Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we make certain you caught the 5 greatest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and scale back their touring prices.
This week noticed Warner Music Group report record-high revenues for the ultimate calendar quarter of 2023. The corporate reported USD $1.748 billion in world revenues in calendar This fall, up 10.6% YoY on a normalized, fixed forex foundation.
That information got here in the identical 24 hours that WMG introduced it’s to chop round 10% of its workforce – affecting 600 workers – by the top of September this 12 months.
We additionally discovered this week that Tom March has been appointed Chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group, shortly after the announcement that Michelle Jubelirer had left the place.
Plus, personal fairness agency New Mountain Capital accomplished its acquisition of performing rights org BMI, having gained shareholder and regulatory approval.
In the meantime, after final week’s earth-shaking information that Universal Music Group‘s recordings are disappearing from TikTok as a result of two corporations being unable to achieve a licensing settlement, it emerged that a number of entities within the music business are backing UMG within the ongoing spat.
The likes of Primary Wave, Downtown, Hipgnosis, and the Nationwide Music Publishers Affiliation have all publicly voiced their help for UMG’s refusal to re-license TikTok for the phrases on supply. UMG has additionally earned help from A2IM, the US commerce physique that represents over 600 unbiased recorded music corporations.
Elsewhere this week, Spotify introduced that it paid out USD $9 billion to music rightsholders final 12 months – and has paid out over $48 billion for the reason that platform launched in 2008.
On the subject of the dispute between Common Music Group and TikTok over royalty funds – the discuss of the music business over the previous few weeks – Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl is providing some cautionary recommendation: “No matter you learn within the press, don’t consider it.”
Kyncl made the touch upon WMG’s earnings name on Thursday (February 8), by which analysts typically appeared as involved in speaking concerning the UMG-TikTok scenario as they had been in WMG’s (reasonably spectacular) fiscal Q1 numbers.
Kyncl famous that, in his prior function as Chief Enterprise Officer at YouTube, he had himself skilled these kinds of rightsholder-vs.-platform conflicts, “so I do know precisely what Lucian and Shou are feeling,” he stated, referring to UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
Common’s recorded music catalog (about 3 million tracks) and its publishing catalog (practically 4 million songs) have began to vanish from TikTok, after TikTok’s licensing settlement with UMG expired on January 31, with no new settlement in place…
“Proper now the CEO of TikTok might be sitting at residence watching this present, consuming an ice-cream, crying, seeing all of his exes in a single room. And you recognize what, TikTok? Disgrace on you. Disgrace on you for ripping off all of those artists. How dare you try this? [Pause] That’s Spotify’s job.”
Daniel Ek in all probability loved Trevor Noah’s TikTok-focused opening monologue at The Grammys on Sunday greater than most… till Spotify grew to become the punchline.
In what we’re positive is a coincidental announcement, Spotify confirmed on Thursday (February 8) the sum of money it paid out to music rightsholders in 2023 – and it’s a whopper.
The corporate says it delivered USD $9 billion final 12 months to recipients throughout document corporations and music publishers, plus unbiased distributors, efficiency rights organizations, and amassing societies…
Final week, as should you wanted reminding, Common Music Group introduced that it had not reached a cope with TikTok to re-license its catalog on the video service. Consequently, UMG’s huge portfolio of music is now coming down from TikTok.
Over a 3rd of the present High 50 TikTok tracks within the US have – because of the UMG scenario – already grow to be unavailable in TikTok’s public music library.
In current days, the likes of Main Wave, Downtown, Hipgnosis, and the Nationwide Music Publishers Affiliation have all publicly backed UMG’s refusal to re-license TikTok for the phrases on supply – phrases that Common says don’t characterize truthful worth for its music catalog.
Now, UMG has earned one other supporter on this struggle: A2IM, the US commerce physique that represents over 600 unbiased recorded music corporations.
Right here, A2IM’s President & CEO, Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE, explains why A2IM is backing UMG’s motion in its standoff with TikTok, and why he believes that “in an business that systemically underpays artists and labels, TikTok’s fee methodology is uniquely disadvantageous“..
Tom March has been appointed Chairman & CEO of Capitol Music Group (CMG).
The information was introduced on Wednesday (February 7) by Interscope Geffen A&M Information (IGA) Chairman & CEO John Janick, to whom March experiences.
In his new place, March is accountable for the general administration and course of the corporate, which encompasses Capitol Information, Blue Be aware Information, Motown Information, Astralwerks, Harvest Information and Capitol Christian Music Group.
March’s appointment to the function of Chairman & CEO of CMG follows the prior day’s information that Michelle Jubelirer had stepped down from her function as Chair & CEO of the Common Music Group-owned firm.
Jubelirer served as Chair & CEO of Capitol Music Group since 2021, having beforehand served as President, COO, and EVP at CMG…
It’s official: New Mountain Capital has accomplished its acquisition of US performing rights group Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).
NMC, which has over USD $45 billion in property underneath administration, confirmed in November that it’ll “lead a shareholder group” to accumulate a majority stake in BMI.
The NMC transaction was topic to approval by BMI shareholders and customary regulatory approvals, and was anticipated to shut by the top of this quarter (Q1 2024).
Based on an replace issued on Thursday (February 8), the deal has now acquired the mandatory shareholder and regulatory approvals required for closing…
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Enterprise Worldwide
