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SiriusXM hosted an event in New York City on Wednesday (Nov. 8) in which the company unveiled a new-look version of its app, set to debut Dec. 14, while announcing a rebrand and a slew of new programming initiatives, including new channels run by John Mayer and Kelly Clarkson, among others.
In conjunction with the app, Sirius will also offer a streaming-only subscription tier for $9.99 per month, aimed at younger listeners who are interested in the service’s 400-plus channels of content and podcasts but don’t generally listen in the car, where Sirius has become dominant in recent years. The new-look app will include increased customization, a new playback experience, an audio library, a new home for its podcast content and improvements in search and discovery, executives stressed at the two-hour event.
The new channels will begin rolling out in the next few months, starting with Clarkson’s channel, called the Kelly Clarkson Connection, which will be available starting today. Clarkson appeared on stage at the event with her band and introduced her channel — which she said will be on Channel 12, as she isn’t a fan of odd numbers — that will include her music and a variety of other music she enjoys and is inspired by. To kick that off, she and her band performed a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” — which she said they just learned hours before — and her own “Since U Been Gone.”
New channels from Shaggy (Shaggy’s Boombastic Radio), who also appeared on stage, and Smokey Robinson (Smokey’s Soul Town) are also available beginning today. A limited-edition channel from Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton’s Rockstar Radio, will go online Nov. 15, while Mayer’s show, which will be available year-round and is called Life With John Mayer, is set to debut Nov. 22. A weekly show by James Corden and a new true-crime channel from Crime Junkies podcast host Ashley Flowers will also soon come online.
“The introduction of the new SiriusXM streaming experience marks a pivotal moment in our history, one that kicks off a new era of innovation at our Company,” SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said in a statement following the event. “And this launch is just the beginning; we will continue to iterate and develop our product offerings throughout the next year and beyond as we strive to deliver our subscribers the best listening experience on the go, in the car, and wherever they choose to tune in. From can’t-miss live moments to the perfect soundtrack for any occasion, with the new SiriusXM, we are putting our differentiators at the forefront and welcoming in a new generation of listeners, bringing them closer to what they love.”
The event opened with Witz introducing the new app, before turning the stage over to Sirius’ biggest and longest-tenured star, Howard Stern, who spoke about his frustrations during his time on terrestrial radio that led to him taking a chance on the then-nascent Sirius 17 years ago. “Everyone said it’s gonna fail, you’re stupid, you’re ugly — and those were my parents,” he joked. “To me, SiriusXM was an oasis in a desert of censorship. … My mission is to convince audiences that radio is worth paying for, and I think that mission continues to grow. I think there’s a bright future for Sirius. I banked my career on it.”
In addition to Clarkson and Shaggy, the event saw cameos from Conan O’Brien, Andy Cohen, Maren Morris, Flowers and Kevin Hart, while Corden and Mayer appeared in short video segments. And it ended with a performance from Def Jam rapper Armani White, who performed his hit song “Billie Eilish.”
As part of the rebrand — which includes a new logo — executives also re-introduced Sirius’ dog mascot, named Stella, after the Dog Star constellation from which Sirius took its name. The company also announced a new partnership with Audible to share content beginning next year, as well as renewed partnerships with car manufacturers and hotel chains. Next year will also see the company bringing on 160 new artist DJs, including Olivia Rodrigo and Morris, among many others.
Shares of SiriusXM gained 20.1% this week following the company’s third-quarter earnings on Tuesday (Oct. 31) that showed the satellite radio company, which also owns music streamer Pandora, was more profitable despite flat revenue and small losses of self-pay satellite and Pandora subscribers.
Shares of SiriusXM rose to $4.95, its highest closing price since Aug. 3. With the help of a 155,000 increase in promotional subscribers, the company’s total satellite radio subscribers were flat at 34 million. Revenue was unchanged from a year ago at $2.27 billion, but SiriusXM’s net profit grew nearly 50% to $363 million.
Investors will be watching intently next Wednesday (Nov. 8) when SiriusXM unveils a new streaming app as well as in-car innovations and new programming. “This leading content and upcoming product upgrade will be paired with our unmatched business model, which we expect to continue delivering significant and growing free cash flow in the years ahead,” said CEO Jennifer Witz during Tuesday’s earnings call.
The 20-stock Billboard Global Music Index gained 6.9% to 1,394.40, its best week-on-week performance since the index gained 7% in the week ended Nov. 25, 2022. Last week, the index almost fell into correction territory — a 10% decline from its recent high — but this week’s gains reduced the deficit to the high of 1,447.32 (week ended July 21) to 3.7%.
Eighteen of the index’s 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory. Of the two stocks to decline this week, Hipgnosis Songs Fund dropped only 0.8% while Abu Dhabi-based Anghami fell 15.9%.
Led by SiriusXM, the index’s three radio stocks had an average weekly gain of 13.3%. iHeartRadio, the largest radio company in the United States, gained 16.8% to $2.50. The company will report quarterly earnings on Tuesday (Nov. 9). Cumulus Media shares improved 2.9% to $4.91. Additionally, the index’s four live music companies gained an average of 8%, while record labels and publishers as well as streaming companies had average one-week gains of 3.8%.
Round Hill Music Royalty Fund was removed from the index this week after the completion of its $468 million acquisition by Concord. At the acquisition price of $1.15 per share, the London-listed Round Hill Music Royalty Fund gave investors a 47.4% year-to-date return.
Stocks everywhere enjoyed a strong week as the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, leading investors to predict the central bank would forgo further rate hikes. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite rose 5.9% and the S&P 500 gained 5.2%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 1.7%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 2.8%.
Live Nation shares rose 10.9% after the company’s third-quarter results on Thursday showed that the company hit all-time records in revenue and adjusted operating income (AOI). Total revenue reached $8.2 billion, up 32% year over year, and AOI rose 35% to $836 million. Ticketmaster revenue grew 57% to $833 million in the third quarter. Through mid-October, Ticketmaster sold 140 million tickets to Live Nation events — more than the 121 million sold in full-year 2022.
Even though consumers are feeling pinched by inflation, demand continues to be strong across venue sizes and geographies, according to president/CEO Michael Rapino. “I have weekly booking calls with the over 40 presidents around the world and we talk about from clubs up to stadiums and festivals,” Rapino said during Thursday’s earnings call. “We have not seen anything taper off in any sense.”
Other stocks surpassing a 10% gain were Chinese music streamer Cloud Music, which gained 12.7% to 96.35 HKD ($12.31), and New York-based Reservoir Media, which gained 12.1% to $5.95. Reservoir Media will release its latest quarterly results on Tuesday (Nov. 7).
Satellite radio giant SiriusXM reported quarterly net profits rose nearly 50% compared to a year ago, but that it also lost 96,000 self-pay subscribers in recent months.
The company reported on Tuesday (Oct. 31) that net income was $363 million, up from $247 million in the third quarter of last year, while revenues held roughly flat from a year ago at $2.27 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Chief executive Jennifer Witz said in a statement that the company’s investments in new product and technology upgrades — expected to be unveiled next week — will help grow Sirius’ subscriber base and business by helping customers find exclusive event content from top programs and artists, including Ed Sheeran and Wu-Tang Clan.
“Our content portfolio continues to differentiate us in the audio marketplace with exclusive access to live sports, talk, music, and one-of-a- kind content,” Witz said in a statement, calling the next-gen platform “a key component of our long- term vision for the company’s consumer offerings.”
“The ongoing enhancements to our user experience will ensure that our unique suite of content resonates with our audience in increasingly personalized ways,” she said. “This leading content and upcoming product upgrade will be paired with our unmatched business model, which we expect to continue delivering significant and growing free cash flow in the years ahead.”
The looming tech releases are geared toward improving “discoverability, personalization, and ease of use to both streaming and in-car subscribers,” according to a statement, and they will kick off with the unveiling of a new app, followed by in-car updates.
Investment in the app and updates was costly. In March, SiriusXM announced it was cutting 8% of its workforce to accomodate continued investment while ad sales slumped and subscriber growth was sluggish.
While SiriusXM reported a decline in self-pay subscribers and paid promotional subscribers, the total number of subscribers and the total revenue from SiriusXM held flat from a year ago at 34 million and $1.6 billion respectively. Average revenue per user was also flat at $15.69, despite getting a boost from certain full-price subscription rate hikes.
Advertising revenue for the company’s Pandora and off-platform business edged 3% higher to $418 million from a year ago, due to increases ad sales in programs and podcasts.
The number of monthly active users on Pandora fell to 46.5 million from 48.8 million a year ago. Subscriber revenue held flat at $132 million from a year ago.
Here’s a snapshot of the company’s quarterly earnings:
Third Quarter 2023 Revenue of $2.27 Billion
Net Income of $363 Million, Up 47% Year-Over-Year; Diluted EPS of $0.09
Adjusted EBITDA of $747 Million, up 4% compared to $720 million in the third quarter of 2022
Free cash flow of $291 million, down from $329 million in the prior year period
Dusty Street, a pioneering DJ who is best known for her time working at Los Angeles-based alternative rock station KROQ-FM and later at SiriuxXM, died Saturday in Eugene, Ore. She was 77.
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Her friend Geno Michellini, who worked for many years at L.A.-based station KLOS-FM, shared the news on Facebook.
“I have been in Eugene the last two days at Dusty Street’s bedside,” Michellini posted Saturday. “The numerous afflictions that she has been so indomitably fighting these last years finally caught up to her. I am writing with a broken heart to say that Dusty left us tonight. She died peacefully, quietly and surrounded by love in a beautifully serene location overlooking the most beautiful lake you could ever want. As befitting the queen that she was. Tonight I lost one of the best friends I ever had and the world lost a radio and music legend … . She was all that and so much more. There will never be another Dusty Street. The queen is gone, but she’ll never be forgotten.”
Street most recently worked at SiriusXM for more than 20 years as host of the shows Deep Tracks and Classic Vinyl.
“We have lost one of our own,” SiriuxXM posted on Facebook. “Dusty Street has passed away after 77 joyous trips around the sun. And yes, Dusty Street was her real name. Dusty was one of the first female rock jocks on the west coast working at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco from 1967 through 1978 before heading to Los Angeles where she held court in the evenings from 1979 through 1996 on KROQ. … We are heartbroken.”
Street was known for being outspoken, opposing the Parents Music Resource Center for attempting to apply a ratings system to rock music. She once said she was let go from KROQ for being a “renegade” as the station was implementing “tighter and tighter” control over the programming.
In 2015, she was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Earlier this year, she took part in the Epix documentary San Francisco Sounds: A Place In Time, which spotlighted recording artists from the Bay Area that were popular between 1966 and 1976, including Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Tower of Power, and the Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin.
Street once commented that people often asked her if her name was real, and that people were surprised to hear it wasn’t a stage name.. “My father’s name was Emerson Street. We used to live on Emerson Street on Palo Alto, which was pretty funny. Emerson Street on Emerson Street,” she said.
This article originally appeared in THR.com.
Abu Dhabi-based music streamer Anghami led all music stocks this week after gaining 17.6% to $0.82. On Thursday, the company announced through an SEC filing it had received a written notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market regarding its closing share price being below $1.00 for the previous 30 days. The Nasdaq gives companies 180 days to regain compliance or face de-listing from the exchange.
The warning appeared to spur a 16.5% gain on Thursday as investors saw signs the share price won’t remain under $1. In its SEC filing, Anghami stated if the share price remains under the $1 threshold it will “consider available options to cure the deficiency,” including a reverse share split (which would increase the share price by reducing the number of shares outstanding while the market capitalization remains unchanged).
SiriusXM gained 5.7% on Friday (Oct. 13) and finished the week up 11.8%. Its $4.85 closing price was the highest for the satellite radio company since Aug. 9. The typically steady stock has fallen 17% this year as self-pay satellite radio subscribers stagnated at or around 32 million for eight straight quarters. SiriusXM will host a Nov. 8 presentation to unveil a new streaming app and preview upcoming in-car innovations and new programming.
The 21-stock Billboard Global Music Index fell 1.3% to 1,355.65 this week as 13 stocks were in negative territory and only eight stocks gained ground. Year to date, the index has gained 16.1%. Led by SiriusXM’s gain and a 7.6% increase from Cumulus Media, the index’s three radio stocks had an average improvement of 5.5%. Eight record labels and publishers had an average weekly gain of 0.3%. HYBE improved 6.8% while Believe climbed 3.6% and Universal Music Group added 0.6%. Streaming companies were, on average, flat this week.
Live music stocks dropped an average of 4.8%. Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 11.1%, effectively offsetting the 11% gain on Oct. 2 following U2’s debut performances at Sphere in Las Vegas. Live Nation dropped 3.9%, MSG Entertainment fell 3.5% and CTS Eventim shares fell 0.7%. If investors are curious what’s next for Sphere Entertainment, clues comes from an interview published Thursday. Executive chairman and CEO James Dolan said the company is “actively pursuing other markets” and “has six different kinds of spheres down to a 3,000-seater.” A Las Vegas-style Sphere may not work in London, where according to reports residents are concerned about the location and light pollution that could arise from a massive external display similar to the Las Vegas venue.
Music stocks underperformed numerous indexes. In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 1.4%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 2%.
Stocks faded after the release of consumer sentiment data for October by the University of Michigan showed a decline from September based on “a substantial increase” in concerns about inflation. Expectations for inflation in one year rose from 3.2% in September to 3.8% this month. That’s the highest mark since May 2023 and substantially above the 2.3% to 3% range seen in the two years before the pandemic.
Also a factor in stock prices, the U.S. Federal Reserve expects to raise interest rates one more time, according to minutes released from its September policy meeting. Interest rates have an inverse relationship with equity prices. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and cut down on corporate profits.
John Mayer is ready to share his musical taste with SiriusXM users. The seven-time Grammy winning superstar is launching an exclusive, year-round channel called Life With John Mayer. The channel, which is set to become available in November, won’t be defined by genre, per a press release, by by time of day and day of […]
SiriusXM shares rose 11.1% to $4.52 this week following an offer from Liberty Media on Tuesday (Sept. 26) to combine its tracking stock, The Liberty SiriusXM Group, with SiriusXM’s stock to form a new public company.
Liberty Media, which owns 83% of SiriusXM’s outstanding shares, proposed a complicated transaction that would “provide value to all shareholders with a more flexible and attractive currency” in the newly formed SiriusXM stock, Liberty Media president/CEO Greg Maffei said in a statement. SiriusXM said in a statement that a special committee of its board of directors is evaluating the proposal and provided no assurance a deal would eventually happen.
The effect appeared to be a short squeeze — albeit one smaller than the instance that inflated SiriusXM’s share price by 49% in one week in July. Because SiriusXM shares are heavily shorted and have a small float, sudden demand for the stock can create large price fluctuations. SiriusXM shares rose 15% on Thursday (Sept. 28) alone, while shares of The Liberty SiriusXM Group tracking stock finished the week up 13.4%.
While overall stocks were mixed this week, music stocks performed well. The 21-stock Billboard Global Music Index improved 1.1% to 1,344.99, better than the 0.1% gain eked out by the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and easily besting the S&P 500’s 1.3% loss. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 fell 1%, while South Korea’s KOSPI composite index dropped 1.7%. Eleven of the Billboard Global Music Index’s 21 stocks finished the week in positive territory, eight lost ground and two were unchanged.
Helped by Deezer’s double-digit improvement, streaming stocks had an average gain of 3.1%. Chinese music streamers Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment gained 6.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Spotify shares dropped 2.1% to $154.63 but have gained 95.9% year to date. LiveOne shares fell 8.6% to $0.96, marking its third successive weekly loss since spinning off its PodcastOne division. This week, Billboard reported that LiveOne took out a high-interest loan to lure UFC fighter-turned-podcaster Brendan Schaub after Kast Media failed to pay him advertising money. LiveOne agreed to acquire Kast Media in May and offered Schaub and other podcasters settlements that included a mix of cash, promissory notes and PodcastOne stock.
Music’s greatest gainer this week was French streaming company Deezer. Despite there being no news — neither a press release nor a regulatory filing — that normally leads to such a substantial change, Deezer shares rose 21.8% to 2.735 euros ($2.90), including a 14.8% gain on Thursday with one of the highest trading volumes since the company went public in September 2022. Nothing indicated the company has substantially improved its earnings outlook in recent days, but Deezer had been in the news prior to this week. Three weeks ago, Deezer announced a partnership with Universal Music Group to create a new system for calculating artist royalties; and last week, the company revealed plans to increase subscription prices for new individual and family plans in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and its largest market, France.
Live Nation shares rose 4.1% to $83.05 following news the company will help developing artists by providing a financial stipend and eliminating fees charged on merchandise sales at a number of its owned and operated clubs in the United States. Although the move will cost Live Nation money, it also comes with some strategic advantages, according to LightShed Partners analyst Brandon Ross. The decision is “great for Live Nation because it actually throws up another barrier to entry,” Ross said in the Friday (Sept. 29) episode of the LightShed podcast. “Artists are going to want to play your venue where the economics for them are better rather than somebody else’s venue.”
In its first legal response to a SoundExchange lawsuit alleging underpayment of $150 million in artist royalties, SiriusXM claimed in a court filing Friday (Sept. 22) that SoundExchange’s numbers rely on a “so-called audit” that was a “flawed and biased examination” and insists the satellite-radio giant “properly calculated its royalty payments to SoundExchange in all material respects.”
The filing, which demands a change of U.S. court venue from Virginia to New York or Washington, D.C., also bashes the royalty collection and distribution service for trying to “justify its existence, lofty executive salaries and luxurious operating style through repeated litigation against its biggest contributor.”
In a phone interview before the filing, George White, SiriusXM’s senior vp of music licensing and royalties, says the SoundExchange lawsuit, filed in August, caught his company by surprise. “We were discussing settlement with them,” adds White, a former longtime major-label executive. “We really took some time to review it.”
White says the lawsuit comes down to a difference of opinion over SoundExchange’s “method of calculating their deduction.” He argues that SiriusXM has paid SoundExchange $5 billion in performance royalties for sound recordings over the last 10 years, and contributed “the vast majority” of the $805 million the service collected last year. “The rhetoric in the suit itself and the press release around the suit seems really unfair and wholly inappropriate,” White says. “In fact, we want to make every effort to ensure everyone is compensated fairly.”
SoundExchange, which collects royalties from webcasters and non-terrestrial radio services on behalf of artists and labels, argued in its Aug. 16 lawsuit that Sirius XM was bundling its satellite radio and streaming service, mixing the revenue in order to improperly reduce its royalty bill. The U.S. government mandates different royalty rates for satellite-transmitted services (like SiriusXM’s traditional satellite radio) and webcasting under so-called statutory licenses, but SoundExchange’s lawsuit declared that “Sirius XM has unjustly enriched itself to the detriment of recording artists and copyright owners upon whose music Sirius XM has built its business.”
In its response, SiriusXM accused SoundExchange of “misguided allegations” and argued a “proper audit” would conclude the company “properly calculated its royalty payments to SoundExchange.” The company also criticized SoundExchange for taking advantage of what it called the Virginia court’s “rocket docket,” which, regional lawyers have said, results in fast-moving cases, little time for discovery and quick resolution.
“We’re very hopeful that we can proceed down the lines of having a productive settlement discussion,” White says. “I would far rather that we had a close relationship with SoundExchange that was about working to grow SiriusXM’s contributions to SoundExchange.”
SoundExchange didn’t immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
Spotify led a group of high-flying streaming stocks this week by gaining 14.8% to $157.54 per share, increasing its market capitalization by nearly $4 billion to $30.7 billion. The world’s largest streaming company, which boasted 220 million subscribers as of June 30, has clawed back nearly all its losses since its share price dropped 14% […]
SoundExchange is suing SiriusXM over allegations that the satellite radio giant has been “gaming the system” in order to withhold more than $150 million in royalties owed to artists.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Virginia federal court, the royalties group claimed that SiriusXM has been using bookmaking trickery – namely, manipulating how it bundles satellite services with web streaming services – as part of a scheme to “grossly underpay the royalties it owes.”
“Through its contrived and improper apportionment, Sirius XM has engineered a windfall for itself and deprived artists of the important compensation to which they are legally entitled and desperately need,” wrote lawyers for SoundExchange in the complaint.
The allegations concern the royalties paid under so-called statutory licenses – government mandates that automatically give certain streaming services the ability to broadcast songs for a set price. Crucially, that system sets different rates for revenue from satellite broadcasts (like SiriusXM’s traditional satellite radio) versus that from so-called webcasting services, which are transmitted through the internet.
In Wednesday’s complaint, SoundExchange says SiriusXM has intentionally bundled the two products together as a single offering in recent years, allowing the company to mix the revenue in order to improperly lower its royalty bill.
“Sirius XM is gaming the system: to grossly underpay the royalties it owes, Sirius XM has unreasonably characterized revenue from its bundled product as ‘webcasting revenue’ that in actuality is “[satellite] revenue’,” SoundExchange wrote. “Sirius XM’s revenue apportionment is beyond the pale, and harms music creators.”
According to SoundExchange, that maneuver has allowed SiriusXM to shortchange artists to the tune of $150 million. The company has also allegedly refused to comply with an indepdent audit that found millions in such shortfalls.
“Sirius XM has not paid its bills,” SoundExchange wrote. “By purporting to comply with the statutory license without paying what it owes under the license, Sirius XM has unjustly enriched itself to the detriment of recording artists and copyright owners upon whose music Sirius XM has built its business.”
A representative for SiriusXM did not immediately return a request for comment.
In a statement, SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe said the group had only resorted to litigation as a last resort. “In recent years we have viewed SiriusXM as a willingly lawful and compliant company that shares our desire for a robust streaming marketplace. But SiriusXM has and continues to wrongfully exploit the rules to significantly underpay the satellite royalties that it owes.”