State Champ Radio earnings
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iHeartMedia expects first-quarter revenue to decline in the low single digits and full-year revenue to be flat, suggesting the radio giant hasn’t yet turned the proverbial corner financially, according to the company’s latest earnings release. After revenue was up 5.5% in January, February is on track for a 7% decline as consumer sentiment dropped to a level not seen since 2021, CFO Rich Bressler said during Thursday’s earnings call.
The company ended 2024 with fourth-quarter revenue up 4.8% to $1.11 billion, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) spiked 18.2% to $246.2 million. Revenue growth was below the company’s previous guidance due to lower-than-expected political advertising and a slowdown in non-political advertising before the election, said Bressler.
The fires in Los Angeles created a disruption to iHeartMedia’s business in the first quarter, although CEO Bob Pittman called it “a little bit of a blip” and said a larger impact comes from people returning to work. “Traffic is getting long again, and I hate to sound cynical here, but traffic jams are our friend,” he said. “We’re a company that benefits from people with longer commutes and more time in the car.”
Mired in a weak advertising market for broadcast radio, iHeartMedia is busy finding ways to create value from its broadcast assets. To that end, in March the company will make its broadcast advertising inventory available to programmatic buyers through Yahoo DSP and Google’s DV360 ad-buying platforms. “This is a critical early step in aligning our broadcast assets with digital buying behavior,” said Pittman, “which will allow iHeart’s broadcast radio assets to participate in the growing digital and programmatic [total addressable markets].”
Last year, iHeartMedia took steps to cut costs and improve its balance sheet. The company expects to have net savings of $150 million in 2025 and beyond — $200 million from cost reductions undertaken in 2024 and an additional $50 million of expenses. In December, iHeart reduced its debt load and extended maturity dates through a debt exchange that attracted a 92.2% participation rate.
For the full year, iHeartMedia’s revenue totaled $3.86 billion, up 3% year-over-year (and flat if political advertising is excluded). Adjusted EBITDA increased 1% to $705.6 million while EBITDA margin improved to 22.0% in 2024 from 19.5% in 2023. The multiplatform group, which includes the company’s core broadcast stations, saw its revenue decline 2.6% to $2.37 billion, while the digital audio group’s revenue increased 8.9% to $1.16 billion due to increased advertising demand for podcasting. The audio and media services group had revenue of $327 million, up 27.4%.
Cumulus Media, the country’s third-largest radio company by revenue, fared a bit worse in 2024. For the full year, Cumulus’ revenue fell 2.1% to $827.1 million and adjusted EBITDA dropped 8.8% to $82.7 million. While digital revenue grew 5.3% to $154.2 million, broadcast revenue slipped 5.1% to $564.1 million. In the fourth quarter, revenue dipped 1.2% to $218.6 million and adjusted EBITDA grew 9.8% to $25 million.
Cutting costs and restructuring debt are common tactics in the radio business. Just as iHeartMedia shaved its expenses, Cumulus will realize $43 million in annualized cost savings, with $15 million of savings coming in 2024. In addition, in May, Cumulus completed a debt exchange, which lowered its outstanding debt by $33 million and extended maturity dates while securing “attractive” interest rates.
iHeartMedia shares fell 7.9% to $2.09 before earnings were released, and dropped another 9.9%, to $1.90, in after-hours trading. Through Thursday, iHeartMedia shares are down 1.9% year-to-date but have more than doubled since May 2024.
Cumulus, which reported earnings earlier in the day, saw its share price decline only 0.3% to $0.90. Year-to-date, Cumulus shares have gained 16.9%.
ASCAP, the only not-for-profit performance rights organization in the U.S., which — after covering its overhead — shells out all of its collections to songwriters and publishers, reports revenue increased 5.7% to 1.835 billion from the prior year’s total of $1.737 billion. What’s more the PRO said the amount of its collections available for distribution totaled $1.696 billion, or a 6.5% increase over 2023’s total of $1.592 billion.
Out of that collected revenue, domestic royalties totaled $1.397 billion, up 5.3% from the 2023’s total of 1.327 billion; while foreign receipts grew 6.8% to $438 million, up 6.8% from the prior year’s total of $410 million. Put another way, domestic revenue comprised 76.1% of collections while foreign receipts comprised 23.9%.
ASCAP said its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for total revenue for the 10 years leading up to 2024 was 7%, and that the CAGR for total distributions over the same time period was 8%. Its overhead expense structure remains at about 10%.
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“For songwriters, composers and publishers, ASCAP provides the best return on their performance royalties because they get 90 cents of every dollar we collect,’ ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said in a statement. “It’s that simple. We are the only US PRO that does not take a profit and the only one that can credibly say we put creators first in everything we do.”
In 2023, BMI, ASCAP’s main competitor and the only other U.S. PRO operating under a U.S. Dept. of Justice consent decree, abandoned its not-for-profit status in order to sell to a private equity firm, which occurred in 2024 when New Mountain Capital acquired the collection society. Besides BMI, both SESAC and GMR, aka Global Music Rights, are both for-profit performance rights organizations.
Breaking out its total $1.696 billion available for distributions, ASCAP reported that $1.284 billion was due to domestic songwriters and publishers while $438 million was available for foreign distributions. Overall, its domestic collections available distribution increased 5.5% from the prior year’s total of $1.217 billion, while foreign distribution availability increased 9.8% from $375 million in 2023.
Looking at its activities over the last year, ASCAP reported that signings and renewals include Katy Perry, Timbaland, Kacey Musgraves, Jack White, Justin Tranter, Neil Young, Graham Nash, Def Leppard, Sexyy Red, Max Martin, Hans Zimmer and Tate McRae; along with with the estates of Tom Petty and Jimi Hendrix.
ASCAP said it was active in helping to shape the U.S. Copyright’s Office recommendations on legal and policy issues related to copyright and AI; and formed a strategic alliance with SACEM, France’s collection management organization, to leverage their investments in infrastructure. Finally, ASCAP reported that it moved quickly to launch a $1 million emergency relief fund to assist Los Angeles-based ASCAP songwriter affected by the LA wildfires.
“ASCAP is committed to innovating, growing and evolving in ways that benefit our members, because music creators drive every decision we make,” ASCAP president and chairman of the board Paul Williams said in a statement. “Protecting the livelihoods of songwriters and composers and defending the value of music is a mission we take seriously. For us, this is more than just business – it’s personal, and that’s what sets ASCAP apart from any other PRO.”
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 […]
