Interviews ‘Don’t sign things you don’t fully believe in. Otherwise you’ll have to fake it.’ Jamie Oborne talks success, ambition, adding Jack Antonoff to his management stable, and the “unflinching” artistry of The 1975…
News Confirmed: Warner Music Group won’t be making a bid for Believe The way now appears clear for Denis Ladegaillerie consortium's takeover
Analysis 3 reasons why… Warner Music Group might be tempted to bid $1.8 billion for Believe Weighing up the positive differences an acquisition of Believe could make to WMG
News BMG annual revenues hit $979m in 2023, up 4.6% YoY; EBITDA flat at $210m BMG's EBITDA margin stood at 21.4% in 2023, down slightly from the 22.5% margin it posted in 2022
News French regulators step in to remove roadblock for possible Warner Music Group bid for Believe Believe's board turned to the AMF to adjudicate whether a particular move by a consortium led by Believe founder/CEO, Denis Ladegaillerie, was lawful
News MBW (and Skibidi Toilet) just inspired a flurry of TikTok music takedowns TikTok took swift action over a list of videos that MBW identified as 'manipulating' UMG content
Analysis Down The Skibidi Toilet: Why Universal Music Group’s ‘Project Timeout’ is hitting TikTok with endless copyright takedown requests There is a lot to explain here....
Analysis Warner Music Group and Denis Ladegaillerie’s tussle over buying Believe is hotting up – as France’s SEC equivalent gets dragged into the drama. Believe's board is turning to France's equivalent of the SEC to decide whether Denis Ladegaillerie's actions are approved or otherwise
News That mystery company interested in buying Believe? It’s Warner Music Group. Needless to say, Warner does not love Ladegaillerie's attempt to bypass the "fairness opinion" part of the acquisition process
News The NMPA isn’t planning to renew its deal with TikTok. Will any indie publishers join Universal Music Group’s boycott? NMPA offers to help indie pubs take legal action against ByteDance's platform
Analysis Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s assets are now valued at $690 million less than they were before. Blackstone must be licking its lips. JP Morgan analyst says the likelihood of a Blackstone takeover just increased, thanks to Shot Tower's re-valuation of HSF
Analysis News A mystery company is mulling a $1.8 billion+ bid for Believe… but may be shut out by Denis Ladegaillerie consortium’s prior dealings Yet Ladegaillerie and co have a trump card up their sleeve
Analysis So… maybe don’t bet your house on Universal Music Group and TikTok reaching a deal anytime soon UMG and Sir Lucian Grainge today doubled down on their borderline disgust with the licensing offer/s they've received from TikTok in recent months
News Universal Music Group confirms cost-saving ‘redesign’, including layoffs, that will save $270m a year UMG EVP, Boyd Muir, confirms that UMG needs to cut costs to hit the mid-20s EBITDA margin target it promised investors
Analysis TikTok vs. Universal Music Group: The Cremation of Once-Cuddlesome Relations Surveying the landscape of a battle between music's biggest rightsholder and ByteDance's video juggernaut