earnings
A busy year in high-margin amphitheaters and arenas pushed concert promoter Live Nation to a record $2.15 billion in adjusted operating income (AOI) in 2024, up 14%, on record revenue of $23.16 billion, up 2%.
In the concerts division, full-year revenue rose 2% to $19.02 billion. Despite having 30% fewer stadium shows in 2024, the total number of fans grew to a record 151 million from more than 50,000 Live Nation events. A heavy slate of concerts at arenas and amphitheaters, where Live Nation can offer VIP experiences and capture more revenue from food and beverage sales, helped AOI climb 65% to $529.7 million and AOI margin — AOI as a percentage of revenue — reach a record 2.8%.
Ticketing revenue for the full year increased 1% to $2.99 billion while AOI dropped 1% to $1.12 billion. Ticketmaster had 23 million net new enterprise tickets that were signed in 2024, with two-thirds coming from international markets.
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Sponsorships and advertising revenue grew 9% to $1.2 billion and AOI rose 13% to $763.8 million. Led by festivals in Latin America and Europe, international markets were up double digits. The number of new clients increased 20%.
Live Nation is expecting 2025 will top its record-setting 2024. Through mid-February, stadium shows are up 60% from the prior-year period and 65 million tickets have been sold for Live Nation concerts, a double-digit annual increase. Ticketmaster’s transacted ticketing revenue for 2025 shows is up 3% to 106 million tickets, due mainly to an increase in concert demand.
The current year “is shaping up to be even bigger thanks to a deep global concert pipeline, with more stadium shows on the books than ever before,” CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. Currently, Live Nation’s stadium tours for 2025 include Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour, Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem Tour, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Grand National Tour, and Post Malone and Jelly Roll’s Big Ass Stadium Tour.
Consolidation fourth-quarter revenue dropped 2% to $5.68 billion as concerts revenue dipped 6% to $4.58 billion and ticketing and sponsorships and advertising grew 14% and 10%, respectively. Fourth-quarter AOI fared better, however, rising 35% to $157.3 million despite concerts AOI falling 16%.
Cloud Music’s revenue from subscriptions grew 22.2% year over year, helping the Chinese music streaming company post a 113% increase in profit, to 1.7 billion RMB ($233.4 million), as revenue increased by only 1%, to 7.95 billion RMB ($1.09 billion), the company announced Thursday (Feb. 20). Revenue from online music services increased 23.1% to 5.35 […]
Music streaming company LiveOne saw its revenue drop 6% to $29.4 million in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, the company announced Thursday (Feb. 13). Revenue in the audio division fell 1% to $27.1 million. The drop led LiveOne’s operating loss to widen to $5.1 million from $800,000 in the prior-year period.
In the nine-month period, LiveOne’s revenue of $95.1 million was up 8.7% from the prior-year period. Operating loss in the period more than doubled, however, to $7.3 million from $3.5 million.
LiveOne, which has both a Slacker-branded music streaming service and numerous business-to-business relationships, ended the quarter with 800,000 Tesla “subscribers” — 475,000 of which are ad-supported. The company used to have preferred status with Tesla, powering the in-auto music streaming app that was free to Tesla owners, but that relationship changed in 2024. Now, LiveOne is no longer free to Tesla owners, although the electric vehicle manufacturer will continue to pay grandfathered LiveOne accounts in perpetuity.
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Now, LiveOne sells discounted packages to Tesla owners. “The conversion opportunity has enormous upside by offering Tesla owners an opportunity to upgrade and have access on all devices at discounted priority pricing,” LiveOne CEO Robert Ellin said in a statement in October. “We’ll drive growth, unlock new revenue streams, own our data, and increase ARPU [average revenue per user].”
But the third-quarter decline caused LiveOne to lower its expectations for the full year. While announcing earnings, the company updated its guidance for full-year revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. LiveOne now expects revenue for the full fiscal year ending March 31 to be $112 million to $120 million, down from $120 million to $135 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $6 million to $10 million compared to previous guidance of $8 million to $15 million.
The revised guidance caused LiveOne shares to fall 18.6% to $0.96 on Thursday. That put LiveOne’s share price 55% below its 52-week high of $2.15.
On Wednesday (Feb. 12), PodcastOne –which LiveOne spun off in 2023 while retaining approximately 72% of its outstanding shares — announced that quarterly revenue increased 22% to $12.7 million and net loss narrowed to $1.6 million from $2.6 million.
Sony Music reported 14% revenue growth in the quarter ending last year — or total revenue of 482 billion yen ($2.72 billion) — bolstered by big releases from ATEEZ and Tyler, the Creator and subscription streaming growth across recorded and music publishing divisions, its parent company Sony Group Corp., reported Thursday (Feb. 13). Sony Music’s […]
K-pop company SM Entertainment used a healthy concert business to compensate for a slow new release schedule in posting revenue of 273.8 billion won ($189 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 9% year over year, according to the company’s latest earnings report. Operating profit nearly tripled to 33.9 billion won ($23 million) and net loss was more than halved to 24.1 billion won ($17 million).
Recorded music revenue dropped 5.1% to 86.0 billion won ($59 million) due to a decrease in new album sales, which came in at 3.78 million units versus 5.51 million units in the prior-year period. NCT Dream sold 1.56 million units while Aespa had 1.1 million album sales in the quarter. Elsewhere, WayV sold 400,000 units and Irene sold 360,000 units.
Concert revenue grew 11.9% to 22.5 billion won ($15.5 million) thanks to an expanded tour schedule during the quarter. Exo’s Chanyeol performed 14 solo shows across Southeast Asia, Japan and China. NCT Wish performed 12 in Asia. NCT Dream, which began its world tour in the second quarter, played nine concerts in the fourth quarter. The higher number of concerts, as well as an increase in special events such as pop-up stores, helped merchandise and licensing revenue jump 33.7% to 51.2 billion won ($35.3 million).
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In the first quarter, music releases include SMTOWN’s 30th anniversary album, SMTOWN, THE CULTURE, THE FUTURE, on Friday (Feb. 14). Red Velvet’s Seulgi and WayV’s Ten are also both due to release EPs, and a new girl group, Hearts2Hearts, will debut on Feb. 24 with the single “The Chase.”
This year, SM Entertainment is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new slogan (“The Culture, The Future”), new films, new broadcast programs and SMTOWN LIVE 2025 World Tour concerts around the globe. “’THE CULTURE’ represents the legacy and cultural heritage that SM has built over the past three decades,” CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk said during the earnings call. “‘THE FUTURE’ embodies our ambition to drive innovation in the global music industry and lead the next era of K-pop. At SM, music is at the heart of everything we do. Through our music and cultural influence, we strive to remain a meaningful part of people’s daily lives. This slogan underscores our commitment to pioneering the future of K-pop while honoring the foundation we’ve built.”
In addition to announcing fourth-quarter results, SM Entertainment revealed that its board of directors approved the retirement of the remaining treasury shares, which are shares the company has repurchased from shareholders and holds on its books. The remaining treasury shares equal 2% of outstanding shares and are valued at 40.3 billion won ($27.8 million). Last February and August, the company retired more than 35 billion won ($24.1 million) worth of treasury shares.
SM Entertainment shares rose 2.9% to 95,000 won ($65.42) on Tuesday (Feb. 11) following the earnings release and announcement of the share retirement. Year-to-date, SM Entertainment stock has risen 25.7%.
What a difference a year can make.
Warner Music Group said on Thursday that revenue from its first fiscal quarter fell 5% to $1.67 billion from a year ago, as the company suffered tough comparisons to a period last year when it still had BMG as a physical and digital distribution client and enjoyed a $30-million boon from a digital licensing renewal deal.
But the third-biggest major music company also showed that the deep staffing cuts and wind-down of certain businesses over 2024 freed up money for investment — such as the $450-million acquisition of Tempo Music‘s catalog — and growth, like Atlantic’s half-a-percentage point market share expansion.
WMG’s quarterly results — which included a nearly 40% decrease in operating income and $27 million in restructuring costs and impairment charges — depict a company deep in transformation. Chief executive Robert Kyncl is trying to increase efficiency in legacy businesses and technology, while standardizing its sprawling global network, and striking more lucrative deals with streaming platforms.
Recorded music revenue in the first fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2024, fell 7% to $1.35 billion from last year’s quarter, as BMG’s termination of its distribution deal created a $32 million drag (evenly split between streaming and physical revenue). Last year’s quarter also included the extension of one artist’s licensing agreement worth $75 million, and the $30-million renewal of a digital partner’s license.
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WMG says if you strip those three things out, total revenue rose 3.4%.
Overall, digital revenue and streaming revenue each fell by around 2%.
Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (adjusted OIBDA)–which measures the profitability of a company’s core businesses–fell 19.5% to $363 million, and adjusted OIBDA margin fell to 21.8% from 25.8% in the prior-year quarter. If you take out the negative impacts of the licensing agreement and digital partner renewal, the company said its adjusted OIBDA fell by just 0.3% and adjusted OIBDA margin decreased 0.8 percentage point.
The company said adjusted OIBDA margin was also dragged down by the 8% rise in the value of the U.S. dollar since last year’s presidential election. (Almost 60% of Warner’s income is earned in euros and other currencies that trade against the dollar, according to the company.)
“All of these impacts will stabilize over time,” Kyncl said on a call with analysts discussing the earnings. “We’re confident about the future. Our goals are clear: increase our share of the pie, meaning market share; grow the pie itself by increasing the value of music; and become more efficient, providing greater cash flow, both for re-investment and for shareholder return.”
The company’s net income was up nearly 25% to $241 million, boosted by foreign exchange hedging activity and the sale of a $29-million of an investment. Free cash flow was up 12% to $296 million.
Other highlights from the company’s earnings and conference call:
» Within Recorded Music, digital and streaming revenue both fell by 3.9% and 3.7%, which reflects a 2% decline in subscription revenue and an 8.2%-decline in ad-supported revenue. If you strip out BMG’s termination and the digital partner’s license renewal, the company says recorded music streaming revenue was up 1.5% and subscription revenue increased 5.3%, while ad-supported revenue still fell by 7.9%. Nonetheless, physical revenue rose 7.8% thanks to the strength of releases by Linkin Park, Charli XCX, Teddy Swims, Mariya Takeuchi and Benson Boone.
» Music publishing revenue rose 6.3% to $323 million from growth in digital, performance and other revenue, partially offset by lower mechanical revenue.
» Warner completed multi-year publishing and recorded music licensing deals with Amazon and Spotify over the past year, Kyncl said, though he declined to provide much detail. The deal with Spotify notably includes a new publishing agreement with a direct licensing model with Warner Chappell Music for the United States and several other countries. “There’s more work to do with others and for all of this to cycle through, but this is a really great step in the right direction.”
» Atlantic’s market share ticked half a percentage point up, a small win Kyncl attributed to the growing investments made in A&R last year. He said the investments came as a result of money left over after it made” organizational changes and investments into technology … [and] exited some non-core businesses.” Kyncl later said, “Our goal was to reinvest the majority of those savings into strategically important initiatives that will propel our business forward. This enabled us to increase our A&R investment by double-digits last year and this year.”
» Kyncl said buying Tempo is “a great example” of the company’s acquisition strategy. “As we become more efficient, we are creating a virtuous cycle that will enable greater reinvestment that delivers accelerated growth.”
Bolstered by both organic growth and additions to its repertoire, Reservoir Media posted strong gains in its latest fiscal quarter and raised its guidance for fiscal year revenue and earnings.
Revenue increased 19% to $42 million in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, the company announced Wednesday. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a commonly used measure of profitability, climbed 26% to $17.3 million.
During Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi cited the company’s repertoire, its ability to capture demand for its music for the 16% improvement in music publishing revenues and the 20% jump in recorded music revenues. In addition, Khosrowshahi attributed the company’s “commitment to cost containment and closely managed business operations” to the improvement in adjusted EBITDA.
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In the publishing division, price increases at streaming services helped digital revenues grow 20% to $16.7 million while mechanical royalties jumped 143% to $900,000 on the strength of physical sales of existing catalog. Performance and sync revenues improved just 2% and 3%, respectively. In the recorded music division, digital revenue grew 24% to $8.1 million, physical sales rose 18% to $2 million and sync royalties jumped 23% to $1 million. Neighboring rights revenue fell 7% to $900,000. The quarter was helped by an unspecific royalty recovery from a routine audit, said CFO Jim Heindlmeyer.
Reservoir Media has spent over $70 million on catalog acquisitions in the first three quarters of its fiscal year. Those deals include the acquisition of the catalog of South African composer Lebo Morake and the producer royalties of Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick).
“The pipeline remains robust, and we continue to be excited about the opportunities that are before us, we continue to have that populated with more off market deals, and that’s a strategy that we’ve been able to execute on successfully for many years now,” said Khosrowshahi.
The company also signed a publishing deal with k.d. lang and extended its deal with songwriter Serban Cazan (“Mantra” by Jennie).
After exceeding internal expectations in the quarter, Reservoir Media raised its full-year guidance. The company now expects revenue to be $155 million to $158 million, an increase of $5 million from the previous quarter’s guidance. Adjusted EBITDA to fall within $61.5 million and $64.5 million, a $2.5 million increase.
Shares of Reservoir Media responded by climbing as high as $8.85, up nearly 9%, in early Wednesday trading before settling at $8.30, up 2.1%, by midday.
Spotify added 35 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter last year — the most ever in a single quarter — bringing the total number of people streaming on the Swedish music and audiobook platform to 675 million, the company reported on Tuesday. Premium or paying subscribers totaled 263 million as of the end […]
SiriusXM reported revenue from subscribers fell by nearly 4%, while ad revenue held flat for the full year in 2024, as the satellite radio company’s nascent streaming app failed to jump-start its subscribers as hoped.
The company generated $8.7 billion in revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $2.73 billion last year, representing declines of 3% and 2% respectively from 2023 figures. Subscriber revenue declines were the biggest contributing factor to the ho-hum year, but it was partially offset by the company lowering costs by cutting marketing, business expenses and staff.
“At the end of 2024, we took significant steps to refocus on SiriusXM’s core strengths and enhance operational efficiency,” Sirius Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Witz said in a statement. “By prioritizing our core in-car subscription business, leveraging our streaming capabilities, and growing our leadership in ad-supported audio, we are well-positioned to deliver long-term value. Looking ahead, we are energized by the opportunities to build on this strategy and continue offering unparalleled audio experiences through our platforms.”
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SiriusXM announced in December that was shifting marketing and other resources away from the streaming app it launche in Dec. 2023 to prioritize its subscribers who pay to listen to its music, sports and news radio and podcasts in vehicles.
Sirius is the dominant provider of audio entertainment subscriptions in vehicles in the U.S. but concerns over softening subscriber revenue and an eagerness to attract more younger subscribers pushed the launch of a streaming app last December.
The company met its 2024 financial targets–adjusted EBITDA of $2.73 billion and a margin of 31%–but its executives were peppered by questions about disappointing advertising revenue and internal guidance that 2025 will see sharper declines in adjusted EBITDA than they saw in 2024.
The company has a complicated business model, part of which hinges on customers choosing to start paying for their service after first trying a free trial subscription. Witz told analysts on their earnings call they expect to stabilize conversion rates this year for certain product lines like its 360L, a new premium in-vehicle audio platform with more channels. That said, she advised the number of net new subscribers in 2025 is again expected to decline.
The company said it is expecting $8.5 billion in total revenue in 2025, with $1.15 billion in free cash flow and $2.6 billion in adjusted EBITDA.
Here are the main take-aways from SiriusXM’s fourth quarter and annual earnings report:
The SiriusXM segment of the overall company–which doesn’t include Pandora–reported 2024 revenue of $6.6 billion, down 4% from 2023. The decline was driven by lower susbcriber, equipment and other revenue and a smaller average base of self-pay subscribers.
Average revenue per user in 2024 of $15.21 fell 35 cents from the prior year because of declining ad revenue, lower rates the company gets paid from automakers to offer promotional plans in their cars, and more people subscribing only for the streaming app, which has a lower price than the in-car subscription.
SiriusXM self-pay subscribers fell by 296,000 in 2024. The company had 33 million total subscribers as of Dec. 31, 2024.
SiriusXM gross profit totaled $3.9 billion in 2024, 6% lower than 2023, but with a gross margin of 60%, roughly flat from 2023.
Pandora and Off-platform self-pay subscribers decreased by 101,000 in the fourth quarter to end the year at 5.8 million in total.
Pandora and off-platform revenue totaled $2.15 billion in 2024, up 2% from 2023, helped by increased revenues from subscribers, advertising, podcasting and programmatic sales.
Warner Music Group (WMG) reported earnings on Thursday (Nov. 21), and there was much that its executives wanted to discuss beyond the usual profitability metrics and balance sheet management. On a call with financial analysts, CEO Robert Kyncl discussed Warner’s recent reorganization — how it built a simpler, flatter, faster structure, according to him — as well as why he’s so confident that streaming revenues will continue to deliver strong growth and the company’s M&A and internal investment plans.
Here are some of the highlights.
Bullish on subscription streaming growth
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WMG executives said they expect subscription streaming revenue to continue to grow by high single-digit increases, and analysts peppered them with questions about how they will achieve that. WMG CFO Bryan Castellani said that roughly 70% of that growth will come from more people paying for music streaming subscriptions everywhere — from markets like the United States, where many already pay to stream music, to places like India, where far fewer people do so but where there is much room for growth. To bolster his argument, Castellani pointed to the 70 to 80 million new subscribers he says began paying for streaming subscriptions in the past year.
Additionally, WMG gained a greater share of the most streamed songs thanks to popular releases from Rosé, Bruno Mars, Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, Charli XCX, Zach Bryan and others. Kyncl said WMG’s market share of the Spotify 200 has increased by 10 percentage points since he became CEO.
The final reason for their optimism is the various price increases at the DSPs that Kyncl believes his side will benefit from, including things like higher wholesale prices earned off of family plans and other multi-user subscription streaming plans that currently get discounts; higher-priced subscriptions for super fans; and premium audio or further audience segmentation. “Wholesale prices generally go up,” Kyncl said. “It may not have happened that way in music in the past, but it is how it happens in 99% of industries. We are just trying to align with the way the world works.”
Elliot Grainge’s Star Rises Inside and Outside WMG
Kyncl kicked off the call with comments about WMG’s recent restructuring, which included promoting Elliot Grainge, the founder of the independent label 10K Projects and son of Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, to lead the renowned Atlantic Records Group. Kyncl described Atlantic and Warner Records as “important twin engines of growth” and said Elliot’s team has “an impressive ability to discover extraordinary talent across multiple genres and find fresh ways [to make them] stand out from the crowd.” Kyncl added that Warner Records, under the leadership of Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson, is adroit at driving hits and creating superstars.
“I cannot stress enough how exhilarating it is to watch the creative success of both Warner Records and Atlantic are having,” Kyncl said.
An analyst later asked Kyncl what it is about Grainge that worked at 10K and if that will translate to future success at Atlantic, acknowledging that Grainge “has stepped into a much larger, broader and important role.”
Kyncl said 10K has demonstrated “phenomenal growth from top line to bottom line” since Warner began a joint venture with the independent label last year, and he thinks Grainge and his team’s digitally native approach gives Warner an edge for how music is being consumed and shared and how artists are being discovered today.
Kyncl also praised Grainge for his intensity — “I love that about him” — and said he takes strong points of view when making decisions, adding that doing so appeals to talent.
The silver lining of cost cuts
Cutting costs, reducing its headcount and restructuring some label groups saved an estimated $260 million on an annualized basis, WMG said in September — money Kyncl says is now freed up for dealmaking and internal investments.
“Our focus on efficiency has freed up capital, enabling us to increase our investments in growth opportunities,” Kyncl said in prepared remarks.
WMG also increased investment in A&R by around 11%, allowing it to sign more new artists and songwriters and to make more catalog acquisitions.
Additionally, WMG continues to explore companies to acquire that could fill a need within its larger companies — so-called bolt-on acquisitions. Billboard reported in June that WMG is shopping for an alternative distribution company, and it poached Goldman Sachs investment banker Michael Ryan-Southern this summer to lead M&A; WMG’s companies around the globe are now exploring the gaps in their services and looking to Ryan-Southern’s team for suggestions on acquisitions to fit those needs. The company is also exploring the launch, with equity partners and debt facilities, of a catalog acquisition platform and fund for artist advances, sources tell Billboard.