Music Business News: Europe

UK music licensing company PPL distributed $24m to performers and rightsholders in Q1

PPL reported a 7% YoY increase in payouts in Q1

BMG owner mulls merger for music company

“BMG could potentially be an opportunity for a breakout investment and joining forces with a competitor,” Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe told the FT

Putting the ‘vinyl revival’ in proper perspective

The following op/ed comes from long-time music industry journalist, Eamonn Forde

Bruce Springsteen named Fellow of The Ivors Academy in the UK in recognition of ‘his influence and impact on the craft of songwriting’

Springsteen becomes the first-ever international songwriter to be named a Fellow of The Ivors Academy

Spotify launches video courses on production, songwriting, how to ‘make hit records’ and more

The platform has teamed up with various ed tech services

BMG annual revenues hit $979m in 2023, up 4.6% YoY; EBITDA flat at $210m

BMG's EBITDA margin stood at 21.4% in 2023, down slightly from the 22.5% margin it posted in 2022

Warner has 13 days to submit a binding offer for Believe, as French company agrees to let WMG peruse its ‘data room’

This is the latest twist in an ongoing corporate saga

Joni Mitchell’s music is back on Spotify, a week after Neil Young’s music returned to the platform

Move comes more than two years after both artists removed their catalogs from Spotify