News From the 3 majors’ joint $12.99bn in H1 to HYBE’s $100m+ deal… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-up Five of the biggest headlines on MBW this week...
News Warner Records launches Defiant Records joint venture with Steve ‘Steve-O’ Carless Carless was named President of A&R at Warner Records in September 2021
Interviews ‘Generative AI is set to revolutionize the music business.’ MBW's Trailblazers series interviews Daouda Leonard, manager of Grimes and founder of Los Angeles-based AI development studio CreateSafe
News French Montana inks global partnership with Larry Jackson’s $1bn-backed gamma Partnership coincides with French Montana's new single 'Good Summer'
News Sony Music Publishing strikes global deal with India-based record label Big Bang Music Deal covers administration, sync, and catalog promotion
Analysis News Local artists’ market share is rising on music services, and 3 other things we learned from Denis Ladegaillerie on Believe’s latest earnings call Paris-headquartered music company published its financial results for the first half of 2023 on Wednesday (August 2)
News HYBE to fully acquire Enhypen label BeLift Lab in $100m+ deal (report) BeLift started out as a joint venture between HYBE and CJ ENM
News Iconoclast acquires producer royalties of legendary composer and disco icon Giorgio Moroder Olivier Chastan’s acquisition vehicle Iconoclast has acquired again
News Round Hill Music Royalty Fund expands country portfolio with acquisition of Big Loud Shirt and Craig Wiseman rights Investments comprise more than 1,200 country hits
News SM Entertainment to launch music publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights Plan was unveiled during an investor presentation on August 2
Analysis News India’s Tips Industries generated $6.4m in calendar Q2, up 54% YoY – the company’s best-ever quarterly results Another major highlight from the company's quarter was its YouTube subscriber growth and view count
News Alice Kent named General Manager of Universal Music Singapore Exec previously served as the Marketing, Partnerships, and Business Development Director for Live Nation Entertainment Singapore
News Paul Langworthy named Chief Revenue Officer of Songtradr Exec's appointment follows a tenure as CEO of Songtradr owned B2B music platform 7digital
News Spotify expands AI-powered DJ beta globally six months after launch The development marks Spotify’s latest effort in embracing AI. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in April said AI’s relationship with music “is very early days and it’s an incredibly fast developing space.”
Analysis The 3 major music companies generated $1bn more in the first half of 2023 vs. the first half of 2022 MBW crunches the numbers to check in on how the majors performed in the first half of 2022
News Simon Cowell launches SYCO music publishing company in partnership with Universal The new joint venture is part of a growing partnership between Cowell and UMG
News Tom Becci hired as Chief Executive of Concord Label Group The announcement comes after a shakeup in the company's management, and a push towards expanding its presence among music labels
Analysis News Sony generated $2.28bn from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q2, up 12.5% YoY SZA's SOS was Sony Music's biggest revenue-generating record in calendar Q2, for the second quarter in a row