Analysis News From Amazon Music’s audiobook bundle to WMG’s subscription streaming growth… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
Analysis News Robert Kyncl talks streaming growth, ‘bolt-on acquisitions’, and Elliot Grainge… Everything we learned on Warner's calendar Q3 earnings call...
Analysis News Warner Music achieves fourth straight quarter of double-digit subscription streaming growth as calendar Q3 revenues hit $1.63bn Warner Music Group has published its financial results
Analysis Spotify gains profitability… but loses the argument. MBW founder Tim Ingham on Spotify's new-found profit margin, its relationship with songwriters, and Netflix
Analysis News ‘Super-Premium’ music subscription tiers coming in 2025, and 3 other things we learned from Universal Music’s Boyd Muir at the Morgan Stanley conference UMG has 1,300 stores in its direct-to-consumer business, and the profit margins are huge
Analysis News Shazam tops 100 billion song recognitions since launch Shazam notes that’s equivalent to 12 songs identified for every person on Earth
Analysis News Amazon Music to bundle Audiobooks from Audible – and unlike Spotify’s bundling move, publishers say it won’t decrease revenue for songwriters Audible’s library includes a US catalog of more than 1 million audiobooks
Analysis Generative AI opt-outs are unfair and unworkable. Let’s drop the pretense that they’re some sort of compromise. The following MBW Views op/ed comes from Ed Newton-Rex, CEO of the ethical generative AI non-profit, Fairly Trained
Analysis News Universal Music Group’s stake in Spotify is now worth $3 billion. Is it time to sell? With Spotify's share price at an all time high, UMG and Sony jointly own more than $5 billion in stock
Analysis News From GEMA’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI to Hipgnosis’ $1.47bn ABS deal… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
Analysis News Live Nation’s job is to ‘take the punch for the artist’… and 3 other things we learned from Michael Rapino during the company’s investor presentation Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing system means that, sometimes, ticket prices actually come down
Analysis News Tencent Music is using AI to create viral content… and three other things we learned on the company’s Q3 earnings call The music streaming operator is working to differentiate its services amid a long-running slump in monthly active users
Analysis News TikTok’s SoundOn is signing artists… and battling labels on the charts. MBW Reacts is a series of analytical commentaries from Music Business Worldwide written in response to major recent entertainment events or news stories...
Analysis News Spotify cruises past quarter-of-a-billion subscribers, as it eyes $1.5bn annual operating profit in 2024 Spotify’s global Premium Subscriber base grew to 252m paying users in Q3
Analysis News Michael Rapino talks superfans, the secondary ticketing market and more on Live Nation’s Q3 earnings call The live events company is also 'hopeful' about its antitrust fight under a Donald Trump administration