music, will enable us to super-serve talent and set WMG up for sustained future growth.”
WMG’s operating income jumped 10% to $207 million in the quarter from $189 million in the third quarter last year. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA), which measures profitability over a specific period of time, rose 6% to $316 million from $297 million in the prior-year quarter.
Revenue from WMG’s recorded music division fell by 2% to $1.251 billion from $1.282 in the year-ago quarter. This was due in part to the exiting of BMG as a client, which resulted in $26 million less revenue, and a “renewal with one of the Company’s digital partners” which created an additional $3 million drage on recorded music streaming revenue, the company said.
BMG began winding down its distribution agreement with WMG’s ADA last September to move control of its 80 billion-stream digital business in-house.
Physical revenue fell by 4.8% because of release timing and a tough year-ago comparison, the company said. Artist services and expanded-rights revenue fell by 27.1% mainly due to lower merchandising revenue.
Revenue from WMG’s music publishing division rose by 8% to $305 million from $283 million in the year-ago quarter.
Topline Results:
Total revenue 1% to $1.554 billion in the third fiscal quarter 2024 from $1.564 billion in the same period last year.
Net income rose 14% to $141 million from $124 million in the third quarter 2023.
Recorded music revenue fell by 2% to $1.251 billion from $1.282 billion in the third quarter 2023.
Music publishing revenue rose 8% to $305 million from $283 million in the third quarter 2023.
Gamma has established strategic partnerships with The Music Arena, The Temple Company and Sol Generation Publishing and Distribution in Africa as well as LPME Records in the Middle East.
Gamma’s latest partnerships bolster the company’s commitment to supporting artists and labels in these regions, which its founder Larry Jackson outlined last year to Billboard when his media and entertainment company first expanded its operations there. Last May, Sipho Dlamini and Naomi Campbell joined gamma as president and special advisor for Africa and the Middle East, respectively; Larry Gaaga was named vp/GM for Africa and Dany Neville was named vp of A&R for the Middle East last August.
“It’s incredibly gratifying to see the enthusiasm shown by our new strategic partners, their artists and stakeholders in aligning with gamma. We’re well under way, engaged in bolstering the creative momentum for artists from these key markets,” Dlamini said in a press statement. “An indication of our ambition is that in conjunction with our new partners we’re generating writing camps in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and the [United Arab Emirates]. I don’t know of another company that is navigating the continent and region in this manner with this reach. The creative collaborations we’re establishing will further travel local music to global adoption.”
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In June, the company officially launched gamma South Africa in Sandton, one of the country’s biggest financial hubs within Johannesburg. Gamma hosted a launch party on June 6, with Dlamini, Gaaga, Thabo Keith Ngweya, gamma’s strategic partnerships & culture marketing lead for Africa, Sikhulile Nzuza, gamma’s strategic partnerships, culture & operations lead for Africa, and more in attendance. The company has been providing dynamic opportunities for South African acts since last year, such as tapping DJ/producer MöRDA to remix “Mysterious Ways” on The Color Purple (Music From And Inspired By) that the company distributed alongside WaterTower Music last December (with Jackson as one of the producers, alongside Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders). Gamma recruited MöRDA again as well as Major League Djz, Junior Taurus and Soa Mattrix to create amapiano and Afro House-inspired remixes of Usher and Nigerian singer-songwriter and producer Pheelz’s “Ruin” from the former’s latest album COMING HOME that was distributed via Usher and L.A. Reid‘s mega and gamma in February.
Gamma’s partnership with the Johannesburg-based conglomerate The Music Arena aims to continue bridging the gap between South African artists and international markets by providing artists with unprecedented opportunities to collaborate with an international label, leveraging gamma’s expertise in the global market (especially in the U.S.), with a special focus on artist collaborations and joint ventures.
The Music Arena is comprised of three different music entities: Gallo Music, South Africa’s largest and oldest independent record label; Gallo Music Publishers, Gallo’s publishing arm that’s home to iconic composers and a rich repository of cultural works; and Content Connect Africa, the continent’s leading independent media and content business that represents over 2,000 African artists and labels. The Music Arena’s global footprint spans South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and the U.S.
“The Music Arena is delighted to be partnering with gamma in a multi-faceted deal, which will grow our artists’ presence internationally as well as represent gamma’s artists on the network operators’ platforms in Africa,” said Antos Stella, CEO of The Music Arena, in a statement. “Our focus remains on developing and growing our artists and composers globally.”
Gamma’s new alliances aim to cover the entire African continent. The company’s partnership with The Temple Company, a leading record label, TV/film production company and talent management agency based in Lagos, aims to connect Nigerian artists to global audiences by developing and promoting Nigerian talent, with a special focus on cross-cultural collaborations to maximize international exposure. One of the first projects from this partnership is Nigerian superstar D’Banj‘s new album Entertainer–The Sequel, the follow-up to his 2008 album The Entertainer, which will be released on Aug. 16.
“Our partnership with gamma marks a pivotal moment for The Temple Company and the Nigerian music industry at large. This collaboration will open up new opportunities for our artists to showcase their talents on a global stage,” said Idris Olorunnimbe, The Temple Company’s group chief executive. “We’re particularly thrilled about D’Banj’s upcoming album, Entertainer–The Sequel, which we believe will be a gamechanger in demonstrating the universal appeal of African music. Together with gamma, we’re committed to nurturing and promoting the incredible talent that Nigeria has to offer, and we’re confident that this partnership will play a crucial role in shaping the future of African music on the world stage.”
Gamma will also celebrate East Africa’s rich musical heritage through its partnership with Nairobi, Kenya-based Sol Generation Publishing and Distribution, the music publishing and distribution arm of award-winning Afropop group Sauti Sol.
LPME Records is committed to producing music that inspires unity and celebrates cultural diversity and establishing Dubai, UAE, as a musical creative hub. The labels currently represents three dynamic artists: the label’s first signee Dawda, a Gambian-Estonian star who blends Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B and pop and has written and produced for Britney Spears, Akon, Oxlade and Snoh Aalegra; Yasmina, a Tajikistani artst who’s known for her unique fusion of Arabic and pop music; and Alya, an Emirati-British singer/songwriter/dancer/actress who draws inspiration from soul, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, amapiano and Afrobeats. Additional signings will be announced later this summer.
The state-of-the-art LPME Studios is reputable for having top-class sound quality and being a creative hub fostering musical innovation. The facility includes six production rooms, two Dolby Atmos rooms, a main stereo room, live band and vocal rooms and more. Artists like J Balvin and Jason Derulo as well as Grammy-winning engineer Tony Maserati have previously worked there.
“We are incredibly excited to enter into this partnership with gamma. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our mission to share the rich and diverse sounds of our artists with a global audience,” added Moh Denebi, LPME Records’ label manager and producer. “Together with gamma, we are confident in our ability to elevate our artists’ reach and impact, bringing fresh, innovative music to listeners around the world.”
Monica signed with WME in all areas. The Grammy-winning singer recently came off a supporting slot on Nick Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 Tour in North America and is prepping the release of two full-lenghts this year: R&B album MDA and country album Open Roads (executive produced by Brandi Carlile). She recently joined Brandy on a remix of Ariana Grande’s “the boy is mine” — a reimagining of the pair’s smash 1998 duet. Monica continues to be managed by Melinda Dancil.
English punk rock duo Soft Play partnered with Rise Records/BMG for the release of their new album, Heavy Jelly, which debuted at No. 3 on the UK Official Albums Chart dated July 25, 2024. The duo was previously known as Slaves before changing their name in 2022 following a backlash over their former moniker.
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ONErpm signed L.A.-based alt-rock trio Sick Puppies (“You’re Going Down”) for the release of the band’s forthcoming sixth album Wave the Bull, which is due out early next year. The album’s first single, “There Goes the Neighborhood,” was released July 26.
RECORDS Nashville signed newcomer singer-songwriter Drew Green, who has seen viral success with the song “Lotta Bit of You.” RECORDS Nashville is the boutique outpost of industry executive Barry Weiss’ label RECORDS. Green’s first RECORDS Nashville-helmed single is “Town Drunk,” while he’s also prepping an upcoming collaboration with HARDY titled “Colorado.” – Jessica Nicholson
Bruce Kalmick‘s WHY&HOW added artists Tyler Halverson and Cameron Sacky Band to its artist management roster. Halverson will be overseen by Patrick Farr while Allie Petko and Eddie Kloesel will oversee Cameron Sacky Band. Halverson has released the independent singles “Beer Garden Baby,” “Mac Miller” and “Your Bar Now,” while Cameron Sacky Band issued a self-titled 2021 EP and is set to release the full-length project Quicksand. Cameron Sacky Band is repped by The Neal Agency for booking. – Jessica Nicholson
Singer-songwriter John Morgan signed with Rich MGMT. The North Carolina native is also signed to Night Train Records/BBR Music Group and is currently on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart with the song “Friends Like That” featuring Jason Aldean. Morgan also has writing credits on hits including Aldean’s “That’s What Tequila Does,” “Trouble With a Heartbreak” and “If I Didn’t Love You” with Carrie Underwood. Rich MGMT was founded by Brendan Rich in 2023 with a roster that also includes Matt Stell, George Birge and Darren Kiely. The company also recently added to its staff with digital coordinator Jordan Policastri, who joins day-to-day managers Sarah Paravia and Chase Miller. – Jessica Nicholson
Montreal beatmaker/instrumentalist tender spring, who is part of the Canadian indie band Afternoon Bike Ride, signed to Nettwerk for the release of the album you are now listening to a tender spring. Born David Tanton, the musician released the album’s “side a” on July 26, with the remainder to be released at a later date.
Nettwerk also signed L.A.-based, New Zealand-born Laotian artist Alisa Xayalith, who is best known as the frontwoman of The Naked and Famous. The label is set to release her new single, “Roses,” on Friday (Aug. 9), to be followed by more new music produced by Tyler Spry (OneRepublic, Tate McCrae).
Elektra Records signed Kevian Kraemer, an 18-year-old singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in New Jersey who released his debut EP Seventeen earlier this year. On Friday (Aug. 2), the label released a stripped-down version of his breakthrough track “Attention.” Kramer is managed by Chris McAndrew and Jamar Richardson at Paia Management, with legal representation by attorney Paul Rothenberg at Rothenberg, Mohr, & Binder.
Ken Pomeroy, a Cherokee singer-songwriter from Moore, Okla., signed to Rounder Records. Now based in Tulsa, Okla., Pomeroy’s song “Cicadas” was featured in an episode of the FX series Reservation Dogs. She also appeared in this summer’s Twisters, performing her song “Wall of Death” with Wilderado and James McAlister. The song is also featured on the film’s soundtrack.
Downtown Neighboring Rights signed a global deal with singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird to represent her catalog, which includes singles such as “Woman,” “Feel It Coming” and “Dark Days” with Moby.
Secretly Canadian signed singer-songwriter Brandon. The label will release his EP Blush on Sept. 13; the first single, “Without You,” was released Wednesday (July 31).
My Brightest Diamond signed to Western Vinyl, which will release her new album, Fight the Real Terror, on Sept. 13. The singer-songwriter, who just came off her originating role in Broadway’s Illinoise (based on the Sufjan Stevens album), is managed by Andrea Troolin at Ekonomisk and booked by Alex Fang at New Frontier (North America) and James Alderman at Free Trade (international). Her new song, “Have You Ever Seen an Angel,” was released July 26.
Capitol CMG has signed artist-writer Claire Leslie, who just released her label debut single, “Original.” The song was written by Leslie, Jordan Sapp and Daniella Mason. – Jessica Nicholson
Third Man Records signed Australian band The Belair Lip Bombs and will reissue the group’s 2023 album, Lush Life. It is the label’s first Australian signing. The Bombs’ second album is expected for release sometime next year.
K-pop stocks were the hardest hit music stocks on Monday (Aug. 5) as global markets continued Friday’s decline in the U.S. with major selloffs. Four K-pop companies — HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment — fell an average of 8.8% on Monday, while a major South Korean stock index, the KOSPI composite index, […]
Singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb will keynote the Guild of Music Supervisors’ 10th annual State of Music in Media Conference, which will take place on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the West LA College campus in Culver City, Calif. People can also attend virtually, via a live stream on Zoom. The all-day conference encompasses the use of music in film, TV, video games, advertising and trailers.
Thirty years ago this month, Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 before being personally signed to a record label. She achieved the feat with her song “Stay (I Miss You),” which was heard in the film Reality Bites. It topped the chart for the first three weeks of August 1994.
Other speakers include director Doug Liman and music supervisors Julianne Jordan, Amanda Krieg Thomas, John Houlihan, Carolyn Owens, Steven Gizicki, Trygge Toven, Joel C. High, Thomas Golubić, Catherine Grieves and Burt Blackarach. In addition, Julia Michels, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy, and Qiana Conley Akinro, senior executive director of the L.A. chapter, will speak.
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Programming highlights include:
Opening remarks from GMS president Lindsay Wolfington and GMS vp Heather Guibert
Celebrating the 2024 Primetime Emmy nominees for outstanding music supervision
AI: Challenges and Changes to the Industry and New Opportunities for Creatives
A conversation with music supervisor Julianne Jordan & director Doug Liman
Live listening session with music supervisors
Art Meets Commerce: What Makes Trailer Music Supervision Different
FALLOUT: From Game to Streaming Series
From Coordinator to Supervisor: Navigating the Leap
GMS is offering a one-on-one networking session for aspiring music supervisors to meet GMS members working in the field of music supervision. This opportunity is open to aspiring music supervisors only. Conference attendance and pre-event sign-up are required.
GMS’ first-ever music supervisor listening session will feature music supervisors giving live feedback on five songs selected from Friend of the Guild (“FOG”) submissions. Participants can learn how top music supervisors in TV, film, video games, ads and trailers respond to tracks when considering them for placement.
A conference ticket purchase comes with a complimentary “Friend of the Guild” subscription, granting access to future events and networking opportunities. To learn more and buy tickets, visit the GMS Media Conference site.
Radio stocks struggled this week as companies’ second-quarter earnings revealed additional revenue losses.
SiriusXM shares fell 15.6% after the company’s second-quarter earnings on Thursday (Aug. 1) showed a loss of 173,000 satellite radio subscribers and 41,000 Pandora subscribers. Revenue fell 3% to $2.18 billion, although net profit improved 2% to $316 million. In the first quarter, SiriusXM lost 594,000 subscribers, although revenue improved 0.8% to $2.16 billion.
SiriusXM is trying to thread the needle as it expands its product line and gives consumers more options. The new $9.99-per-month streaming service is intended to appeal to a broader audience than potential satellite radio subscribers. At the same time, the company is introducing new pricing tiers for satellite radio, including a $9.99 music-only subscription that can expand to news, talk and sports for additional fees. The trick is not cannibalizing its core, higher-priced satellite offering. “The early results in our testing have been encouraging,” CEO Jennifer Witz said during Thursday’s earnings call. “It shows that we’re getting consumers into the right packages for them.”
Shares of radio broadcaster Cumulus Media fell 21% to $1.62 and dropped as far as $1.29 on Friday (Aug. 2) — a 52-week low — after the company’s second-quarter earnings showed that revenue fell 2.5% and net loss increased to $27.7 million from $1.1 million a year earlier. iHeartMedia, which doesn’t report earnings until Thursday (Aug. 8), appeared to be a casualty of Cumulus Media’s results as its shares fell 12.9% to $1.49.
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Collectively, radio companies have had the worst stock performance of all music companies this year. Year to date, Cumulus Media is down 69.5%, iHeartMedia has fallen 44.2% and SiriusXM is off 42.6%. Only JYP Entertainment, which has fallen 44.3% year to date, has suffered a similar drop.
The Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI), a measure of the market capitalizations of 20 publicly traded music companies, fell 1.1% to 1,739.18. Even though 13 of the 20 stocks lost ground — five of them suffering double-digit declines — gains by some of the index’s most valuable companies nearly offset the losses. HYBE improved 5.3% to 180,800 won ($139.01). Spotify gained 2.8% to $331.02. And Universal Music Group (UMG) rose 0.5% to 21.44 euros ($23.41).
Music stocks have had a case of the summer doldrums after soaring in the winter and spring. The BGMI has fallen for four consecutive weeks and stands 5.9% below its all-time high of 1,847.64 set on May 17. On Friday, the index reached its lowest point since April 19.
Music companies’ losses were compounded by sharp declines in U.S. stock markets on Friday after news that the unemployment rate rose in July stoked fears the economy could enter a recession. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.4% this week and stood in “correction” territory, at 10.1% below its all-time high set on July 11. Amazon fell 8.0% after missing revenue expectations and providing investors with a disappointing forecast. Intel fell 31.5% after announcing broad layoffs, reporting a decline in quarterly revenue and issuing weak guidance.
The S&P 500 dropped 2.1% to 5,346.56. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 2.3% to 8,474.71. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dropped 2.0% to 2,676.19. China’s Shanghai Composite Index improved 0.5% to 2,905.34.
The week’s greatest gainer was K-pop company JYP Entertainment, which rose 6% to 56,400 won ($41.53). JYP was added to the BGMI this week after Hipgnosis Songs Fund was removed from the London Stock Exchange once its acquisition by Blackstone was completed. Three other K-pop companies were among the week’s few gainers: HYBE improved 5.3%, YG Entertainment rose 2.1% and and SM Entertainment increased 1.0%.
Reservoir Media dropped 14.4% to $7.37 after releasing its quarterly earnings on Wednesday (July 31). Tencent Music Entertainment, which will report earnings on Aug. 13, fell 10.5% to $12.62. Warner Music Group (WMG) fell 5.3% to $28.26. In the wake of UMG’s latest earnings results, which showed a slowdown in subscription revenue, J.P. Morgan dropped its price target on shares of WMG — which will report earnings on Aug. 7 — to $41.00 from $42.00.
The music business is seeing the results of doing more with less.
The slew of earnings reports over the past two weeks have revealed that companies achieved better margins and greater profitability — even in cases with lower revenue or disappointing growth in some areas. And nearly all these companies share one important thing in common that boosted their latest earnings results: layoffs.
Universal Music Group’s share price fell 24% the day after its second-quarter earnings showed recorded music subscription growth had slowed to 6.9%, down from 12.5% in the prior-year period. Investors are interested in music companies because streaming has transformed the industry, bringing growth in the wake of falling CD and download sales and opening new markets around the world. So, when the industry’s most attractive revenue stream stumbles, investors are going to take notice.
But despite the hiccup that wreaked havoc on its share price, many of UMG’s financial metrics showed the company is headed in the right direction. Revenue grew a hearty 9.6%; adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 11.3%; and adjusted earnings per share rose to 0.44 euros ($0.47), up from 0.42 euros ($0.45) a year earlier. Setting aside the main reason investors want to own UMG shares — the global music subscription business — UMG’s earnings had a lot of positives, some of which undoubtedly had to do with the layoffs that occurred in February. According to the company’s 2023 investor presentation, that round of job cuts is expected to save 75 million euros ($81 million) in 2024 alone.
In other earnings news, Spotify — which cut roughly a quarter of its global workforce in three rounds of layoffs in 2023 — had an incredible turnaround in the second quarter, posting an operating income of 266 million euros ($286 million) — a 513 million-euro ($552 million) improvement from the second quarter of 2023. Despite the much smaller staff, the streaming giant’s revenue grew 19.8% to 3.81 billion euros ($4.1 billion) while its gross margin rose to 29.2% from 24.1%. Spotify’s share price jumped 12% after the release and had almost increased another 2% through Thursday (Aug. 1).
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Spotify’s latest layoffs in December, which affected 17% of its staff, attracted criticism —“Spotify is screwed,” Wired proclaimed — but they made a large and immediate impact. In the second quarter, total operating expenses dropped 16.5% as every component had a double-digit decline (general and administrative expenses were down 23%, sales and marketing fell 16.3%, and research and development expenses dropped 16.5%). When Spotify announced the staff cuts, CEO Daniel Ek admitted the scope of the layoffs would feel “surprisingly large” but was steadfast in the need to become “relentlessly resourceful.” At the time, he said, “We still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact.”
Recent staff cuts also appear to have benefitted SiriusXM, which laid off 8% of its workforce in 2023 and another 3% of its headcount in February. Though the satellite radio giant’s share price fell 6.4% on Thursday after the company announced it lost 173,000 satellite radio subscribers and 41,000 Pandora subscribers in the second quarter, net profit grew 1.9% to $316 million even as revenue fell 3% to $2.18 billion. Thanks to its cost-cutting efforts, general and administrative expenses dropped 31% and engineering, design and development costs fell 14.5%.
Not all companies reporting earnings over the last two weeks had to lay off workers to improve their margins. French music streamer Deezer, citing improved cost control and margin improvement through more favorable terms with record labels, improved its first-half adjusted EBITDA by 8 million euros ($8.7 million). The company also raised its target for full-year adjusted EBITDA by 5 million euros ($5.4 million).
Reservoir Media, which reported earnings on Wednesday (July 31), similarly improved operational efficiency without layoffs. The company’s share price fell by 8.8% in the two days after it announced quarterly recorded music revenue had dropped 7%, but the company’s publishing revenue improved 15% overall revenue grew 8% and adjusted EBITDA soared 25%. While investors found reason for concern, CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi struck an optimistic note on Wednesday’s earnings call. “We’re off to a good start in fiscal 2025 and remain on track to again hit our annual targets,” she said.
In addition to cost-cutting, streaming companies are also enjoying the benefits of price increases. Not only did Spotify raise its subscriber count by 26 million in the previous 12 months, but price increases pushed average revenue per user (ARPU) up 8.2%, or 0.35 euros ($0.38), per month. Even though Deezer didn’t gain subscribers over the previous year, its ARPU rose 6% for direct subscribers and 3.5% for subscribers gained through partnerships due to price increases it instituted last year.
Of course, music companies have their share of challenges that cost-cutting can’t solve. Streamers can’t raise prices too frequently and are dealing with ongoing sluggishness in ad-supported streaming. Record labels need to re-set expectations for their subscription businesses and continue to see sluggish ad-supported streaming revenue. And music publishers are getting a pay cut from Spotify’s decision to treat its premium service like a bundle in the U.S. Considering all this, their decisions to cut costs and focus on operational efficiency couldn’t have come at a better time.