Analysis Why a $1 billion deal for Queen’s catalog is possible – and what CNN and The Daily Mail got drastically wrong A deeper dive into what could become the biggest music catalog deal of all time
News Firebird confirms investments in Mick Management, Lex Borrero’s Ntertain, Defected, more Nat Zilkha says Firebird has access to $1 billion in capital, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars
Interviews TikTok is under fire from some of music’s most powerful players. Its global music boss says the future’s bright – and answers some tough questions. Ole Obermann sits down with MBW to talk payouts, Resso, and that Australia experiment
News Queen music catalog could be sold this year for over $1 billion, say MBW sources Major music companies including Universal Music Group have been in discussions for the acquisition, we're told, in addition to players from the world of private equity
News SoundCloud, chasing profitability, cuts another 8% of employee headcount The news was confirmed today (May 23) in an internal memo to staff from SoundCloud CEO, Eliah Seton, obtained by MBW
Analysis News Who owns Universal Music Group today? Music Business Worldwide digs into the numbers behind the institutional shareholders of the largest company in music rights
Analysis News The 3 major music companies are now jointly generating approximately $2.9m per hour With $6.2 billion in revenue secured in Q1, can the majors now go on to jointly top $25 billion in annual revenue in 2023?
News ‘An Ed Sheeran stream is not worth the same as a stream of rain falling on a roof’: Robert Kyncl says music streaming payout and pricing models must, and will, change Warner Music Group boss presses his message, says WMG's licensing agreements with Spotify et al will not be the same in future
News Warner Music Group grows revenues 4.6% YoY in calendar Q1; recorded music streaming revenue rises 2.2% YoY Warner's major recorded music sellers in the quarter included Michael Bublé, Ed Sheeran, Linkin Park, Zach Bryan and Dua Lipa
News Lauren Wirtzer-Seawood, SoundCloud’s Chief Content and Marketing Officer, exits company Wirtzer-Seawood joined SoundCloud in June 2021, hired by then-CEO, Michael Weismann
News Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl to give commencement speech at SUNY New Paltz later this month Kyncl will also receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree, the highest form of recognition offered by the State University of New York
Interviews BMG’s Hartwig Masuch and Thomas Coesfeld on hits, efficiency – and spending $400m on catalog acquisitions in 2022 BMG's current CEO and its incoming CEO both sit down with MBW to discuss the company's ambitions
Analysis The Boomy/Spotify streaming fraud debacle proves ‘pro-rata’ must go – urgently. Is that the kind of music business you signed up for? Because it's the one you've got.
News TikTok sister music app Resso shuts down free tier, goes subscription-only Today's news comes eight months after another major music streaming service in India, Gaana, shut down its free tier
Analysis Sony generated $2.18bn from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q1, up 9.7% YoY SZA's SOS was Sony Music Entertainment's biggest-selling project globally in the quarter