News Tencent could be hit with $1.5bn fine and forced to sell two music apps in China (report) Reuters reports that anti-competitive watchdogs could force TME to sell off Kugou and Kuwo
News Sony says it’s ‘aggressively pursuing’ music acquisitions… and buys a Mexican catalog to prove it Comment comes as Sony Music Group posts a strong quarter in the three months to end of March
News Sony Music soared in calendar Q1, with over $1.3bn in recorded music revenue banked Sony Music Publishing revenues rise 11% year-on-year at the US dollar level
Analysis News Spotify’s average subscriber is now paying less than $5 per month Bang goes the ARPU (again), as SPOT reveals figure fell to just €4.12 in the first three months of 2021
News Blackstone is buying eOne Music from Hasbro in $385m cash deal Chris Taylor to run eOne Music as a standalone company under Blackstone ownership
News Kobalt’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ryan Wright, leaves company after seven years Kobalt founder and Chairman pays tribute to Wright's contribution to company's success
News Concord buys Downtown’s owned music copyright catalog for around $400m Downtown becomes services company with no significant owned copyrights, as Concord grows again
News Universal Music Group generated over $1m per hour in Q1… and expects to go public in the fall Another strong quarter for Sir Lucian Grainge and co, as Q1 streaming revenue leaps up 20% year-on-year
Interviews ‘Good artist management is saying no to most things – and yes to the right things.’ Here, Rob Swerdlow explains the evolution of Starwood over the past three decades – and where the company plans to go with its multi-award-winning roster in 2021 and beyond…
News Check out the latest issue of MBW’s Music Business UK right here Read the Preview edition of our latest magazine all about the British market
News Songtradr acquires Pretzel, which provides DMCA-proof music for Twitch and YouTube livestreamers It's Songtradr's third acquisition in the past six months alone
News Why are Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Sting, Chris Martin and Stevie Nicks demanding the UK government ‘fixes streaming’? Page and Plant reunited at last... in letter calling for 50% of 'lean back' streaming royalties to be paid direct to artists
Analysis News Apple Music just made a lot of claims about what it pays artists. Let’s take a closer look. A new email from Apple has revealed some big numbers, and a couple of digs at Spotify. MBW gives its take.
Interviews Why SoundCloud has the music business right where it wants it. Michael Weissman, CEO of SoundCloud, answers MBW's questions on payout models, tipping, and where the music industry's headed
News SXSW is now 50% owned by Rolling Stone and Billboard parent (and MBW investor) P-MRC Austin conference and festival will return for an in-person event in March 2022