This week, Universal Music Group published its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results. On the earnings call that followed, Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge discussed the company’s AI strategy, UMG’s Downtown deal, and more.
Also this week, Create Music Group completed its latest funding round, securing over USD $450 million of new equity and debt capital to support its continued expansion.
Meanwhile, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl appeared at a Morgan Stanley event, where he spoke about Suno, the value of music, and more.
Elsewhere, US hip-hop duo Suicideboys are reportedly being sued by Rough Trade and Beggars Music in the UK over their alleged unauthorized use of a sample.
Also, Reservoir confirmed this week that two of its existing shareholders, Wesbild Inc. and Richmond Hill, submitted an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of the company that they don’t already own at $10.50 per share in cash. The bid arrived just a day after Reservoir disclosed a separate proposal from activist investor Irenic Capital Management.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. SIR LUCIAN GRAINGE TALKS AI STRATEGY, DOWNTOWN, D2C, SUPERFANS, AND MORE ON UMG’S LATEST EARNINGS CALL
Universal Music Group published its Q4 and full-year 2025 financial results on Thursday (March 5), posting nearly 9% YoY growth in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA for the full year.
The company’s Q4 revenues, meanwhile, reached €3.605 billion ($4.19bn) — up 10.6% YoY at constant currency.
On the earnings call that followed, UMG’s leadership team outlined the company’s financial performance and strategies around AI partnerships, superfan and direct-to-consumer initiatives, geographic expansion, and the integration of its recently closed Downtown Music acquisition.
On the latter point, Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge made a striking comparison. “Our last acquisition of this magnitude was EMI in 2011,” he told analysts… (MBW)
2. CREATE MUSIC GROUP, AT $2.2 BILLION VALUATION, COMPLETES $450 MILLION FUNDRAISE
Create Music Group has completed its latest funding round, securing over USD $450 million of new equity and debt capital to support its continued expansion.
The round values Los Angeles-headquartered Create at $2.2 billion.
The company remains majority-owned by its founders, with institutional investors Ares Management, 2 Mile, and Flexpoint Ford each holding minority stakes.
The financing round also included expanded bank group support, with Truist Securities and Banc of California serving as Joint Lead Arrangers… (MBW)
3. ROBERT KYNCL TALKS SUNO, AI, THE VALUE OF MUSIC AND MORE AT MORGAN STANLEY EVENT
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl used an appearance at Morgan Stanley’s conference this week to make an expansive case for why artificial intelligence represents an opportunity for WMG — and for the music industry at large.
The WMG CEO’s remarks came on the heels of a shareholder letter in which he argued that AI is music’s “next growth engine” rather than a threat to rights holders.
On the broader industry backdrop, Kyncl was bullish about the music industry, calling it “healthy” and “a very attractive category,” pointing to music’s resilience in a world of geopolitical uncertainty and noting that it has not been as well monetized as film and television.
Here are four things we learned from the conversation… (MBW)
4. SUICIDEBOYS SUED IN THE UK BY ROUGH TRADE AND BEGGARS MUSIC OVER ALLEGED UNAUTHORIZED SAMPLE (REPORT)
US hip-hop duo Suicideboys (aka $uicideboy$) are reportedly being sued by Rough Trade and Beggars Music in the UK.
The legal dispute stems from the duo’s alleged unauthorized sampling of composer Mica Levi’s BAFTA-nominated score for the 2013 film Under the Skin.
That’s according to a report from legal news outlet Law360, which reports that the Suicideboys track in question, What the Fuck is Happening, had amassed over 115 million streams on Spotify by the time the claim was filed at London’s High Court in June 2025…. (MBW)
5. RESERVOIR FACES COMPETING TAKEOVER PROPOSALS AS SHAREHOLDERS WESBILD AND RICHMOND HILL COUNTER IRENIC CAPITAL BID
Reservoir Media confirmed late Wednesday (March 4) that two of its existing shareholders, Wesbild Inc. and Richmond Hill Investments, have submitted an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of the company that they don’t already own at $10.50 per share in cash.
The bid arrives just a day after Reservoir disclosed a separate proposal from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, LP — one of its existing shareholders — which had offered between $10.00 and $11.00 per share.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Irenic had submitted the bid in February, valuing Reservoir at between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, including debt… (MBW)
