Music Business News: Japan

Sony Music Entertainment Japan pays $185m to buy 39% in Snoopy cartoon company Peanuts

Entertainment firm has previously represented Peanuts rights on licensing deal

Sony Music sold 17.2% of its shares in Spotify yesterday, worth $250m+

Major continues to hold just under 5% of stock in Spotify, says Sony Corp

Facebook is expanding its music licensing mission into Asia and beyond

New publishing and label roles available in Tokyo, Singapore or Seoul

Despite arrival of Spotify, streaming revenue growth slowed considerably in Japan last year

Physical revenues make up more than 80% of local market

The major labels’ revenues grew by $1bn in 2017. But who had the biggest year?

Streaming revenues jumped by $1.4bn across Sony, Universal and Warner

Sony is technically the biggest music company in the world (but it’s a bit of a stretch)

Why Fate/Grand Order messes up any hope of a like-for-like comparison between Sony and Universal

Sony Music generated $3.8bn in 2017, as streaming revenues jumped 33%

Streaming generated more than $1.5bn for major record company over last year

Deezer expands into Japan with HiFi audio offering

Exclusive partnerships with Onkyo & Pioneer and Yamaha