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Satellite radio company SiriusXM Holdings said on Tuesday (April 4) that Thomas Barry will take over as chief financial officer later this month, according to a company statement.
Barry succeeds Sean Sullivan, who is leaving Sirius on April 28 for an opportunity at another publicly traded company “outside the industry,” according to the statement.
Barry, a 14-year veteran of SiriusXM, takes on the job of head of finances amid a company-wide reorganization that involved eliminating 475 jobs in March, as SiriusXM shifts resources into technology initiatives.
Barry has experience in “organizational transformation,” the company said, having played a key role in the integration of Sirius and XM after its 2008 merger, including as it relates to Pandora and the connected vehicle business. Barry previously served as senior vice president and controller and as chief accounting officer at the company.
“Tom is an experienced leader who has played a key role on SiriusXM’s finance team for the last fourteen years and … (who) has deep insight into our business and SiriusXM’s strategic, operating and financial priorities,” Jennifer Witz, SiriusXM’s chief executive officer said in the statement.
SiriusXM will report its first quarter 20203 financial results on April 27.
SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said on Tuesday that the company’s recent job cuts were difficult but “the right thing to do” as the business grapples with lower ad sales, a still-delayed recovery in automotive subscription business and major investments in its technology.
SiriusXM announced this week it was letting go of 475 employees, or roughly 8% of its workforce, which totaled 5,869 employees as of Dec. 31, 2022.
“It’s really tough to see the number of talented employees leaving the business,” Witz said Tuesday at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley. “It was the right thing to do for the business. We absolutely want to make sure we’re disciplined. We will operate much more efficiently going forward and that’s going to give us even more flexibility to invest where we need to to build out this platform and generate future growth.”
Among the employees impacted were Steve Leeds, vice president of talent and industry and a 17-year veteran of the company who developed SiriusXM’s artist branded stations like E Street Radio and recruited talent like Lou Reed and Marshall Chess; and Roger Coletti, senior director and executive producer talk programming who, during his eight years at SiriusXM, helped create Volume, SiriusXM’s talk radio channel dedicated to music topics.
SiriusXM is the latest in a long list of companies in technology, consumer products and other industries to announce it was cutting its workforce and operating leaner due to the uncertain economic climate. Layoff.fyi, a website tracking job cuts in the technology sector, estimates more than 126,000 employees have been let go from tech company jobs so far in 2023, compared to 161,000 employees let go in all of 2022.
Witz, a former Viacom executive who has been with SiriusXM since 2002, said the company has been reviewing areas to reduce costs since the middle of last year. It made cuts to new hiring, content development, discretionary marketing and the company’s real estate footprint, but ultimately prepared to reduce staff as ad sales slowed in December.
“Advertising is definitely a headwind,” Witz said. “That’s 20% of our revenue… And subscriber volume — we expect this to be modestly negative. The auto sales, we haven’t seen a recovery materialize. The first quarter is going to be tough.”
Witz said that operating with a leaner workforce will enable the company to capitalize on growth opportunities she sees in automotive subscriptions at the high end, where customers pay as much as $35 per month.
SiriusXM reaches roughly 150 million listeners across its divisions, including 34.3 million Sirius XM subscribers, 6.2 million Pandora subscribers, and podcasts, according to the company’s most recent annual report.
SiriusXM’s core product — satellite subscription radio programs — have historically been consumed in cars, with SiriusXM radios available in about 152 million vehicles, as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to filings.
As the company looks to smart speakers and other connected devices to expand its reach to consumers, it is also expanding it content offering and prioritizing podcasting.
“We do see a bright spot in podcasting,” Witz said.
SiriusXM told workers on Monday it is letting go of 475 employees, or roughly 8% of the company’s workforce, as it works to reduce expenses and invest in new technology, the company’s CEO said in a memo to staff.
“It is critical for us to take the right steps now to secure the long-term health and profitability of our business,” SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz wrote in an internal memo. “Investments we are making in the business this year, coupled with today’s uncertain economic environment, require us to think differently about how our organization is structured.”
The satellite radio company said it was exploring job cuts last November to deal with how a worsening economic outlook is impacting demand for ads and other areas of its business. The staff reductions announced Monday place SiriusXM alongside Apple, Microsoft, Spotify and Alphabet as companies that have announced layoffs in 2023.
More than 123,000 employees have been let go from technology industry jobs so far in 2023, with most job cuts reported in January, according to Layoffs.fyi, a website that track workforce reductions.
Last month, SiriusXM reported 2022 revenues grew by 4% to $9 billion, but Witz cautioned she expected a “a softer first half (of 2023) in terms of revenue … and subscriber growth” compared to last year.
The job cuts will hit nearly every department in the company, and employees who are being let go will start to receive notice today, Witz said, adding she is grateful for their work.
During Witz’s tenure as CEO, SiriusXM has hired about 1,500 new employees, bringing the company’s total headcount to just under 5,700, according to filings from 2022.
The company is in the process of updating the back-end technology and user-friendliness of its SiriusXM app, which Witz has said will enable the company to introduce new products to the app faster, a key part of the company’s growth strategy.
Sirius has also struggled in recent quarters with a slowdown in Pandora subscriber revenue and higher expenses from investments in podcasting and technology.
SiriusXM reported its full-year 2022 revenue grew by 4% to $9 billion on Thursday, as increased numbers of streaming subscribers helped the company hit its financial targets for the year.
While key metrics like earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were up 2% at $2.8 billion, executives struck a cautious tone on a call with investors, saying they expect softness in the year ahead.
“We broadly anticipate a softer first half (of 2023) in terms of revenue, EBITDA, and subscriber growth as compared to the back half of the year,” SiriusXM chief executive Jennifer Witz said on the call. “We are not issuing subscriber guidance at this time, although we anticipate we’ll see modestly negative self-pay net adds for the year as economic and demand uncertainty persists, auto sales remain soft, and we moderate marketing spend for our streaming service early in the year ahead of planned product improvements late in 2023.”
SiruisXM reported net income of $365 million in the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, up from $318 million the year prior. EBITDA for the quarter rose 10% to $742 million. The company reported 348,000 net new self-pay subscribers for the year.
The company said late last year it would embark on a broad effort to cut costs, as it invests in the back-end technology and user-friendliness of its SiriusXM app. Updating the app’s infrastructure so that the company can bring new products to the app quickly is a key part of the company’s growth strategy.
In a memo to staff last year, Witz said the company will be looking at all ways to trim costs, including possible job cuts, as it weighs how to handle macroeconomic challenges like declining advertising budgets and auto manufacturer delays.
Drake‘s Sunday night show at the Apollo Theater was momentarily put on pause after a man fell from the lower mezzanine balcony into the audience.
“Just gotta make sure somebody’s OK,” the OVO rapper said after a crew member ran onstage to inform him of the fall.
The incident occurred about 90 minutes into the show, just as 21 Savage walked out to perform “Rich Flex” and a slew of other Her Loss hits alongside Drake. The pause lasted about 15 minutes as venue staff treated the injured man.
“Unfortunately, last evening an incident occurred with an audience member who landed in the orchestra from the lower mezzanine,” the venue said in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 23). “Drake, Apollo and SiriusXM halted the show immediately when learning of a potential fan injury and standard protocols were taken. They were seen immediately by EMS on site. The fan and other audience members reported that they were OK. No major injuries have been reported. The Apollo is investigating the situation further.”
In partnership with SiriusXM, Drake announced the concert as a one-night only event last fall. It was originally meant to take place Nov. 11 but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff, whose shooting death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again to January due to production issues, and a second show was added.
The two-night event attracted an A-list crowd, including Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Judge, A$AP Ferg and more, as Drake performed a mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts spanning his catalog. The Toronto native also brought out Dipset and Lil Uzi Vert as special guests, and hinted at a possible tour with 21 this summer.
“I’d like to take you on a little journey tonight, if that’s ok?,” Drake asked onstage at the Apollo Theater on Saturday (Jan. 21).
After two postponements last fall, the Toronto superstar finally graced the stage at the legendary Harlem venue on Saturday night for his first of two shows there this weekend. In partnership with SiriusXM and his radio show Sound 42, the concert was originally meant to take place on Friday (Nov. 11) but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff whose untimely death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again due to production issues.
Twenty-five minutes after his scheduled set time of 9:00 p.m., a white screen lifted to reveal Drake sitting in a bedroom made to look like his old room in his mother’s basement. The other side resembled a record label office.
Drake then took fans and guests on a journey through his career. As he sat on the edge of the bed “where I wrote a lot of these songs,” he said, he took the crowd back to his early days with songs like “Marvin’s Room,” “Say Something” and “Practice.” After 15 minutes there was a slight pause before the set changed to an office, representing the times he played his music at record labels, only to get rejected. Early hits like “Best I Ever Had,” “Over,” “Headlines” and “I’m On One” soundtracked that scene.
Drake powered through a good mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts. Below are eight best moments from Drake’s night at the Apollo.
Free merch
Fans and guests were treated to free OVO T-shirts that were especially made for the show. The shirts were white with the OVO owl and the Apollo Theater’s logo on the left chest with the original show flier printed on the entire back.
The star-studded crowd
What’s a Drake show without a star-studded guest list? Notable people like Elliott Wilson, Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Ice Spice, 2 Chainz and more were in attendance for Drake’s first show in, what he said, “like five years or some s—.” A few times throughout the performance, the rapper also thanked his longtime friend and producer Noah “40” Shebib, who was in the crowd.
Drake’s nods to his Degrassi days
As he opened the concert with Take Care cut “Over My Dead Body,” Drake sported his Degrassi character Jimmy Brooks’s basketball jersey with baggy jeans and white Air Force 1s. “That’s what this sequence is about, me trying to grind my a– off and let people know that I’m not in a wheelchair in real life [and] Canadians can make music or whatever it was,” he joked later in the night after the record label scene.
The night was about gratitude
About seven minutes into his set, Drake took time to address the crowd. “I wanted to make this show about gratitude. This is a little story we put together about my deep love for my family, for my dear friends and for each and every one of you that have been supporting me for a long time,” he said. The star said he associates New York City with feelings of making it, and he revisited those feelings of gratitude by performing his biggest hits and deep cuts spanning his catalog thus far.
Drake being a mama’s boy
We all know that Drake is mama’s boy at heart. The rapper pointed out his mother, Sandi Graham, sitting in the mezzanine and thanked her for everything she’s done for him.
Dipset and diamond bracelets
After the record label scene, the stage design transitioned to a Harlem bodega and Dipset emerged along with Drake, who was wearing Cam’ron’s original pink mink coat and headband combo. The Harlem rap group — which includes Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey — performed their songs “I Really Mean It,” “Dipset Anthem” and Jones’s solo hit “We Fly High (Ballin’).” “I know I talk a lot about being influenced and I got a lot of love, but like … these guys right here from Harlem made us dress different, talk different, walk different, rap different, all the way in Canada,” said Drake after they performed. Jones then gifted Drake a diamond bracelet with jewels resembling the Dipset bird, praying hands, OVO logo, OVO owl and the Apollo logo.
’21, can you do something for me?‘
Fans were in for a treat when Drake brought out 21 Savage to perform a slew of Her Loss songs for the first time together. The two started with “Rich Flex” then tag-teamed for “Privileged Rappers,” “Spin Bout U,” “Jimmy Cooks” and “Knife Talk.” The Atlanta rapper told the crowd that his friendship with Drake is beyond music saying the Toronto native Drake would check on him often after they met in 2015. “He helped me every step of my career behind the scenes,” 21 said before hugging his friend.
Drake hinted at a summer tour with 21
“You should come see us this summer, we might be around,” Drake said before 21 left the stage.
SiriusXM has brought on Suzi Watford, the former chief marketing officer for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, to oversee the satellite radio giant’s streaming subscription business, the company said on Tuesday.
Watford will join SiriusXM in the newly created role of chief growth officer and report to Joe Verbrugge, SiriusXM’s chief commercial officer. Her position will also include oversight of corporate marketing, data and research across SiriusXM and Pandora.
“Suzi has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to build and lead talented teams to evolve and grow profitable consumer subscription businesses, and we are thrilled to have her join us,” Verbrugge said in a statement.
Watford has spent the majority of her career at Murdoch-controlled media companies like News Corp.’s News U.K., in addition to the WSJ and Dow Jones. She most recently served as the chief marketing and membership officer for Dow Jones, overseeing marketing and subscription strategies across WSJ, Barron’s and MarketWatch.
Watford will be based in New York City.
“I’m looking forward to joining the talented team at SiriusXM at this stage in the company’s journey and playing a role as we look to attract and retain new growth audiences,” Watford said.
SiriusXM last reported having 32.2 million self-paying subscribers and 34.2 million total users at the end of September. During the same quarter, Pandora lost a net of 52,000 self-pay subscribers, leaving the music streaming service with a total of 6.29 million subscribers. The company will report its Q4 2022 earnings on Feb. 2.
This article was originally published on THR.com.
SiriusXM is planning cost-cutting measures for the new year — including, potentially, job cuts, the satellite radio service told staff during a company-wide Zoom meeting this week.
SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said the company is reviewing “where there is room for improved efficiency,” as it weighs how to handle macroeconomic challenges like declining advertising budgets and auto manufacturer delays while still investing in a near-total rebuild of its technology infrastructure.
“The results of this review will highlight the other areas where we may need to reduce spending, and it may indicate the need for staff reductions,” Witz said on the Nov. 28 call, according to notes from the call reviewed by Billboard and verified by a spokesperson.
“In the meantime, we need to closely evaluate our hiring needs and be purposeful in prioritizing roles that align with our strategic initiatives.”
This comes amid a wave of music companies announcing layoffs, including Spotify, SoundCloud, BMI and Anghami, as all prepare for a possible economic downturn.
SiriusXM said its cost-cutting review is currently underway. While it has not finalized any decisions on how many jobs would be cut or from what divisions, Witz said the results of the review are expected in the new year.
During Witz’s roughly two years as CEO, SiriusXM has hired about 1,500 new employees, bringing the company’s total headcount to just under 5,700, according to filings.
SiriusXM reported last month that profits fell in the third quarter from a year ago due to a slowdown in Pandora subscriber revenue and higher expenses from investments in podcasting and technology. Third quarter revenues were up overall, as the company’s total subscribers rose to 34.2 million.
The company is in the process of updating the back-end technology and user-friendliness of its SiriusXM app, Witz said during a presentation at the investor day for SiriusXM’s parent company Liberty Media on Nov. 17. Updating the app’s infrastructure so that the company can bring new products to the app quickly is a key part of the company’s growth strategy.
“[The new app] takes the ease and connection we have in-car and extends it everywhere our subscribers go while inviting new listeners in as our standalone streaming business continues to grow,” Witz said at the investor day. She also acknowledged the “challenging macroeconomic environment where we are seeing headwinds in both the ad market and auto industry,” and said those issues are forcing the company to run leaner in certain areas in order to prioritize investing in growing SiriusXM’s audiences.
SiriusXM has launched a new program aimed at developing and breaking emerging artists, the company tells Billboard.
Created by the SiriusXM and Pandora programming and curation teams, the Artist Accelerator program will select six to 12 artists across a wide range of genres over the next year. All of them will receive focused programming for a sustained campaign across SiriusXM channels and Pandora stations, as well as ongoing marketing support from both brands.
The program’s inaugural artist is Def Jam/High Standardz signee Coco Jones, whose latest single “I.C.U.”, from her debut EP What I Didn’t Tell You, has been playing in accelerated rotation on SiriusXM’s The Heat and Heart & Soul stations since Oct. 21. On Pandora, “I.C.U.” has been added to various playlists and radio stations across the platform, including New R&B, Black Music Forever, Adult R&B, PLATINUM, Today’s R&B and Hip Hop Hits, Women in R&B and more. The streaming service is also featuring exclusive audio content from Jones via “artist takeover” modes currently running on the PLATINUM and Women in R&B stations, where she takes listeners through the process of recording the EP and hand-picks tracks from some of the artists who inspired her.
“Introducing our audiences to new artists and investing in those artists’ development is a core value of both SiriusXM and Pandora and we are excited to unveil our Artist Accelerator program to the industry,” said Steve Blatter, senior vp/general manager of music programming at SiriusXM. “The program brings together SiriusXM and Pandora to accelerate the growth of artists across our combined massive listener base.”
In addition to her burgeoning music career, Jones has been working as an actor in TV and film since she was a tween. The 24-year-old currently portrays Hilary Banks on Peacock’s Fresh Prince reboot, Bel-Air. On TikTok, where she boasts nearly 2 million followers, she is dedicated to upping representation for dark-skinned Black women.
“I genuinely could not be more excited to be partnered with SiriusXM and Pandora,” said Jones. “The way that they’ve supported me and found new ways to highlight my future while acknowledging my past, is iconic. There’s definitely more to come, this is just the beginning! I’m excited for y’all to come with me through the whole journey!”
SiriusXM is just the latest platform to introduce an artist development program. In 2017, Apple Music launched the artist spotlight program Up Next, while SoundCloud introduced First on SoundCloud the following year. And in 2021, Spotify launched Fresh Finds, an extension of the playlist hub of the same name that provides emerging acts with on- and off-platform support.
SiriusXM’s profits fell in the third quarter from a year ago on higher expenses and lower profits from Pandora, but overal revenues rose thanks to SiriusXM subscriber growth, the satellite radio company reported on Tuesday.
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. reported net income fell to $247 million, or earnings per diluted share of $0.06, in the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2022, from $343 million, or $0.08, during the third quarter last year. In its Pandora and off-platform segment, gross profits fell 12% on lower subscriber revenue and higher costs from investments in podcast content, the company said in its earnings release.
Revenues rose 3.6% to $2.28 billion from $2.198 billion in the third quarter 2021, while adjusted EBITDA was $720 million for the quarter, roughly flat year-over-year. The company reiterated that it expects full year revenues of $9 billion, with an adjusted EBIDTA of $2.8 billion.
Total operating expenses rose by more than 15% to $1.813 billion in the quarter on increased subscriber acquisition costs, marketing, sales and general administrative expenses.
Subscriber acquisition costs rose 21% to $86 million due to higher equipment installations by automakers, executives said. That and along with investments and other expenses caused the company’s free cash flow to fall 44% from a year ago to $329 million.
In addition, SiriusXM announced its board voted to raise the quarterly cash dividend by 10%, which it will pay out later this month. The company returned $262 million in capital to stockholders in the quarter, chief financial officer Sean Sullivan said in a statement.
“We continue to drive growth and focus on a disciplined approach to cost management across our organization,” chief executive Jennifer Witz said on a call with analysts. “While near-term objectives remain top of mind, we are focused on the strategy and investments that will drive long-term value for our stockholders.”
SiriusXM third quarter financial highlights:
SiriusXM reported 32.2 million self-pay subscribers, reflecting an increase of 187,000.The total number of subscribers rose to 34.2 million, including a decline of number of 49,000 paid promotional subscribers. The company’s self-pay monthly churn rate remained at record-low levels at 1.5%.Revenue for SiriusXM rose 5% to $1.7 billion compared to last year on self-pay subscriber growth and a 6%-increase in advertising on the SiriusXM platform.Total cost of services at SiriusXM rose 3% to $665 million for the quarter from the third quarter 2021.
Pandora and Off-Platform third quarter financial highlights:
Gross profit for Pandora and Off-Platform segment fell 12% to $173 million for the third quarter 2022, from $197 million a year ago.Pandora monthly active users fell 7% to 48.8 million compared to 52.6 million in the third quarter a year ago, and subscriber revenue declined by 2%.Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium self-pay subscribersheld flat at 6.3 million.Advertising revenue edged 1% higher to $407 million, as total ad-supported listener hours fell to 2.75 billion in the quarter compared to 2.89 billion a year ago. Podcasting and off-platform business revenues rose 37% to $123 million.The total cost of services increased by 7% driven primarily by investments in podcast content.