Business

ISSUE: 19 Nov 2024
  • Spotify reported figures for its Q3 to 30 September, showing 252m premium subscribers, up 12% year-on-year, and 402m free, ad-supported service users, up 11%. Quarterly revenues were up 19% to €3.99bn, with an operating profit of €454m. (Spotify) 
ISSUE: 12 Nov 2024
  • For its fiscal second quarter ended 30 September, Sony Music — comprising Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Sony Music Publishing — reported quarterly operating income of ¥90bn, a 12% rise year-on-year. (Billboard) Recorded music revenue increased 14%, subscription and ad-supported streaming up 9%, physical revenue up 22%, and 'other' (merch, live performances and synch, public performance and broadcast) up 33%. Publishing was up 11%.
ISSUE: 05 Nov 2024
  • Four months after KKR revealed the acquisition of Superstruct Entertainment, CVC, which is said to have over $200bn in assets under management, has officially taken a stake in the European concert giant. (DMN) 
  • Deezer’s Q3 2024 revenue neared €134m thanks in part to the company’s continued growth in France and ongoing partnership expansions. (DMN) 
  • For Q3 to 30 September, Universal Music Group reported revenue of €2.87bn, a year-on-year increase of 4.9% in constant currency. Recorded music revenue was up 6.2% to €2.14bn, recorded music subscription revenue grew 8.2%, while streaming revenue (ad-funded) was up by 0.3%. Publishing revenue was up 2.2% to €500m. Licensing and other sources experienced a 20.4% lift to €325m. Sync was up €64m, a 16.4% improvement. Merchandising and other brought €237m, up 4.4% YoY. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 15 Oct 2024
  • Insomniac launches new trap music label, Break Room Records. (EDM) 
  • [PIAS] founders Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot are to sell the remaining shares they hold in the company to Universal Music Group. (RotD) 
  • Insomniac Music Group launches Insomniac Publishing. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 24 Sep 2024
  • The Circuit Group, composed of management companies AYITA and Seven20, announced their expansion into the UK market and launch of Circuit Management, a joint venture with music management company CrlFrk. The Circuit Group UK will be led by CEO and President, James Sutcliffe. (RotD)
  • Dutch distributor and vinyl producer Artone has acquired UK-based global D2C e-commerce music retailer and distributor Townsend Music. (RotD) Bertus Distribution, the pressing plant Record Industry, labels V2, Music On Vinyl and Music On CD are all part of Artone.
  • Atlantic Music Group is laying off 150+ staff, ahead of Elliot Grainge officially starting his role as CEO on 1 October. A number of acts are understood to have been dropped from its roster. (MBW) 
  • Secretly Distribution, Beggars Group and Cargo Records partner to form new distributor. (RA)
ISSUE: 03 Sep 2024
  • Aslice is closing the company has announced. Launched by DVS1 in 2022, the company shared over $422,000 of earnings with more than 27,000 producers. As part of the closing process, "A Slice Of Fairness" report was collated. (RA)  
ISSUE: 13 Aug 2024
  • Andy Daniell is rejoining Defected Records as director of music. (MW) 
  • Warner Music Group reported quarterly net profit up nearly 14% to $141m in the third quarter last year. Digital revenue and streaming revenue were up 4.7% and 5.5% respectively, as subscription revenue grew 7%. Recorded Music streaming revenue increased 5.0%, and music publishing streaming revenue increased 7.9%. (Billboard) 
  • Sony Corp's music division helped a 10% year-on-year rise in operating profit to £1.5bn for the company in its fiscal Q1 to 30 June. Highlights for Music were: Revenue of ¥442bn ($2.7bn), up 23% year-on-year; Adjusted operating income of ¥108bn ($671 million), up 30%; Recorded music of ¥299bn ($1.8bn), up 26%; Music publishing revenue of ¥97bn ($602m), up 28.7%; Visual media and platform revenue of ¥39.7bn ($246m), down 7.1%. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 06 Aug 2024
  • Live Nation reports over $6bn in Q2 2024 revenue — and nearly $280m in half-year Astroworld settlement costs. (Variety) 
  • Deezer reported a nearly 15% increase in revenue for the first half of 2024 and raised a key financial target for the year. (Billboard) It generated €268m for the six months ending 30 June as ARPU improved for both direct subscribers and business-to-business subscribers by 6% and 3.5%, respectively.
  • Believe has posted a double-digit H1 2024 revenue jump – and acknowledged that an anticipated growth acceleration didn’t materialise across the six-month stretch’s second half. (DMN) 
  • Warner Music Group announced the reorganisation of its Recorded Music operations. (RotD) Max Lousada, CEO, Recorded Music, is to step down at the end of the fiscal year (30 September), after eight years in the role, and 20 years at WMG. He will remain as an advisor through to 31 January. Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) will be overseen by Simon Robson. The UK & Ireland group will now be part of European operations.
    Effective 1 October, the new, flatter structure "will elevate creative regional leadership, supported by global services, delivering maximum impact for artists on the world stage". In the US, Julie Greenwald will take on a new role as Chair, Atlantic Music Group. Elliot Grainge, 10K Projects Founder & CEO, will become the CEO. 
    Elliot Grainge informed staff at his 10K Projects of his new role, writing it's "business as usual moving forward". (Hits)
ISSUE: 30 Jul 2024
  • Apollo Global Management has provided a $700m "capital solution" to Sony Music Group to help fund music acquisitions. (Billboard) 
  • Universal Music Group saw an 8.7% rise (9.6% in constant currency) in Q2 revenue, with recorded music increasing 5.8% (6.8%). Music publishing revenue was up 10.1% (10.4%) and merchandising 44.6% (43.7%). Subscription revenue jumped 6.5% (6.9%), though streaming revenue was down 4.2% (3.9%). Physical revenue saw a 9.5% increase (14.4%), and licensing and other revenue was up 18% (18%). Adjusted EBITDA gained 10% to €649m. (Variety) 
  • Spotify reported its Q2 2024 financials, pointing to €3.81bn in revenue, up 20% year-on-year, with a net profit of €274m. The numbers were fueled by a 16% drop in operating costs stemming from layoffs and a "lower marketing spend." Monthly active users grew 14% to 626m, subscribers increased 12% to 246m, gross margin hit 29.2% and operating income rose to €266m. The share price rose more than 12%. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 16 Jul 2024
  • The board of Downtown Music Holdings, the parent company of independent distributors CD Baby and FUGA as well as a number of other publishing and rights administration businesses, is exploring a sale. (Billboard) 
  • Universal Music UK announced a sizable restructure, with many of its frontline labels reorganising into two groups. A new central division is to focus on media, marketing and data. (RotD) 
  • Dice is in talks to sell a significant stake that will value its business at hundreds of millions of dollars. (Bloomberg) At least three of the interested parties are private equity firms, according to sources. 
ISSUE: 09 Jul 2024
  • The sale of Hipgnosis Songs Fund to Blackstone for $1.6bn has been approved by shareholders. (Billboard) 
  • Hipgnosis Song Management announced that Merck Mercuriadis, chairman of the music rights company, is exiting from his post. His departure from the company will be effective upon closing of the proposed acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund by Lyra Bidco, a company owned by Blackstone-managed funds. (Independent) 
ISSUE: 02 Jul 2024
  • Live Nation Entertainment is facing a new shareholder lawsuit that alleges executives and board members approved anti-competitive practices which left the company open to financial losses. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 25 Jun 2024
  • Global investment firm KKR has acquired concert giant Superstruct Entertainment from Providence Equity Partners in a reported €1.3bn deal. (Pollstar) Superstruct owns and operates over 80 music festivals across 10 countries in Europe and Australia. 
  • EQT-powered consortium now owns 95% of Believe share capital as privatisation plans move forward. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 18 Jun 2024
  • Silvia Montello, formerly CEO of AIM, has revived her previous company Voicebox Consulting "Now with 13 years more experience, knowledge, insights, relationships and ideas around where the industry is heading, and so much more to offer creators, music businesses and technology innovators to help build a better, brighter, and fairer business." (LinkedIn) 
ISSUE: 11 Jun 2024
  • CTS Eventim announced the completion of its acquisition of Vivendi’s festival and international ticketing businesses in a €300m deal. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 28 May 2024
  • The US Department of Justice and a group of 30 states have filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, accusing it of market dominance and demanding that it and Ticketmaster be broken up. (Guardian)
    Live Nation’s biggest problem in the DOJ antitrust case may be its CEO’s own emails. (Billboard) 
    Ticketmaster antitrust lawsuit could give new hope to ticketing startups. (TechCrunch) 
ISSUE: 21 May 2024
  • Sony Music revenue grew 16.9% to $11.05bn in its fiscal year ended 31 March. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 14 May 2024
  • Warner Music Group reported revenues increased 7% during its fiscal second quarter to $1.5bn, with the company pointing to the strength of its publishing business and a boost in subscription streaming revenue in recorded music. (Billboard) 
  • Universal Music Group sees a future where 1 in 5 streamers pays for a ‘super-premium’ tier (and 3 other things we learned from UMG’s Q1 earnings call). (MBW) 
ISSUE: 07 May 2024
  • Live Nation reported a record first quarter with $3.8bn in revenue, putting the company on track for a ‘record 2024.’ (DMN) 
    Live Nation says it’s not “legally permissible” to break up the company as DOJ lawsuit looms. (HR) 
ISSUE: 30 Apr 2024
  • Sony Music Entertainment Germany announced the launch of noted. records, a global electronic music label. (RotD) 
  • Believe reported strong first-quarter revenues of €230.3m despite foreign exchange fluctuations that led to slower organic growth compared to the final quarter of last year. (Billboard) 
  • The board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund have recommended a $1.57bn offer for Hipgnosis from Lyra Bidco, "a newly-formed company indirectly wholly-owned by investment funds advised by affiliates of Blackstone Inc". The new offer values each Hipgnosis share at $1.30 in cash. (CityAM)  
  • Spotify published its Q1 2024 results, showing monthly active users (MAUs) up 19% to 615m, including 239m premium subscribers, up 14%. Revenues were up 20% year-on-year to €3.64bn, with an operating profit of €168m compared to an operating loss of €156m, while net profit of €197m was well up on a net loss of €225m. Premium revenues grew by 20% to €3.25bn, advertising revenues up 18% to €389m. The company predicted it will add 16m net new MAUs in Q2, as well as adding 6m net new premium subscribers. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 23 Apr 2024
  • Warner Music South East Europe launches EDM label Balkan Electro. (MW) 
  • With Warner Music Group having backed out of a potential bid for Believe, the way is now clear for a consortium involving its CEO Denis Ladegaillerie to move forward as the buyer instead. (MusicAlly) 
  • Hipgnosis Songs Fund has said it would accept a takeover offer from private equity giant Blackstone, which is considering a counteroffer worth $1.5bn, higher than the $1.4bn takeover bid that Concord Chorus made for the fund last week. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 16 Apr 2024
  • Firebird has acquired a stake in JET Management, the Los Angeles-based company with a roster including Justice, Madeon, LP Giobbi and Suki Waterhouse. (Billboard) 
  • Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners are said to be considering offers for Superstruct Entertainment, which runs events including Sonar festival in Spain. It could be valued as as much as £1.5bn. (Reuters) 
ISSUE: 09 Apr 2024
  • Warner Music Group announced it has decided not to submit a binding offer for Believe. "WMG thanks the Ad Hoc Committee and Believe's leadership team for their time and cooperation, and wishes the company every success in future." (DMN) 
ISSUE: 02 Apr 2024
  • BMG’s revenues grew by 4.6% to €905m in 2023, with Bertelsmann saying that they were “positively impacted by, among other things, high investments in catalog acquisitions”. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 26 Mar 2024
  • Believe's board of directors asked Warner Music Group to submit a formal bid for it after stating that French financial regulators found an offer by a group that includes Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie violated certain securities rules. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 19 Mar 2024
  • Believe benefitted from geographical expansion and strong streaming growth to post revenue of €880.3m in 2023, up 15.7% from 2022. (Billboard) It expects to achieve organic revenue growth in excess of 20% in 2024. 
ISSUE: 12 Mar 2024
  • Hook, a music platform that enables fans to remix music for use on social media, has extended its seed round to raise a total of $3.5m. (RotD) 
  • Warner Music Group has confirmed it has approached Believe, to initiate discussions with respect to a potential combination of Believe with WMG. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 05 Mar 2024
  • ASCAP announced its 2023 financial results, with increases in every major revenue and distribution category. Its $1.73bn in revenue was up 14.1%, with $1.59bn available for royalty distributions to its songwriter, composer, lyricist and music publisher members. (RotD) 
  • Universal Music layoffs leave staff and artist camps lamenting the drawn out process. (Billboard) 
  • In its fiscal year 2023, Universal Music Group earned a net profit of €1.26bn on revenues of €11.11bn, up 7.4% as reported and a 11.1% increase at constant currency. (Billboard)
    As part of its fourth-quarter earnings call, UMG said that a “strategic organisational redesign” would result in €250m in annual savings by 2026. (Billboard) The specifics of how many employees would be affected and what percentage of the overall workforce it would amount to was not disclosed.
ISSUE: 27 Feb 2024
  • Live Nation had revenue of $22.7bn in 2023, up 36% from the prior year, thanks to record levels of attendance, ticket sales and sponsorships. (Billboard) At Ticketmaster, revenue rose 32% to $2.96bn.
  • Paul Hourican announced that he was leaving TikTok after 4+ years, where he served as global head of music operations. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 20 Feb 2024
  • Sony Music Entertainment has reported its fiscal Q3 financial results up to 31 December 2023. Overall, revenue increased by 16% year-on-year to £2.2bn, or about 12% in constant currency. Recorded music revenue increased by 19.9%, and within that streaming was up 17.2% and physical up 1.6%. Music publishing revenue increased by 16.1%. (Billboard) 
  • Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie has formed a consortium with investment funds EQT and TCV as part of a wider effort to acquire full ownership of the French music company and take it private. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 13 Feb 2024
  • Seven companies within the Rekom Group, a UK operator of bars and nightclubs, have fallen into administration. 11 sites have been saved in a pre-pack acquisition by another entity within the group, joining 12 that were unaffected by the administration, but a further 17 venues have closed. (BusinessSale) 
  • Warner Music Group is to eliminate its staff by 10%, primarily through the sale of owned and operated media companies such as Uproxx and HipHopDX. The company will also eliminate its in-house ad sales function and plans to wind down its podcasting brand, The Interval, as well as social media publisher IMGN. (Billboard) 
  • Spotify’s global Premium Subscriber base grew to 236m paying users in Q4 2023, up 15% year-on-year. YoY, the total number of Monthly Active Users grew 23% to 602m. Subscriber revenue of €3.17bn was up 21%. Ad-supported revenue rose 17% at constant currency to €501m. An operating loss of €75m in Q4 was reported. (Spotify)
    Spotify announced it has paid the music industry more money than ever in 2023 - $9bn+. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 06 Feb 2024
  • Independent music rights administration platform Music Reports has acquired music licensing and data platform Blokur. (PRNewswire) 
ISSUE: 16 Jan 2024
  • SoundCloud has been eyeing a sale — and actively pursuing initiatives internally “that would increase the valuation of the company” — since the second half of 2022, according to two former employees. (Billboard) 
  • Universal Music Group is said to be planning to cut hundreds of jobs in the first quarter of the year. (Bloomberg) 
ISSUE: 09 Jan 2024
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Universal Music Group have extended their multi-year strategic licensing agreement. (RotD) 
  • Pacha Group has been acquired by FIVE Holdings: CEO Aloki Batra reveals plans for Ibiza clubbing institution amid $330m deal. (Billboard) 
  • Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean state investment fund, have begun interviewing investment banks about a prospective auction of SoundCloud. It is suggested a sale that could fetch in excess of $1bn. (Sky) 
ISSUE: 19 Dec 2023
  • SoundCloud is currently on course to post a slim – but positive – EBITDA for calendar/fiscal 2023. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 12 Dec 2023
  • Paul Vogel will step down as Spotify’s chief financial officer on 31 March 2024. (Guardian) He sold $9.4m worth of company shares on Tuesday. Daniel Ek wrote “We’ve come to the conclusion that Spotify is entering a new phase and needs a CFO with a different mix of experiences. As a result, we’ve decided to part ways". 
  • David Dollimore has announced the launch of Disorder Records, a "new insignia for electronic music counterculture", in partnership with Geffen Records, headed by President Tom March. (RotD) The first announcement is a partnership with Manchester's The Warehouse Project forming WHP Records, an original recording imprint.
ISSUE: 05 Dec 2023
  • Spinnin' Records has entered into a joint venture with Kanary Records. The label is run by brothers Alex and Christopher Van den Hoef, who also make up multi-platinum production duo DVBBS. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 28 Nov 2023
  • BMI is being sold to a New Mountain Capital-led shareholder group. (Billboard) As part of the deal BMI’s current shareholders will allocate $100m of the sale’s proceeds to songwriters and publishers affiliates. 
  • Sony Music Publishing UK has promoted Felix Canetty-Clarke to VP, UK A&R Strategy & International Research; Sarah Gabrielli to Senior Director A&R, UK & Europe; and Saul Fitton to Senior Director of A&R, UK. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 21 Nov 2023
  • Music tech studio CreateSafe announced a $4.6m seed funding round to launch a new AI platform, following the company’s collaboration with Grimes. (DMN) 
  • Warner Music Group reported its Q4 and full fiscal year earnings with the news that it surpassed $6bn in yearly revenue for the first time. Recorded music revenue jumped this quarter to $1.29bn while publishing revenue increased to $298m. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 14 Nov 2023
  • Independent publisher Reservoir Media announced the results of its Q2 ending 30 September, with revenue of $38.4m, up 10% year-on-year, with 15% including acquisitions. (DMN) 
  • Sony Music Entertainment reported a more than 13% year-on-year revenue improvement for 2023’s third quarter – the second quarter of the company’s 2023 fiscal year – despite experiencing a slowdown in physical sales. (Hits)  
ISSUE: 07 Nov 2023
  • Kobalt announced a partnership with investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value to invest more than $700m to acquire music copyrights over the next few years. (RotD) Kobalt will manage the creative, synch, licensing, administration, and investment services for the copyrights. 
  • Live Nation has posted a record-breaking third quarter, with revenue up 32% to $8.2bn, putting it on a path to a record-setting year. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 31 Oct 2023
  • Bristol-based digital music distributor 3tone is said to owe numerous artists and managers tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid royalties and has racked up a string of unsettled employment tribunal judgements for unlawful deduction of wages from employees. (CMU) 
  • At an extraordinary general meeting, 83.2% of shareholders voted against Hipgnosis Songs Fund securing another five-year mandate to run as an investment trust. (Guardian) At the earlier agm, investors also voted against a deal to sell a $440m music rights portfolio. 
  • Believe benefitted from “healthy” paid streaming growth as its third-quarter revenue grew 9.1% to €215m. (Billboard) 
  • Spotify announced its first profitable quarter in more than a year. Q3 revenues rose 11% to $3.6bn, and operating income of around $34m. The company also added 23m monthly active users, rising to 574m year-on-year, with paid subscribers rising by 6m, or 16%. Ad-supported revenue was up 16% to $475m. (MusicAlly) 
  • Universal Music Group posted its financials for Q3 2023, delivering €2.75bn in overall constant currency revenue. The recorded side accounted for €2.04bn, reflecting a 1.1% YoY decline, but up 5.2% in constant currency. Recorded Music subscription revenue was up 13% to €1.41bn. Adjusted EBITDA of €581m increased 5.1% year-over-year, or 11.3% in constant currency. Physical sales were up 20% to €294m. Music Publishing revenue amounted to €491m, up 17.5% YoY, or 24.6% in constant currency. Merchandising and other revenue was €227m, an increase of 20.1% YoY, or 27.5% in constant currency. (Hits) 
  • Influential independent online radio outlet NTS Radio had been seeking funding, and now Universal Music Group holds an “approximate total investment of £5 million for a 25% stake”. (FirstFloor) 
ISSUE: 24 Oct 2023
  • Glownet.com has announced the appointment of David Mitchell as Vice President North America. (FestivalInsights) 
  • Virgin Music Group announced the members of its global leadership team, including Thomas Lorain and Nick Roden as co-presidents in Europe. (RotD) VMG has integrated Ingrooves with Virgin Music to offer independent artists and labels a full suite of global services. 
  • Hipgnosis Songs Fund, managed by Merck Mercuriadis and overseen by an independent board of directors, said an immediate strategic review was designed to create value for its investors, but will not include exploring a sale of the £900m company. (Guardian) 
  • The Circuit Group and Defected Records form strategic partnership for North American and UK expansion. The Circuit Group will provide Defected expertise across their suite of services to help the label build their presence in North America, while Defected will support The Circuit Group as they expand their presence in the UK. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 17 Oct 2023
  • Hook, a music expression platform that harnesses the power of AI to empower anyone to remix and remake songs, has closed a $3m seed investment round led by Point72 Ventures, along with Waverley Capital, co-founded by Edgar Bronfman Jr. Other participants include Three Six Zero and Japanese entertainment brand Avex. (RotD) 
  • Fave, the superfan app for like-minded music lovers, has secured $2m in an ongoing round of funding, with backers like Sony Music and WMG. (TechCrunch) 
  • Songtradr, which has just acquired Bandcamp from Epic Games, has offered some 60 Bandcamp staff out of 118, employment to join Songtradr’s staff of 369 workers. (TechCrunch) Job losses were across all departments.
ISSUE: 10 Oct 2023
  • Talent agency Wasserman has completed the acquisition of United Kingdom-based CSM Sport & Entertainment. (Billboard) 
  • Reactional Music has appointed former Take Two Interactive CEO Kelly Sumner as Chair and Jacob Deshayes as Chief Content Officer, joining from Spotify. (RotD) 
  • Seven20 and AYITA have formed The Circuit Group. The company will acquire 50% ownership in artists' portfolios and partner with them to build cross-vertical opportunities. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 03 Oct 2023
  • The Beatport Group has promoted Charles Morgan to Chief Marketing Officer. (RotD)
  • Music licensing and distribution platform Songtradr has acquired indie music service Bandcamp from Epic Games. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 19 Sep 2023
  • Independent music distributor DistroKid has acquired Bandzoogle, whose tools enable artists to create websites and sell music directly. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 12 Sep 2023
  • Seven20 and AYITA founders have come together to form The Circuit Group, Inc. (RotD) 
  • Roger de Graaf and Ewout Swart have been named as Co-Presidents of Spinnin' Records. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 29 Aug 2023
  • Ticketing platform Dice has raised a $65m funding round led by diversified investment company Music. (RotD)
ISSUE: 22 Aug 2023
  • Despite suffering a close to 5% year-on-year monthly active user decrease during Q2 2023, Tencent Music Entertainment saw its paid streaming subscriber total jump to almost 100m. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 15 Aug 2023
  • Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists’ melodies and voices for songs generated by AI. (Mixmag) Warner Music has also been talking to Google about a product. 
  • Dance and electronic A&R executive Alexander Vazelakis has been named head of A&R for Ultra Records, based in Los Angeles. (RotD) 
  • Infamous PR has promoted Maxfield Frieser to COO and Megan Dembkowski as vice president of artists. (Billboard)
  • In a presentation to investors, executives noted that Sony Music Entertainment has doubled the number of creative personnel in the last five years, and the number of artists producing songs for streaming worldwide has increased 35%. (DMN) SME achieved a nearly 17% y-o-y revenue boost during Q2 2023 (financial Q1), when overall streaming income (for recorded as well as publishing) spiked by close to 20%.
  • Warner Music Group posted Q2 results to 30 June (WMG's fiscal Q3). (Variety) Total revenue increased by 9.9% year-on-year to $1.56bn in constant currency. Recorded music revenue was up 8.6% y-o-y to $1.28bn, recorded music streaming revenue up by 7.3%, digital revenue up 9.8%, and music publishing revenue at Warner Chappell Music up 16.0%. CEO Robert Kyncl said "Many Warner artists are already exploring impactful ways to use generative AI to create, augment, and remix their music". 
ISSUE: 08 Aug 2023
  • Deezer’s half-year financial results show a major decline everywhere but in its home territory of France. (DMN) Its ARPU rose by 14.9% mainly due to the improved geographical mix of its partnerships. 
  • Believe generated €415.4m in H1 2023, representing growth of 17.9% YoY. Discounting acquisitions made this year, revenue grew 17.5% YoY. (MBW)
  • Reservoir Media generated $31.8m in Q2, up 31% year on year including acquisitions and 21% YoY “organically”. (DMN)  
ISSUE: 01 Aug 2023
  • Live Nation’s Q2 revenue rose 27% over last year to a near-record $5.6bn as the concert division saw double-digit growth in every measurable category. Concerts revenue rose 29% to $4.6bn. (PRNewswire) 
  • Universal Music Group reported financial results for Q2 and H1 ended 30 June. (PRNewswire) Revenue of €2.7bn for Q2 was a 6.4% increase year-over-year, or 8.8% in constant currency, driven by strong growth in the Recorded Music and Merchandising and Other segments.
  • Spotify reported a 27% improvement in monthly active users to 551m in the April to June period, including 331m on a free, ad-supported account. Premium subscribers jumped another 17% year on year to hit 220m. Total revenue also grew 11% yoy to €3.2bn. (Guardian) 
ISSUE: 25 Jul 2023
  • Toolroom has appointed former Toolroom Marketing Director and co-founder of Toolroom Academy Miles Shackleton as Chief Operating Officer. (RotD)
ISSUE: 18 Jul 2023
  • Karta, a metaverse studio for in-game experiential marketing, has secured investment from industry pioneers across the music, gaming, sports and finance worlds after a funding round. (RotD) 
  • Los Angeles-headquartered payments and distribution platform Stem has announced plans to deploy $250m in artist advances as part of a new partnership. (MusicAlly) 
  • Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is reportedly in “advanced” talks to sell a majority stake to French billionaire François-Henri Pinault. (DMN) 
  • Dubai-based company FIVE Holdings has acquired a €320 million stake in Pacha Group. (RA)
ISSUE: 11 Jul 2023
  • AlphaTheta Corporation, the company that oversees brands including Pioneer DJ and rekordbox, has acquired Serato Audio Research Limited. (DJMag) 
ISSUE: 20 Jun 2023
  • Defected appoints Nathan Jordan as head of inclusion. (MW) 
  • Armada Music has appointed Jason Ellis as Global Senior A&R Director. He will also serve as an Acquisition Consultant for BEAT Music Fund, Armada’s recently-launched dance music investment arm. (RotD) He was previously at Positiva.  
  • Moog has been bought by inMusic, a US firm that owns many other instrument, audio and DJ brands, including Numark, Stanton, Denon DJ, Akai, Alesis, M-Audio, Marantz and plugin company Air. (RA) 
ISSUE: 13 Jun 2023
  • Talent management group YMU, which is owned by a private equity firm, has been involved in talks about the state of its balance sheet following a slump in profits exacerbated by the pandemic. (Sky) 
  • Firebird Music Holdings has acquired stakes in Ntertain, a Latin-focused content and media company, US-based Mick Management, UK-based dance music label Defected, Nashville-based music publisher Tape Room Music and UK-based One Two Many Music. (Billboard) 
  • Superstruct has acquired a controlling stake in London festivals Cross The Tracks and Mighty Hoopla, along with Austrian festival Snowbombing. (AAA) 
ISSUE: 30 May 2023
  • Collaborative music creation platform Boombox.io raises $7m. (DMN) 
  • BandLab Technologies, the Singapore-based parent company of social music creation platform BandLab has announced the addition of $25m in a new round of financing that raises the valuation of the company to $425m post-money. (RotD) 
  • Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer spoke about recent successes, next-generation platforms, the pros and cons of AI and the continued global growth of Sony Music’s creative footprint in Sony Group’s 2023 Business Segment Briefing for investors. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 23 May 2023
  • Despite facing heightened domestic competition, Tencent Music posted over $1 billion in revenue for Q1 2023, when the Shenzhen-headquartered company is said to have achieved more than 30% year-over-year subscription-income growth across its streaming services. (DMN)
ISSUE: 16 May 2023
  • Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 4.6% and its publishing division posted a strong quarter. In recorded music, revenue was up just 2.2% to $1.14bn, with streaming revenues up 2.2% to $773m, while publishing was up 14.7% to $257m. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 09 May 2023
  • Defected appoints Sarah Crane as director of marketing and operations. (MW) 
  • Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Sound Ventures has closed its new Sound Ventures AI Fund at nearly $240m. (MBW) 
  • Live Nation posted another record-breaking quarter in Q1 2023, with a record $3.1bn in revenue — up 73% from the same period last year — and a record 19.5m fans attending its events as the global touring business returns to full strength. (PRNewswire) 
  • Insomniac Music Group partners with royalty-free music startup Slip.stream to provide claim-free music for more than 200,000 creators on the latter company’s platform. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 02 May 2023
  • Believe has formed a partnership with Rinse to handle distribution and label services for its Rinse Recordings and Bad Music imprints. (RotD)  
  • Ingrooves Music Group has extended its partnership with ONELOVE Music Group for exclusive global distribution. (Hits) 
  • In its Q1 2023 results, Spotify's premium subscribers increased to 210m, a 15% YoY increase, while monthly average users (MAUs) jumped 22% YoY to 515m. (Spotify) 
  • Universal Music Group's earnings for Q1 2023 saw total revenue rise 9.3% YoY (all figures in constant currency) to €2.451bn. Recorded music revenue was up 9.6% YoY to €1.923bn. Subscription streaming revenue jumped 10.3% YoY to €1.329bn, while physical revenue grew 32.6% YoY to €315m. Music publishing revenue for Q1 was up 11.5% YoY to €425m. (Variety)
  • Believe reported Q1 revenues of €198.6m, up 22.2% YoY. It's premium solutions business, which includes label services, marketing, distribution, promotions and sync, grew by 23% to €186m, while its automated solutions that include TuneCore, generated €12.7m, up 11.2%. (DMN)
ISSUE: 25 Apr 2023
  • Jukebox announces new Web3 music and culture marketing company Jukebox 3.0. (RotD) 
  • Live Nation has launched Vibee a music-led destination experience company. (DMN) The company has confirmed partnerships with many Country Nation, Insomniac, and C3 Presents, as well as other Live Nation festival properties.  
  • Independent dance music label Armada Music has launched BEAT (Best Ever Acquired Tracks), a dance music investment company. It intends to invest $100m in its first two years, acquiring and exploiting recording and music publishing catalogues. (RotD) The first acquisitions include KMS Records’ master recordings catalogue from house and techno DJ/producer Kevin Saunderson, and the acquisition of the master and publishing catalogue of ARTY. 
ISSUE: 18 Apr 2023
  • Reactional Music closes a $2m funding round to power music personalisation for gaming. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 11 Apr 2023
  • TikTok was 12% of ByteDance’s $80bn revenues in 2022. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 04 Apr 2023
  • Believe announced a deal for full ownership of Sentric and has set its sights on “building a digital-first innovative music publishing business.” (DMN) 
  • BMG reported the fastest growth in its history for 2022, with 31% increased revenues to €866m. Operating EBITDA rose from €144m to €195m, with an improved EBITDA margin up from 21.7% to 22.5%. (Bertelsmann) 
  • Kobalt announced its revenue grew by 22% in the fiscal year ending 30 June 2022, and its net revenues grew by 50%. It spent over $300m in advances and songwriter catalogues. (RotD) 
  • [PIAS] has appointed Tom Keil as Global Head of Dance and Electronic & Executive Vice President of A&R, based in London. (RotD) The company has launched a new frontline division [PIAS] Électronique.
ISSUE: 28 Mar 2023
  • Downtown Music Holdings announced layoffs across the company’s CD Baby, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust, and Downtown Music Holdings divisions. (Billboard) 
  • Tencent Music Entertainment grew its 2022 profits by 21% to $533m, helped by cost cutting and a growing subscription base. It achieved this despite a 9% decrease in revenues to $4.1bn. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 21 Mar 2023
  • Five weeks after touting €1.1bn in annual 'digital music sales', Believe revealed that it achieved 31.8% year-on-year revenue growth last year. (MBW) 
  • Ultra International Music Publishing and dance label Helix Records have appointed Vanessa Kanapin to the position of director of A&R for Germany, Switzerland & Austria (GSA). (MW) 
ISSUE: 14 Mar 2023
  • SoundCloud has appointed Eliah Seton as CEO, effective immediately. He joined the company in 2021 as president. (SoundCloud) 
  • The Orchard has acquired UK dance music distributor Above Board. (MW) 
  • Gamma, billed as 'an artist focused multimedia platform' centring on the creation of music, adjacent content, and related business opportunities, has officially launched with support from several high-profile companies and acts. Apple Music's former global creative director Larry Jackson fronts the operation. (DMN)
  • The US recorded-music industry reached an all-time high of $15.9bn in 2022, marking the industry’s seventh consecutive year of growth. (MusicAlly) Paid streaming subscriptions were up 7% to a record high revenue of $13.3bn. 
  • Warrner Records announced the launch of its first-ever flagship electronic dance music label, Major Recordings, headed by Sam Mobarek. (RotD) The first signing is duo Parisi, in partnership with Parlophone’s FFRR.
ISSUE: 07 Mar 2023
  • SoundExchange distributed $255.6m in digital royalties to creators in Q4 2022, an increase of 2.5% over Q4 2021. (Hypebot) 
  • Deezer’s 2022 results show it generated €451.2m in overall revenue, up 10.6% year-on-year at constant currency on the equivalent figure from 2021. Operating loss was €166.7m, up from €120.6m. It finished 2022 with 9.4m subscribers globally, down from 9.6m. (MBW) 
  • Universal Music Group reported quarterly revenue from music streaming surpassed €1bn for the first time. Q4 revenue rose 16.7% to €2.94bn, with streaming revenue up 13.3% from a year ago. For 2022 overall, revenue was €10.34bn, a 21.6% increase over 2021. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 28 Feb 2023
  • Sony Music Entertainment UK announced the promotions of RCA EVP Stacey Tang and Since 93 Co-President Glyn Aikins to Co-Presidents of RCA UK. (RotD) 
  • Live Nation reported income of $17.3bn in constant currency in 2022, a 44% spike over 2019, the last year the company was fully operational. (Hits) 
  • Steve Aoki launches first-ever grading and authentication platform, Audio Media Grading, for physical music assets. (EDM) 
  • Joel Zimmerman, who has worked with EDM artists such as Calvin Harris, Avicii, Steve Aoki and Swedish House Mafia, has joined Range Media Partners as a partner in the company’s music division. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 21 Feb 2023
  • Hipgnosis Song Management has signed a partnership deal with creator marketplace Beatclub and invested in the Timbaland-founded platform. (DMN) 
  • Armada Music has appointed two new general managers to captain its operations in the US and the UK. Dan Smith will head the US label team and Ben Malone the UK. (RotD) 
  • Kartel Music Group has appointed Abi White as Head of Dance and Electronic Promotions. (RotD)
ISSUE: 14 Feb 2023
  • Pete Downes has been upped to head of music at Jukebox PR. (MW) 
  • Warner Music Central Europe and dance specialist artist agency Stefan Dabruck Management have agreed to extend their successful partnership. (RotD) 
  • Vanguard Group now owns more than 10.42m shares in Warner Music Group, or 7.6% of the company, according to a newly submitted SEC disclosure. (DMN) 
  • Utopia Music, which acquired free-to-use industry directory and data platform ROSTR in December 2021, has divested the company back to the company founders, as part of its reorganisation. (RotD) 
  • Warner Music Group’s new CEO, Robert Kyncl, used his first earnings call with analysts and investors to spell out the reasons behind his move into the music business, his broad plan for WMG and the role technology will play under his leadership. (Variety) In the period ended 31 December 2022, total revenue decreased 8% or 3% in constant currency, with digital revenue decreasing 5% or 1% in constant currency. 
ISSUE: 07 Feb 2023
  • Moody Jones has been named GM of Dance at EMPIRE. (Hits) 
  • Defected Records has hired Jess Nash as head of sync and Deniz Hilmi as head of events and talent. (MW) 
  • Spotify ended 2022 with 489m monthly active users, including 205m paid subscribers. Subscription revenues grew by 18% year-on-year to €2.72bn. Advertising revenue grew 14%. For Q1 2023, the company predicts 500m monthly active users, quarterly revenues of €3.1bn, and an operating loss of €194m. (Spotify) 
  • Sony Music Entertainment’s income for Q4 2022 (Sony's fiscal Q3) totalled $2.44bn, up from $1.83bn during its Q3 2021. Recorded music generated $1.24bn from streaming on the quarter, up 33.1% YoY. Publishing reported $577.42m, up 42.9% YoY. Overall, the company was up 23% despite the negative impact of the Visual Media & Platform unit. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 31 Jan 2023
  • Warner Music Group released its 2022 Environmental, Social, Governance report. (WMG) Among the notes, WMG’s legacy unrecouped advances program saw 4,500 artists and related producers benefit globally in its first year. (WMG)
  • EMI announced the launch of EMI North, based in Leeds. (MW) Clive Cawley will move from his current role of MD to become president, EMI North.  
  • Soundwide, the parent company of Native Instruments, has laid off 8% of its global workforce. (MusicTech) 
  • Beatport acquires majority stake in International Music Summit. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 24 Jan 2023
  • DIY music distribution company TuneCore and publishing administrator Sentric Music Group have renewed their partnership. (Tunecore)  
  • DJ and producer Anton Powers has been appointed as Head of A&R at Ministry of Sound Records. (RotD)
  • Emmy Lovell has been appointed global head of music at Soundcloud. Lovell recently led Napster’s app relaunch as Interim CEO and was previously the company’s CSO. (MW) 
  • Ultra Music Publishing has filed a counterclaim against Sony Music in legal feud over use of Ultra name. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 17 Jan 2023
  • Sales at Sunrise Entertainment, which owns HMV and Fopp in the UK, rose from £90m to £151m in the year to May 2022, with a profit of £2m, helped by the resurgence of vinyl. (MoS) 
ISSUE: 10 Jan 2023
  • Downtown Music Holdings has acquired Curve Royalty Systems. (MW) 
ISSUE: 20 Dec 2022
  • SoundCloud Holdings and its subsidiaries reported revenue in 2021 of €230.7m, up 19% from the prior year. (Billboard) Fan revenue — from advertising and subscriptions — improved 16.6%, revenue from subscribers grew 20%, advertising 12% and revenues from creator tools 23.7%. 
ISSUE: 13 Dec 2022
  • Visual content agency Two Suns Creative launches with Universal Music, Ministry of Sound and more as clients. (RotD) 
  • GigFinesse, a platform to connect live music venues with artists, announced a $3.6m seed funding round from investors. (DMN) 
  • Music funding platform beatBread has appointed Mark Terry as Head of Europe, as it continues expansion in the UK and Continental Europe. (RotD) 
  • Independent development partner for self-releasing artists, TuneCore, has achieved the milestone of $3bn earned by artists since the company was founded in 2006. (RotD) 
  • Animoca Brands has taken a majority stake in Pixelynx, a music metaverse gaming platform founded by deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman) and Richie Hawtin (Plastikman). (BusinessWire) 
  • AIM has appointed Silvia Montello as its new CEO. She joins from a role as CEO of global trade body the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM). (RotD)  
ISSUE: 06 Dec 2022
  • Universal Music Group has acquired a 49% shareholding in [PIAS]. (RotD)  
ISSUE: 29 Nov 2022
  • Sources suggest staff cuts at Utopia Music have primarily come in the central team – including some high-level executives – as well as its tech-focused workforce. (MBW) 
  • beatBread has finalised a $100m institutional funding agreement, which will enable the music funding platform to offer multi-million dollar deals to successful established artists, while continuing to fund developing artists. (RotD) 
  • b2b platform for music events and going-out plans Xceed has raised €2m from a diverse group of European funds and investors in October. (RotD) 
  • Warner Music Group pulled in nearly $6bn, a 16% spike in constant currency over the previous year, thanks to double-digit growth in streaming revenue. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 22 Nov 2022
  • Tencent Music Entertainment published its financial results for the third quarter of 2022. (MusicAlly) Revenues from music subscriptions were up 18.3% year-on-year, while paying users increased 19.8%. 
ISSUE: 15 Nov 2022
  • Warner Music Group joins $7.5m ‘series seed plus’ for machine learning 3D platform Anything World. (DMN) 
  • Warner Music Group announced a $82.4m quarterly dividend ahead of Q4 FY 2022 earnings report. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 08 Nov 2022
  • Artist management company YMU has appointed Sophia Margerison to the role of Global Business Development Director. (RotD) 
  • Sony’s global music rights operation – across recorded music and music publishing – generated USD $2.15bn in the three months to end of September 2022, up 16.4% year-on-year (vs. calendar Q3 2021) at US dollar-converted constant currency. (MBW) 
  • Live Nation’s revenue jumped 63% to $6.2bn in its fiscal third quarter. Operating income was up 95% to $506m. (Pollstar) 
  • Believe’s revenues rose 37% year-over-year in Q3, with the group increasing its full-year forecast for the second quarter in a row. (DMN)  
ISSUE: 01 Nov 2022
  • Deezer reported a 13.8% year-on-year revenue boost for Q3 for a total of €115.2m. (DMN) For the year-to-date, the company reported €334.6m in revenue, up 12.7% YoY. 
  • In its Q3, Spotify’s premium subscribers bumped 13% to 195m, an increase of 7 million since last quarter, while monthly average users (MAUs) jumped 20% to 456m. (Verge) 
  • Universal Music Group announced financial results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2022, reporting a revenue increase of 13.3% to €2.66bn. Recorded music revenue grew by 10.1%, music publishing up 6.9%, and adjusted EBITDA up 9.1%. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 25 Oct 2022
  • In late August, festival platform Festicket filed a “notice of commencement of moratorium.” Now, with the moratorium process having concluded, new disclosures show unsecured creditors and their £22.5m in claims are only expected to recover an estimated 10-30% of the total. (DMN)
  • Spotify’s earnings report, due on 25 October, is expected to show revenues of $3.06bn, a rise of 3.8% compared to the same quarter a year ago, and with 6m premium subscribers and 17m new users since the last quarter. (DMN) An analyst believes it will post a quarterly loss of $0.88 per share, a YoY change of -83.3%. 
ISSUE: 18 Oct 2022
  • Jukebox appoints Josh Karpf to MD role as it builds Web3 business. (MW) 

  • Holding company Eldridge has led a new investment round into fan engagement startup Laylo, bringing the startup’s total funding to $8m to date. (MBW)  
  • Exceed, a three-year-old fintech company that offers “fans a broad range of investment opportunities from musical artists” and others, announced a $8m seed raise. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 11 Oct 2022
  • US music data analytics firm Chartmetric has made its first company acquisition, buying UK-based artist marketing tech startup onesheet. (MBW)  
ISSUE: 04 Oct 2022
  • US ticketing company Lyte has acquired the distressed assets of Festicket and Event Genius. (DMN) 
  • AlphaTheta Corporation has acquired a 25% stake in DJ Monitor, a global market leader in electronic music usage reporting. (RotD)
ISSUE: 27 Sep 2022
  • Amy Thomson is exiting her role at Chief Catalogue Officer at Hipgnosis Song Management at the end of September, but will remain as a consultant with the company. (MBW)
  • Administrators have been appointed for the ailing Festicket, after the festival package company failed to come up with a rescue plan. (AAA) 
  • Napster has appointed former Roblox Global Head of Music Jon Vlassopulos as its new CEO. Existing and new investors will accelerate Napster’s Web3 initiatives. (VentureBeat) 
ISSUE: 20 Sep 2022
  • Universo Pacha, operator of iconic Ibiza club Pacha, is up for sale. (RA) 
ISSUE: 06 Sep 2022
  • Soundstripe, a provider of high-quality, royalty-free music, video, and sound effects for creators, has received $9m in Series B financing. (RotD) 
  • Ticketing platform SeatGeek announced it had raised $238m privately as part of a Series E funding round. (TechCrunch)  
ISSUE: 30 Aug 2022
  • The future of UK festival package company Festicket is unknown after it filed a moratorium on Companies House. (RA) 
  • Island Hospitality appoints Danny Whittle as their Group Brand Director. Whittle will apply his strategic insight and expertise in driving sustainable longterm growth to the Island Hospitality brand strategy alongside his proven track record in event consultation. (IbizabyNight) 
  • Management company Forward Motion Artists, with bases in LA, London and Ibiza, will join Three Six Zero’s global management and entertainment partnership business. (RotD) 
  • Wez Saunders has acquired dance label and music group Defected. Following the management buyout by the MD, Saunders has now become CEO of the group. (MusicWeek) 
ISSUE: 23 Aug 2022
  • Kroll, which was appointed to oversee the insolvency of Pollen's parent company, Streetteam Software, has laid off the bulk of the remaining travel experience company's British workforce. (SkyNews)  
ISSUE: 16 Aug 2022
  • Paul Kelly leaves Ticketmaster to join Web3 ticketing company SeatlabNFT. (MW)
  • British tech startup elasticStage, an on-demand vinyl manufacturer which creates vinyl using techniques new to this industry, has now raised £3.5m in total. (RotD) 
  • UK-based music, travel and experiences start-up Pollen has fallen into administration, just three months after raising $150m in new funding. (IQ) 
  • Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 12.1% in constant currency in Q2 2022 to $1.43bn. Net income was $125 million versus $61 million in the prior-year quarter. Music Publishing revenue at Warner Chappell hit $245m, up 34.6% in constant currency. (Variety)  
ISSUE: 09 Aug 2022
  • Domino Records launches new electronic imprint, Smugglers Way. (Billboard) 
  • Believe has announced its H1 2022 financials: Revenue growth was up +35.4% year-on-year to €352.2m. Digital revenue was up +37.8% year-on-year. The company said it now expects its FY 2022 organic revenue growth to reach circa +29% year-on-year. (Globenewswire)  
  • In Live Nation's Q2 2022 results, it reported a 40% increase in revenue over the same period in 2019 to $4.4bn, an increase in operating income to $319m, and a 50% increase in adjusted operating income of $480m. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 02 Aug 2022
  • Amid continued streaming growth as well as a rebound for physical sales, Sony Group generated about $2.31bn from its music operations during 2022’s second quarter – marking a 20.87% year-over-year increase and a 4.57% quarter-over-quarter boost. (DMN) 
  • Universal Music Group reported revenue of €4.73bn for the half-year to 30 June, representing growth of 16.9% year-on-year in constant currency. (Variety) Recorded music revenue was up 10.1%, with subscription revenue up 10% (Subscription revenue in H1 2021 benefited from the DSP Catch-Up Payment. Excluding this item, subscription revenue grew 12.7%) and physical revenue up 13.4%. Downloads and other digital revenue fell 16.0%. License and other revenue improved 7.8%. Music Publishing revenue amounted to €851m, up 42.1%, although 18% excluding a benefit. Merchandising and Other revenue grew to €248m, up 67.6%. 
  • Apple released its third-quarter earnings and reported $19.6bn in Services revenue, marking a 12% year-over-year increase. (TechCrunch) The category, which includes Apple Music and others — also grew to reach 860m paid subscriptions on Apple’s platform, which is up from the 825m it reported in its previous quarter. 
  • Spotify added 6m subscribers to its service in the second quarter to reach 188m premium subscribers, and 433m monthly active users in total. Advertising revenue grew to €360m in the second quarter, up 31% from a year ago. The company reported total revenue of €2.9bn in the quarter, up 23% from a year ago and meeting analyst forecasts. It posted an operating loss of €194mn, slightly better than forecast. (Spotify) 
ISSUE: 26 Jul 2022
  • EQT Private Equity has become an investor in United Talent Agency, making the global investment firm EQT the agency’s largest outside shareholder. (Pollstar) 
ISSUE: 19 Jul 2022
  • London based management company This Is Music announced the promotion of Lisa Marxen to the role of managing director. The roster includes Bicep, Roosevelt, Ross From Friends and Jayda G. (RotD)
  • Management company Three Six Zero has purchased Sarm Studios in Notting Hill from musician and producer Trevor Horn. The recording facility houses six studios and a suite of purpose-built offices. (Variety) 
  • Dutch music event promoter ID&T, part of live entertainment platform Superstruct Entertainment, has signed a partnership agreement with Apenkooi Group. (DT)
ISSUE: 12 Jul 2022
  • Michael Rapino has officially signed a half-decade contract to remain president and CEO of Live Nation, which could pay him up to $30m per year – in addition to a $6m once-off bonus and more. (Variety) 
  • Deezer has officially listed on the Euronext Paris. (Variety) The company's stock price started at €8.50 per share on the Euronext Amsterdam last Tuesday and finished at €5.10 last Friday. (DMN) . 
  • Privilege Ibiza is now owned by Grupo Empresas Matutes, which has acquired all the shares that were still in the hands of its partner in this business, José María Etxaniz, after a long judicial process.  (Mixmag) 
ISSUE: 21 Jun 2022
  • SoundCloud announced Tracy Chan as Senior Vice President of Creator, to oversee the Creator ecosystem globally. (SoundCloud) He was previously Head of Music at Twitch. 
  • The investment group behind Brooklyn night club Avant Gardner has acquired New York promoter Made Event and its annual festival on Randall’s Island, Electric Zoo, from LiveStyle for $15 million. (DA) 
ISSUE: 14 Jun 2022
  • UK live experience provider Broadwick has received investment backing from global gaming giant Rockstar Games. (MusicWeek) 
  • Three Six Zero have announced a partnership with UK management company Palm Artists, home to Gorgon City, Sonny Fodera and Biscits. (RotD)
ISSUE: 31 May 2022
  • Nicolas Matar and Simon Denby have been announced as Electronic Music Directors for Outernet Live's new 2000 capacity venue HERE at Outernet London. (RotD) 
  • Live Nation Electronic Asia has entered into a multi-year global licensing and distribution agreement with Astralwerks and Capitol Records China for its recently launched Fabled Records label. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 24 May 2022
  • Talent management company YMU is launching its US Entertainment division under the leadership of April Tombs, formerly of United Talent Agency. (RotD) 
  • During its first quarter as a publicly traded company, Middle Eastern streaming service Anghami reported a 23% year-on-year revenue jump and a 20% boost for 'active users'. (MusicAlly)
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2022. (PRNewswire) Revenues from music subscriptions were US$314m, an increase of 17.8% year-on-year, although total revenues declined 15.1%. 
  • Eco-friendly music NFT marketplace Serenade has announced a AU$6m fundraise to grow its artist and partner roster across the UK and Australia, as well as in the US, where the company will be launching. (RotD) 
  • Highlight, a newly launched Web3 fan-community and NFT platform, has raised $11m in seed funding from individuals and companies including Three Six Zero CEO Mark Gillespie, Method Music, Visionary Music head Chris Zarou, and WME. (DMN)
ISSUE: 17 May 2022
  • Above & Beyond have launched a label for ambient music, called Reflections. It is the third label under the Anjuna umbrella alongside flagship labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep. (MW)  
  • Warner Music Group’s revenue was up 13.2% year-on-year at constant currency in Q1 2022 to $1.38bn. (Variety) Notably within the results, Warner Chappell Music saw its global revenue hit $230m, up 23% YoY, “driven by growth across all revenue lines”.  
  • Sony Music Entertainment turned in a roughly 10.1% year-on-year revenue increase during Q1 2022 (fiscal Q4) due in large part to an 18.9% YoY jump for recorded music’s streaming income, which achieved a 37.1% YoY hike during the entirety of the 2021 fiscal year. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 10 May 2022
  • Superstruct Entertainment has acquired a majority stake in UK festival Bluedot. The Providence Equity-backed company portfolio includes Sziget, Elrow, and Parookaville. (AAA)
  • Believe announced its Q1 2022 financials, after making several strategic investments during the period as well as Q4 2021. Revenue grew by 30.9% year-on-year to €162.5m. (DMN) 
  • In Live Nation's Q1 2022 results, it set a new record for adjusted operating income on revenue of $1.8bn. (PRNewswire) Next year will start “multiple record years of growth.”
  • Universal Music Group’s earnings for the first quarter of 2022 saw revenue rise 21.6% (16.5% in constant currency) to €2.2bn. Music publishing revenue was up 32.5%, recorded-music revenue up 11.3% and merchandising and other revenue up 69.8% year-on-year in constant currency. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 03 May 2022
  • Sam Feldt's Fangage business has been acquired by Triller. (EDM) 
  • Wasserman Music has completed an acquisition of Paradigm Talent Agency’s UK live music representation business. (DMN) 
  • Digital music distributor TuneCore has reached the milestone of $2.5bn paid to artists since the company’s inception in 2006. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 26 Apr 2022
  • PRS for Music in the UK reported royalties from music in all its forms grew by 22% in 2021 to £777.1m on a constant currency basis, relatively little down on the pre-pandemic figure of £810m. Overall revenues from the public performance sector, jumped by £51.4m to £137.6m, despite lockdowns for more than five months. However, royalties from live music fell to £8m, a decline of 29.2% year-on-year. Last year 27 trillion music performances were recorded by PRS, generating £677.2m that was paid out to its members, down 3% on 2020. (RotD)
ISSUE: 19 Apr 2022
  • Morgan Stanley analysts have lowered their price target for Spotify stock from $300 to $225. (DMN) 
  • Music distribution and payments platform Stem has announced the completion of a $20m funding round and detailed plans to deliver “sophisticated financial tools to all stakeholders in the music industry.” (DMN) 
  • Deezer is going public via a SPAC deal, valuing it at $1.1bn. Deezer will merge with French SPAC I2PO. (TechCrunch) Deezer currently has 9.6m subscribers, and generated €400m in revenue last year. 
  • Create Music Group has acquired a majority interest in The Nations, a collection of YouTube channels with an audience of more than 60m people globally. (DMN) 
  • Epic Games has secured $2bn in new funding from Sony and the group behind the Lego franchise. (DMN) “This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.” 
ISSUE: 12 Apr 2022
  • Deezer has appointed Gitte Bendzulla as its new Chief Operating Officer. (RotD)  
  • Record Industry, one of Europe’s largest vinyl pressing plants, and Bertus Distribution, Europe's largest independent distributor of vinyl & CDs, are merging into one group. (RotD) 
  • Downtown-owned FUGA, the full-service B2B distributor, is opening a new office in Berlin following a period of growth in the GSA region. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 05 Apr 2022
  • Capitol Records UK, now part of the EMI label group, has launched dance imprint label, Lift Me Up Records, in partnership with Belfast DJ and A&R Connor Coates. (MusicWeek)  
  • Universal Music Group revealed its own plans to waive unpaid advances for legacy artists and songwriters – referring specifically to “eligible creators and their immediate heirs who have not received any payments since January 1, 2000”. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 29 Mar 2022
  • Taren Smith has been promoted to Senior Manager at talent management firm YMU’s US Music division. (MBW) 
  • Patrick Moxey announced details of his new label group and has signed a new, worldwide deal for two key record labels - Payday Records and the newly created EDM imprint Helix Records, with Warner Recorded Music. (RotD) The labels have offices in LA, New York and London. 
ISSUE: 22 Mar 2022
  • Believe’s revenues grew by 30.7% to €577.2m last year, fuelled by 33.6% growth for its digital revenue – which is 90.9% of its overall turnover. (MusicAlly) 
  • Business and financial management platform HIFI has completed an eight-figure funding round with backing from Diplo, A-Trak and 3LAU. (MBW) 
  • London-headquartered metaverse startup Oorbit has raised $5m from investors including Mark Cuban and Pixelynx. (DMN) 
  • In the UK, Sony Music’s acquisition of AWAL has been cleared by the CMA following an in-depth inquiry after the body expressed competition concerns. (Gov) 
  • Universal confirmed EMI and Capitol will be uniting under the joint leadership of Jo Charrington and Rebecca Allen as Co-Presidents. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 15 Mar 2022
  • Kobalt Music Group is said to have raised $550m in debt financing for the acquisition of music copyrights. (MBW)
ISSUE: 08 Mar 2022
  • Music tech company Serenade announced a number of high profile new investors from the music and associated creative industries. (RotD) 
  • Epic Games has acquired independent music storefront Bandcamp. The companies said that Bandcamp would “keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community” but use Epic’s resources to expand internationally and continue adding new features, including the development of merchandising and payment options, mobile apps, and livestreaming. (Bandcamp) 
  • Universal Music Group posted a record $9.4bn in revenue for 2021, a 14.4% increase over 2020. (PRNewswire) Recorded music revenues were up 14.3% to $7.52bn, while streaming soared nearly 17% to just under $5bn. Physical revenue was up 18.6% year-on-year to $1.24bn. Universal Music Publishing’s revenue was up 12.6% to $1.49bn. Lucian Grainge noted the company had eight of the IFPI’s top 10 global artists of the year. 
ISSUE: 01 Mar 2022
  • Kazim Rashid has been appointed as the inaugural Chief Brand and Creative Officer at Resident Advisor. (MW) 
  • Utopia Music has acquired Absolute Label Services, along with neighbouring rights company Absolute Rights Management. (RotD) 
  • BlackRock and Warner Music Group have invested $750m, in partnership with Influence Media, to acquire music-rights catalogues from female and diverse artists. (RotD)
  • Live Nation has released financial results for the quarter and full year ended 31 December 2021, with full-year revenue of $6.27bn. In 2019 revenue was $11.55bn. The company reported strong optimism for 2022, with pricing on Top 10 tours up more than 20% against 2019. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 22 Feb 2022
  • James Jackson has been appointed managing director of radio, club and streaming at music promotion company Listen Up UK. (MW) 
  • SoundCloud’s financials for 2020 were published last week, revealing that the company’s revenues grew by 31% to €193.5m (around $219.6m). (MusicAlly) Operating losses fell from €26.2m in 2019 to €15.4m. 
ISSUE: 15 Feb 2022
  • Alex Branson has been appointed Senior Vice President of Music Services at Beatport. (MBW) 
  • Live music RFID Glownet and Horao Group sign multi-year partnership. (FestivalInsight)
  • Music funding platform beatBread has completed a seed round, extending its fundraising to date to over $34m. (Hypebot) 
  • Warner Music Group set a record for quarterly revenue of $1.61bn in its fiscal first quarter ended 31 December 2021, 21% up year-on-year. Recorded music revenues were up 19% and 31% in publishing. Streaming revenue was up 21%, while physical revenue grew 12%. Artist services and expanded-rights revenue increased 29%. (Variety) 
  • The CMA in the UK has provisionally cleared Sony Music’s $430m (£312m) deal to buy artist service company AWAL after initially raising concerns the takeover could lead to worse deals for artists or increase prices. (MusicAlly) 
ISSUE: 08 Feb 2022
  • Swiss fintech company Utopia Music has launched its Royalty Management Services business unit, the foundation of which is Sentric Music Group. The unit will enable the company’s copyright management, allocation, distribution, and license management, and will continue to service Sentric’s existing customer base. It will be led by Sentric’s current CEO, Chris Meehan. (RotD)
  • At Spotify, fourth-quarter revenue was €2.69bn, representing 24% growth year-on-year. Subscription revenue was €2.3bn, a 22% increase. Advertising revenue was €394m, up 40%. Premium Subscribers grew 16% y-o-y to 180m in the quarter. Monthly active users rose 18% to 406m. (Spotify) 
  • Recorded-music revenue hit $1.65bn during the Sony Music’s fiscal third quarter to 31 December 2021, an increase of 15.2% year-on-year. Streaming revenue of $1.075bn was up 36% in Yen. Publishing was up 15%, to $467m. (DMN)
ISSUE: 01 Feb 2022
  • Spinnin’ Records is implementing localised streaming and marketing efforts in the US, UK and China with key appointments. (RotD)  
ISSUE: 25 Jan 2022
  • Sony Music has purchased the remaining minority stake in Ultra, following the original acquisition of a controlling interest in 2012. (Variety) David Waxman has been appointed president of Ultra Records, founder and CEO Patrick Moxey has left. 
ISSUE: 11 Jan 2022
  • Warner Music Group paid $400m in cash to acquire 300 Entertainment. (MBW) 
  • Defected Records has appointed music radio specialist Sarah Beaumont as A&R for its off-shoot D4 D4NCE. (MW)
ISSUE: 21 Dec 2021
  • In the US, Warner Music Group has acquired independent company 300 Entertainment. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 14 Dec 2021
  • Utopia Music is readying its Creator Services business unit via two acquisitions. California-based industry directory ROSTR, and Vienna-based music data analytics platform ForTunes, aim to provide creators with an analytics portfolio. (RotD)
ISSUE: 07 Dec 2021
  • Napster Group PLC is exiting the London market just months after arriving, as the Rhapsody subsidiary is sold off for $45.6m. It plans to become a private company called NM Inc based in the US. (MS) 
  • deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin’s gaming platform PIXELYNX has announced a $4.5m seed investment round led by Animoca Brands, Solana Ventures, Alameda Research, Republic Realm, and Sfermion. (GlobeNewswire) 
ISSUE: 30 Nov 2021
  • Deadmau5 is planning to invest in the metaverse by joining Outlier Ventures, a venture capital firm, as a strategic member. (MarketsInsider) 
  • Just months after a $16 million investment, 3LAU's NFT marketplace Royal has announced a $55 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Crypto fund. The Chainsmokers, Logic, Kygo, Nas, CAA, Crush Music, Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, NEA's Connect Ventures, and Paradigm all participated, according to reports. (EDM) 
ISSUE: 23 Nov 2021
  • Warner Music posted $1.37bn in revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter ended 30 September, up 22.2% year-on-year. Total revenues for the year were $5.30bn, up 18.8% on the prior year. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 16 Nov 2021
  • Tencent Music's platforms have 71.2m "online music paying users," up 37.7% year over year. After taking hits from regulators and competition from competing social platforms, TME managed only a 3% increase in total revenue to $1.21bn from the prior-year quarter. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 09 Nov 2021
  • Spain saw revenues of recorded music grow by a modest 4.4% in 2020, with physical sales dropping from a projected €73m to €55.2m, and performance rights collection of €50m. (Billboard)  
  • French digital music company Believe saw revenue rise 27.1% to €144m in its first full quarter since going public. (Billboard) 
  • Live Nation's stock closed at an all-time high following Q3 results being announced. (Billboard) However, compared to pre-pandemic levels in Q3 2019, revenue was 28.5% down. Estimated events and fans were down 35.9% and 46.1%.  
ISSUE: 02 Nov 2021
  • Total revenue at Spotify rose from €1.98bn to €2.5bn in the three months to 30 September, boosted by a 75% increase in advertising revenue, which hit €323m. The platform now has 172m premium subscribers and 220m monthly active users. (Spotify) 
  • Universal Music Group posted 17.4% year-on-year revenue growth in Q3 2021, with recorded music subscription and streaming revenue up 15.2% and adjusted EBITDA up 20.7%. (Variety) 
  • Sony's music operations and visual media/platform posted an increase in revenue in its fiscal Q2 from July to September, growing 17.6% year-on-year to $2.46bn. Recorded music and publishing streaming grew 44.3% to a combined total of $1.24bn. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 26 Oct 2021
  • As expected, the global investment firm KKR and Kobalt Capital Limited have announced that KKR, together with its co-invest partner, Dundee Partners, the investment office of the Hendel family, have purchased the KMR Music Royalties II portfolio from KCL for approximately $1.1bn. (Variety) 
    Kobalt bosses Willard Ahdritz and Laurent Hubert talk about the deal, and what’s next. (Variety)
ISSUE: 19 Oct 2021
  • Through a new partnership, funds managed by US private equity giant Blackstone will contribute $1bn to acquire music rights and manage catalogues in tandem with Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), formerly known as The Family (Music) - the investment advisor to the publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which Merck Mercuriadis founded and for which he also offers up music assets for the fund to buy. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 12 Oct 2021
  • Kobalt Music has been shopping its Kobalt Music Royalty Fund II, sources say, and is now involved in final negotiations or may have already closed the deal - which sources say is the $1bn ball park - possibly with a group of investors that includes private equity firm KKR. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 05 Oct 2021
  • Blockchain-based music distributor Blarecast Systems announced the completion of a "multi-million ” funding round. (DMN) 
  • Ticketing platform Dice has acquired the long-running electronic livestream series Boiler Room, with a plan to enhance its programming and create additional revenue for artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 28 Sep 2021
  • eOne Music announced it is has changed its name to MNRK Music Group, following Hasbro’s sale of the division in June. (RotD)
  • Creative Artists Agency is buying ICM Partners. The transaction is expected to close later this year. (Hits, Pollstar) ICM’s strengths are in books and sports, CAA is in the content business, including music. The deal would leave WME, CAA and UTA as the leading talent agencies in Hollywood. 
  • After listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange last Tuesday, Universal Music Group finished the week with a market cap of €42.5bn. (DMN) 
  • SoftBank and Tony Fadell, the former Apple and Nest executive, are among those investing $122m in ticketing app Dice. (RotD) The latest financing round values the company at $400m, according to a source. Founder Phil Hutcheon says the company is profitable in its established markets but continues to invest in expansion. 
ISSUE: 21 Sep 2021
  • Live Nation has resumed its acquisition of Ocesa, the third-largest promoter in the world and the parent company of Ticketmaster Mexico. (IQ) 
  • Dutch promoter ID&T has signed a partnership agreement with live organisation Superstruct Entertainment. (IQ) 
  • Atlantic Records UK has launched SIGNAL >> SUPPLY, a new label imprint focused on emerging talent within dance music. (RotD) Tristan Parsons has been promoted to Head of Dance Marketing. 
ISSUE: 14 Sep 2021
  • The Competition and Markets Authority has found that Sony’s completed purchase of AWAL raises competition concerns, following a Phase 1 investigation. (Guardian) 
  • The Competition and Markets Authority has now brought its viagogo and StubHub North America merger investigation to an end after approving the purchase of the Stubhub International Business by US-headquartered investment firm Digital Fuel LLC. (TicketingBusiness) 
ISSUE: 07 Sep 2021
  • Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings will acquire an additional 2.9% of Universal Music Group for $1.149bn, Vivendi confirmed, bringing the company’s stake to an even 10%. (Hits) 
ISSUE: 31 Aug 2021
  • After leaving the position open for more than a year, Tunecore owner Believe has promoted Andreea Gleeson to CEO. (Hypebot)
  • Spotify is to spend up to $1bn between now and April 2026 to repurchase its own shares. The dollar amount represents just under 2.5% of Spotify’s market cap, and its shares rose 5.1% following the repurchase news. (TechCrunch)
ISSUE: 24 Aug 2021
  • DIY digital music distributor TuneCore has appointed Sarah Wilson as Head of TuneCore UK, with additional oversight of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. (RotD) 
  • Linktree has acquired Songlink/Odesli, an automated music link aggregation platform. (MBW) 
  • Spotify is to spend up to $1bn between now and April 2026 to repurchase its own shares. The dollar amount represents just under 2.5% of Spotify’s market cap, and its shares rose 5.1% following the repurchase news. (TechCrunch) 
ISSUE: 17 Aug 2021
  • Vivendi has sold 7.1% of Universal Music Group’s share capital to Pershing Square Holdings, the investment firm managed by billionaire Bill Ackman, for $2.8bn, with the possibility to sell him a further 2.9% by 9 September. The deal values UMG at €35bn. (Variety) 
ISSUE: 10 Aug 2021
  • Anghami has announced plans to open venues in the Middle East, UK and America. (IQ)  
  • Live Nation Entertainment posted strong second-quarter earnings, with event-related revenue up $650m to $2.1bn. (Variety) 
  • Sony Music generated $1.39bn from recorded music in the company's first fiscal quarter ended 30 June, up 48.2% year-on-year. (Variety) 
  • Total revenue at Warner Music Group grew to $1.34bn in the three months to the end of June, up 32.7% from the same period in 2020. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 03 Aug 2021
  • Universal Music Group’s revenues were up 17.3% to €3.8bn, bolstered by recorded music revenues which grew by 20%. (DMN) 
ISSUE: 27 Jul 2021
  • Sarah Cole and Kate Osler have been appointed joint managing directors of AEI Group. The co-founders are stepping down. (Twitter) 
ISSUE: 20 Jul 2021
  • Warner Music UK saw profits drop 46% to £25m in the year to 25 September 2020. Sales of £214.6m were down 20% on the prior year. (ThisIsMoney) Pandemic impact aside, an accounting change retrospectively increased revenues the year before, partly distorting the drop.
  • Three Six Zero Recordings has promoted Nick Dearmun to General Manager. (RotD)
ISSUE: 06 Jul 2021
  • MelodyVR published its financial results for the year to 28 December 2020, showing revenue rising from £195k in 2019 to £988k. Cost of sales grew from £1.8m to £5.6m, while administrative expenses grew from £14.2m to £21.5m, leading to an operating loss of £26m. The startup nearly doubled its users to 325,000. (MusicAlly) 
  • Kobalt reported that its gross collections grew by 13% to $703m in the fiscal year-ending 30 June 2020. It also reached profitability in its current fiscal year ending 30 June 2021. (RotD) Kobalt Music Publishing (including Synch) grew revenue by 7.6% YoY to $436m. AMRA, its global digital collection society, grew overall revenue by 19% to $78.3m. 
ISSUE: 29 Jun 2021
  • Bill Ackman, whose special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) struck a deal to buy 10% of Universal Music Group last week, is exploring options to increase his stake in the label. (NYPost) 
ISSUE: 22 Jun 2021
  • Sony Music Entertainment pledges to wipe unrecouped legacy artist debts. (Guardian) 
  • Ditto Music Publishing has launched and is available for a fixed annual rate of £39/$49 in addition to a 10% commission on royalties collected and 20% commission on sync placements. Co-writers will be able to sign up to the service for free. (RotD) 
  • Black Butter and Sony Music UK have announced a new joint venture label, 4ZA, in partnership with executive Tom Cater. (RotD) The first signings are DJ/Producer P-Rallel and drill rapper Cristale. 
  • David Guetta has entered into a career- agreement with Warner Music that sees the company acquiring his recorded-music catalogue from the last two decades, as well as striking a new deal for future recordings. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 11 Jun 2021
  • Believe successfully raises €300M in Paris IPO, giving the Tunecore owner a market cap of €1.9BN. (MBW) 
  • Cr2 Records has signed a global distribution deal and partnership with Believe. (MBW) 
  • [PIAS] and Universal Music Group have announced a strategic global alliance. (RotD) UMG will have access to [PIAS]’ international distribution network and expertise in providing services through its services division [Integral]. In return [PIAS] will be able to tap into resources and funding provided by UMG to further grow its global offering. [PIAS] will remain fully independent and its founders will retain full control of the company.
ISSUE: 04 Jun 2021
  • Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer appeared at an investor relations event, saying “During the past fiscal year, we generated nearly $400m in these areas (social, gaming and fitness revenues), and expect this to become an even more material part of our revenue base over the mid-range planning period”. (MusicAlly) 
  • Believe has scaled back the size of its IPO its initial plan to raise €500m and said it would raise €300m instead. Feedback from investors was that they preferred a staged approach in which it would wait until later to raise funds for acquisitions from 2023 onwards. (Reuters) 
ISSUE: 28 May 2021
  • Chinese media and technology NetEase intends to spin off its subsidiary Cloud Village, which operates music streaming service NetEase Cloud Music, in an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (DMN)
ISSUE: 21 May 2021
  • Sony Music Entertainment announced it has reached an agreement with Kobalt Music Group and completed the acquisition of AWAL, as well as Kobalt Neighbouring Rights. Now, however, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is officially investigating the buyout. (DMN)
  • Vivendi is considering the sale of an additional 10% stake in Universal Music Group to a US investor. (HR)
  • Joe Kentish has been promoted to President, Warner Records UK, effective 1 June. Phil Christie has chosen to leave the label toward the end of 2021, after five years in the role. (RotD)
ISSUE: 14 May 2021
  • Believe has filed for an initial public offering with the aim of raising €500m. The company wants to become more acquisitive following the IPO, aiming to spend €100m a year on deals from 2022 to 2025. (Variety)
  • Vivendi said that the equity of its Universal Music Group was worth €33bn, or more than the market value of the parent company. (Reuters) Vivendi outlined a deadline of Universal’s IPO, setting 27 September for the listing of the shares in Amsterdam. Universal generated EBIT of €322m over the first three months of the year, up from €248m the year before.
  • Live Nation Entertainment reported a loss of $307m for the first fiscal quarter of the year, down from the same period in 2020 but with bright spots including sold-out festivals, continuing tour announcements for the rest of 2021 and 2022 tours so far outpacing 2019. (Variety)
ISSUE: 07 May 2021
  • New York City-based Tao Group Hospitality has acquired Las Vegas-based Hakkasan Group in an equity transaction. The newly merged combined company now operates 61 entertainment, dining, and nightlife venues in 22 markets across five continents. (Billboard) 
  • Jay-Z's sale of Tidal is complete, selling 80% of the streaming service to Square for $302m. (TMZ) "Sources say 80% of Tidal has a $350m valuation."
  • Warner Music Group posted strong results for the quarter ended 31 March, with $117m in net income on revenues of $1.25bn. (Variety) Total recorded music revenues showed a 16.8% rise to $1.06bn year-on-year. Within that, streaming revenue grew 23.2%. The figure reflected “accelerated revenue growth in emerging streaming platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Peloton”. Physical sales were up $24m y-on-y to $118m during the first three months of 2021. Publishing revenue climbed 15.7% to $192m, with digital revenues up $30m within that.
ISSUE: 23 Apr 2021
  • Casey Wasserman has launched Wasserman Music, an amalgamation of his existing business that has been bolstered by the acquisition of Paradigm Talent Agency’s North American live music representation business. The roster includes Diplo, DJ Snake, Flume, ODESZA, and Skrillex. (Deadline) 
ISSUE: 16 Apr 2021
  • Electronic music company group TMRW Music has formed an official partnership with Dutch label Armada Music, establishing TMRW as the label’s home in Australia and New Zealand. (TMN)
  • Warner Music Asia has launched the first Pan-Asian dance label, Whet Records. The China division will be led by Zoe Yang, who has worked across the largest EDM events in the region. (RotD)
ISSUE: 26 Mar 2021
  • AM Only founder Paul Morris has exited Paradigm to work exclusively with Tiesto. (Billboard) 
  • The Competition and Markets Authority says it proposes to accept a series of promises from Viagogo and StubHub, including selling off StubHub’s international arm, and so allow the merger to go ahead. (CityAM) 
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2020. (PRNewswire) Total revenues increased 14.6% year-on-year, while paying users reached 56m, up 40.4% year-on-year.
ISSUE: 19 Mar 2021
  • Native Instruments and iZotope are combining forces in a new parent entity called Music Creation Group. (RA) 
  • Sally Dunstone has joined Primary Talent International as a Concerts agent. She was previously at at X-ray Touring and brings her roster with her, including Kelly Lee Owens. (Variety)
  • Offmeta, a new record label servicing music in esports, gaming and digital culture, is introducing a licensing solution for partners and creating artist integrations in broadcasts and content. (RotD) The label will focus on both established and emerging artists.
  • Seminal Music Group relaunches a year after death of its founder Michael Theanne. (Billboard) 
  • Joe Conyers III, Chief Strategy Officer at Downtown Music Holdings, has left the company to join Hong Kong-headquartered Crypto.com as EVP, Global Head of NFTs. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 12 Mar 2021
  • Electronic music veteran Nick Halkes has struck a JV with Sentric Music Group and will also take on A&R consultancy role. (MBW)
  • ASCAP collected $1.32bn in revenues in 2020, a $53m increase over 2019. (RotD, Variety) Foreign revenue rose by 9% while domestic revenue increased 2.5%.
  • Square, the mobile payments firm, has acquired a “significant majority ownership stake” in Jay-Z’s Tidal music streaming service in a $297m deal. (TechCrunch)
ISSUE: 05 Mar 2021
  • United Talent Agency has acquired Echo Location Talent Agency, which has clients including Alesso, Chase & Status, Diplo, Galantis, and Gorgon City (HR)
  • Universal Music Group posted a 3.8% increase in revenue in 2020, finishing the year with €7.43bn. Subscription and streaming revenues were up 16.2%. Streaming accounts for 52% of UMG's revenues and 64% of the recorded music unit's income. (Variety)
  • Live Nation has $2bn in available liquidity, about 45 major artists will be on tour in 2022 vs the usual 25, and the road to return is already being paved in the UK and Australia. (Variety) Revenue in 2020 dropped 84% to $1.47bn.
    CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement “Some of our key initiatives include: Re-organizing to become more nimble while also reducing our cost structure by $200 million; Building concert streaming and direct to consumer businesses to expand our revenue streams; Advancing our technology initiatives globally while accelerating the shift to digital tickets to meet changing needs of fans, venues and artists."
ISSUE: 26 Feb 2021
  • Splice, the New York-based, AI-infused, beat-making software service for music producers, has raised another $55m in financing. (TechCrunch)
  • UK-based artist and label services company Kartel Music Group announced the launch of EMK, an electronic music platform that will encompass record label, publisher and multimedia platform. (RotD)
  • Spotify USA intends to offer $1.3bn in exchangeable notes due in 2026, while building its war chest for acquisitions or other purposes. In addition, Spotify USA expects to grant the initial buyers of the notes an option to purchase an additional $200m. (Spotify)
  • Universal Music Group has launched Virgin Music Label and Artist Services, to provide artists global solutions, with fully staffed operations already established in the world’s top five music markets. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 12 Feb 2021
  • Insomniac has launched TRY HARDs, a weekly show in which DJs and gamers face off. (Cultr) 
  • Monstercat has acquired Silk Music and forms new brand Monstercat Silk. (MBW)
ISSUE: 05 Feb 2021
  • Jukebox agency announced expansion and brand changes. (RotD)
  • ICM Partners has hired former WME music agent Paul Gongaware. He previously worked with  Don Diablo, Timmy Trumpet, and Sam Feldt. (Billboard) 
  • In Q4 2020, Spotify added 11m paid users to reach 155m, and 14m ad-supported listeners. Q4 revenues improved 15.2% year-on-year to €2.17bn. (Spotify)
  • The $4bn takeover of StubHub by Viagogo has been partially blocked, after the UK competition regulator CMA demanded Viagogo sells StubHub’s businesses in the UK and outside North America.(BBC) 
  • Total revenue at Warner Music Group grew to $1.33bn in the three months to the end of December, up 6% from a year ago. Digital revenue grew 17.5% to $825m. Within recorded music, revenue rose 7.1% to $1.34bn. Digital revenue grew 15% to $727m and streaming revenue climbed 17.5%. Music publishing revenue was up 1.2% to $175m. Its digital revenue jumped 36% to $99m. Performance royalties declined 35% “primarily due to COVID-related business disruption”. (Billboard)
  • Sony’s music operations reported figures for the quarter ending 31 December. (Billboard) Recorded music, consisting of Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Japan, grew 17.5% on a dollar basis to $1.36bn. Music publishing grew 13.3% to $430.59m
  • Sony Music has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kobalt Music Group’s independent distribution and label division AWAL, as well as its neighbouring rights business, for $430m. The pair will be a separate new division that will be connected to the Orchard, Sony’s indie distribution arm. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 29 Jan 2021
  • Native Instruments has announced that Francisco Partners, a global investment firm, is to become the majority shareholder of the company. (MusicRadar) 
  • The share price of Live Nation has hit an all-time high of $76.54 – more than double its slump to $29.50 in March last year, despite the fact the vast majority of live shows have not been able to take place for the past ten months. (IQ) The company just acquired a majority stake in ticketed livestreaming platform Veeps. 
ISSUE: 22 Jan 2021
  • Management firm Milk & Honey is expanding into the sports arena, and rebranding as Milk & Honey Music + Sports + Ventures. (Billboard)
  • Shares of Spotify took a 6.6% hit after analysts at Citi downgraded the stock because it hasn’t shown “any material benefit” from its $800m-plus investment in podcasting content and tech. (Variety)
ISSUE: 15 Jan 2021
  • Amy Wheatley has been promoted to Managing Director and Negla Abdela has been promoted to General Manager at Ministry of Sound. (RotD)
ISSUE: 08 Jan 2021
  • Deltic, the UK's largest nightclub operator has been bought by Danish bar group Rekom for £10m, roughly an eighth of its pre-pandemic value. (Times)
  • Ticketmaster will pay a $10m criminal fine to avoid prosecution on US charges it repeatedly accessed the computer systems of rival Songkick, whose assets its parent Live Nation Entertainment later purchased. (Reuters)
ISSUE: 18 Dec 2020
  • Q&A, a startup developing tech for the music industry co-founded by Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo, has launched a new suite of software products through a division called Venice Innovation Labs. The new tools are designed to help record labels beta test songs, manage artists and distribute music easily and efficiently. (TechCrunch)
  • The UK's largest nightclub operator Deltic Group has been bought out of administration by Scandinavian firm Rekom UK for an undisclosed sum. (Caterer)
ISSUE: 11 Dec 2020
  • Music streaming platform Roxi is on track for a potential £200m flotation. (Guardian) It has raised £13m in funding to accelerate the introduction of the service and expand internationally, valuing the business at about £50m.
  • Universal Music Group announced the formation of Mercury Studios – a multi-faceted content studio established to 'develop, produce, and invest in innovative, music-based storytelling'. Alice Webb has been named CEO. (RotD)
ISSUE: 04 Dec 2020
  • The founder of the nightclub owner Deltic Group is plotting to wrest back control just two years after he declared bankruptcy. (SundayTelegraph) 
  • SoundCloud announced that President, Michael Weissman, will succeed Kerry Trainor as the company’s next CEO — effective 1 January 2021. Trainor will remain a member of the Board of Directors. (RotD) 
  • Spotify’s stock jumped 12.6% Wednesday — closing at an all-time high price of $320.89 per share. Market capitalisation rose to $60.8bn, with the stock more than doubling in value since the start of 2020. (Variety)
ISSUE: 27 Nov 2020
  • Managers David De Valera and Marcus O’Sullivan have formed artist management and music consultancy agency Spike. (MW) 
ISSUE: 20 Nov 2020
  • London-based music law firm Sound Advice has promoted Pete Bott and Jules O’Riordan to partnership. (RotD)
  • LiveXLive Media, the entertainment live streaming platform, is launching a music publishing division. (Billboard)
  • French music distributor Believe is said to be preparing a 2021 stock market flotation that could value it at around €2bn. (Reuters)
  • Deltic Group, which runs 52 'superclubs' around the UK, will start assessing bids from an initial 20 private equity firms and ten industry rivals after being put up for sale in October. (Mail) It is asking the Government for a £1m-a-month bailout.
ISSUE: 13 Nov 2020
  • Private equity firms Greybull Capital and Aurelius are weighing bids for Deltic Group, the UK’s biggest nightclub operator, after the pandemic forced the company into an emergency sale. (SundayTelegraph)
  • Eventbrite reported a year-on-year 75% drop in revenue for Q3, with revenue of $21.8m. (TTB)
  • Live Nation Entertainment announced financial results for the quarter ended 30 September. Revenue was down 95% on Q3 2019 to $184m and 81% in the year to date. The company has over $1.9bn in available liquidity. (LN) 
  • Stock prices for live music companies lifted on news that a Covid-19 vaccine was found to be 90% effective. (Billboard) Live Nation finished Monday up 15% on Friday's market close.
  • Tencent Music Entertainment lost just 0.8% of subscription revenue in Q3, while reaching 51.7m subscribers, up 4.6m from the previous quarter and 46% year-on-year. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 06 Nov 2020
  • The UK’s largest nightclub operator, Deltic Group, is seeking a buyer as it fights to stave off bankruptcy after the seven-month closure of its venues during the pandemic drained the business of cash. (Guardian)
  • Insomniac has acquired promoter Club Glow and Washington D.C venues Echostage and Soundcheck. (Billboard) 
  • Spotify reported a gain of 6m subscribers in Q3, from 138m in the second quarter and 130m in the first, and 320m total monthly active users, up 29% year over year. Total revenues climbed just 14% year on year to €1.975bn, which Spotify partly blamed on the depreciation of the US dollar versus the euro. Average revenue from subscribers dropped 10% from a year ago to €4.19 in the third quarter. (Spotify)
ISSUE: 30 Oct 2020
  • Frills, a multi-faceted artist development company rooted in the underground house and techno, has launched in Berlin. (Pollstar) 
  • Sony Corp reported the company’s fiscal second quarter ended 30 September. The music operations reported revenue grew 5.3% to $2.17bn year-on-year, mainly thanks to streaming. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 23 Oct 2020
  • BMG has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in independent German live music promotion company and event agency Undercover. (RotD) 
  • Warner Music Group expects its fiscal-year 2020 revenues to top $4.4bn – a figure that’s relatively close to investor forecasts and, in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, in line with FY 2019 revenues of $4.475bn. (DMN)
  • Vivendi has confirmed that it plans to take Universal Music Group public in 2022. (Billboard) UMG’s overall revenues were up 5.1% for the first nine months of 2020 and up 3% for Q3. Recorded music streaming revenue rose 22.6% and overall quarterly recorded music revenues were up by 11%. Physical sales were down 10.2% compared to the first nine months of 2019, while download sales declined by 20.1%. Music publishing revenues grew by 15.6%. Merchandising and other revenues were down 42.6%.
ISSUE: 16 Oct 2020
  • Get Physical Music and Zebralution join forces to extend Label Management and Distribution Services on a global scale, starting with Brazil. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 02 Oct 2020
  • Netherlands-based electronic dance promoter ID&T has informed staff that 40% of jobs would be lost as the company goes through a drastic reorganisation. (IQ) 
ISSUE: 18 Sep 2020
  • Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of electronic music duo The Chainsmokers have raised $35 million in commitments for their early-stage venture capital firm, Mantis. (Techcrunch) 
  • Kobalt is said to be “working with advisers to explore strategic options including a potential sale”. It could be valued at more than $1bn. (Variety)
ISSUE: 11 Sep 2020
  • Hipgnosis Songs Fund has appointed Ted Cockle as President and Amy Thomson as Chief Catalogue Officer. (RotD, Billboard) Ted was most recently President of Virgin EMI. Amy has previously overseen the careers of Swedish House Mafia, DJ Snake, Seal and many others.
ISSUE: 04 Sep 2020
  • Short-video app Triller has made a $20bn offer with investment firm Centricus Asset Management for the assets of rival TikTok that China’s ByteDance is seeking to a divest. (Reuters)
ISSUE: 28 Aug 2020
  • Stem, the distribution and payments platform for independent musicians and labels, has secured $10m in new financing and brought in several new investors, senior advisors and Board Members that include prominent music executives. (Variety)
  • Viagogo has taken advantage of an incremental loan to increase its cash liquidity as it weathers the coronavirus pandemic storm. The company announced a $330m loan due February 2027. The increased cash on hand should, analysts Moody’s says, allow the company to operate with little to no revenue for another two years. (TicketNews)
  • MelodyVR has acquired Napster for $70m. Only $15m of that purchase price is cash, which it has already raised from investors. A further $11m will be paid in Melody VR shares and the remaining $44m is payment obligations to various music publishers and record labels, that Melody VR has agreed to take on. (Guardian)
ISSUE: 21 Aug 2020
  • Allen & Heath are in discussions to purchase the Traktor product line from Native Instruments. (DJTechTools) 
ISSUE: 14 Aug 2020
  • ICM Partners has hired International music agent Simon Clarkson. He will be based in Los Angeles and brings with him several impressive clients including international superstar Skrillex, Alison Wonderland, Aluna George and San Holo. (RotD) 
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group has announced its unaudited financial results for the April to June quarter. Revenues were RMB6.93bn ($981m), an increase of 18% year-over-year, and up 14% to RMB13.2bn for the first six months of the year. Profit in the year to date was down by 4% to RMB1.83bn ($259m). Paying subscribers reached 47.1m, an increase of 52% compared with June last year. (Variety)
ISSUE: 07 Aug 2020
  • Live Nation's Q2 revenue was $74m, down 98% from $3.2bn in the same time frame in 2019. It said 86% of fans have chosen to hold onto their tickets for rescheduled shows instead of asking for refunds. The company is “talking about a spring return to business outdoors in 40 countries” and predicts 2021 and 2022 will be "record years". (Variety)
  • In its fiscal first quarter ended 30 June, revenue at Sony's music operations declined 13.1%. Recorded music revenues decreased by 12.4% year-on-year and publishing fell 14.6% after drops in sync and performance royalties. Streaming revenue grew nearly 6% from the prior year's total. CD and vinyl sales were down by over 40%. Download sales were down 12.5%, less than usual. (Billboard)
  • Warner Music Group announced its third-quarter financial results for the period ended 30 June. (WMG, Variety) Revenue was down 4.5% (or 3.1% in constant currency). Digital revenue grew 11.1% (13.4%). Recorded music revenue was down 5.7% (4.2%), music publishing revenue grew 1.4% (2.8%). Physical sales were down 46%. Streaming now accounts for 93.5% of digital revenue and 68.4% of total recorded music sales.
  • Universal Music Group’s revenues for the first half of 2020 were up 3.5% at constant currency and perimeter over the first half of 2019, to €3.46bn, even as its quarterly revenue dipped 4.7% from Q1 2020. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 Jul 2020
  • Spotify and Universal Music Group have finalised a new and expanded multi-year global licensing agreement. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 17 Jul 2020
  • Sony has bought about a 1.4% stake in US-based Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite for $250m. (Verge) An analyst said that is a sign that the company hopes to push more of its music, movies and other content into the Fortnite world.
ISSUE: 10 Jul 2020
  • Los Angeles-born management company Milk & Honey, which largely works with songwriter and DJ/producer clients, has opened an Amsterdam office. (MBW)
  • International Music Summit (IMS) will present and publish the findings of the annual IMS Business Report on Thursday July 16 at 17.00 BST in an interactive Zoom webinar. The report will feature full and detailed data on the last twelve months in the electronic music industry, including the impact of the global pandemic and the total value of the industry pre and post virus. Kevin Watson the author of the business report will present the findings of 2020 in a 60 min keynote, followed by a live debate moderated by Billboard Dance Editor Katie Bain. (IMS)
ISSUE: 26 Jun 2020
  • Live Nation is not reducing the fees paid to artists to play festivals in 2021, contrary to recent media reports citing an outdated memo regarding deal points. (Pollstar)
ISSUE: 19 Jun 2020
  • Live Nation is aiming to renegotiate the terms for thousands of shows postponed to 2021, including more than 100 festivals around the world. The changes could mean a fundamental change in the business model, shifting substantially more risk to agents and artists while potentially levelling the playing field for independent promoters and festival owners as they struggle to recover. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 12 Jun 2020
  • AEG is implementing a mix of layoffs, furloughs and salary reductions due to the pandemic that will be implemented within all departments including AEG Presents, the concert and festival promotion group. (Billboard, Variety)
  • Viagogo and StubHub have been told to amend the terms of their $4bn deal or face harsher regulatory scrutiny, after the Competition and Markets Authority said it was concerned the merger could drive up prices for consumers. (Guardian, IQ)
ISSUE: 05 Jun 2020
  • Tencent Holdings is said to be in talks to buy a $200m stake in Warner Music Group as part of the record company’s IPO. (Variety)
  • Warner Music Group priced its IPO at $25 per share, valuing the company at $12.75bn. At the closing bell on the Nasdaq, the share price had risen by 20.5% to $30.12, which would have granted a market cap value of $15.39bn. (HR)
ISSUE: 29 May 2020
  • Warner Music Group has officially launched its initial public offering. It will sell a 14% stake, or 70m shares, targeting a price of between $23 and $26 a share, giving a valuation of between $11.7bn and $13.3bn - well above the $3.3bn that Len Blavatnik paid for it in 2011. His investment company, Access Industries, will retain all the proceeds of the sale and will keep majority voting power of Warner Music’s outstanding common stock. (MusicAlly, Billboard) 
ISSUE: 22 May 2020
  • TicketSwap, the Amsterdam-based fan-to-fan ticket marketplace, is letting 30% of its staff go, becoming the latest live music company to make cutbacks due to the impact of the coronavirus. (IQ)
  • BMG has launched a boutique neighbouring rights service. (RotD)
  • In the US, Live Nation has furloughed around 2,100 of its 10,500 employees across multiple divisions at the company. (Billboard) 
  • Joel Zimmerman, WME’s former global head of electronic music, has exited the agency. (Variety)
ISSUE: 15 May 2020
  • Eventbrite announced its Q1 results, with revenue down by almost 35% year-on-year. (CA)
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March. (PRNewswire) Online music paying users grew 50.4% year-on-year to 42.7m, and its ARPPU increased by 13.3% year-over-year. Total revenues were US$891m, an increase of 10.0% year-over-year, within which online music subscription revenues grew by 70.0% year-on-year to $170m.
  • Live Nation Entertainment has been hit with a credit rating downgrade from S&P Global Ratings. (HR) "We believe Live Nation revenues could decline by 65% to 80% in 2020 before rebounding significantly in 2021 as live events and attendance return". LN announced plans to raise capital "it intends to offer $800m in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes". (PRNewswire)
  • Live Nation's Q1 revenues fell by 21% to $1.37bn, including a 25% decline in concerts revenues to $993.4m and a 16% fall in ticketing revenues to $284.3m. (IQ)
  • Sony's Music operations post nearly 40% gain in operating income in financial Q4 to 31 March as streaming revenue surges. (Billboard)
  • Warner Music Group's revenues were down 1.7% year-on-year to $1.07bn in its financial Q2. Streaming revenue jumped 9.1% (11% in constant currency) to $586m. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 08 May 2020
  • Insomniac has furloughed 90 employees or about half of its workforce amid Covid-19 crisis. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 01 May 2020
  • Ticketmaster has furloughed hundreds of employees - representing a quarter of its workforce - across multiple offices in North America. (Billboard)
  • Universal Music Publishing has unveiled UMPG Music Solutions, combining its worldwide networks of sync and custom music offerings for film, television and advertising. (Variety) 
  • The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has taken a 5.7% stake in Live Nation for just under $500m. The investment is passive, and was purchased on the open market. (IQ)
  • YouTube earned over $4bn during the first quarter of 2020, up by 33% on Q1 2019. (MBW) YouTube’s Music category accounted for just 5% of total content volume in 2019, but music videos attracted 22% of all views.
  • In the three-months ending 31 March, Spotify grew its user base by 6m to 130m paid subscribers and 286m total monthly active users. The figure is up by 30m year-on-year. Total Q1 revenue was €1.85bn, up 22% year-on-year. It recorded an operating loss of €17m. (BBC)
ISSUE: 24 Apr 2020
  • Universal Music Group's revenues grew to €1.77bn in the first quarter of 2020, up 12.7% year-on-year at constant currency and perimeter. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 17 Apr 2020
  • 'Disco' Donnie Estopinal has bought back his legendary dance company, Disco Donnie Presents: 'I got my name back' (Billboard)
  • Eventbrite's CEO hints it could be pivoting back to a self-service ticketing product, following layoffs of 45% of its workforce. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 10 Apr 2020
  • Eventbrite is laying off 45% of the company - most of which will come from the music division. The cuts are believed to impact about 450 employees in the San Fransisco office. (Billboard)
  • Former Insomniac exec Steve Levy has been named chief marketing officer of Virgin's festival division. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 03 Apr 2020
  • Vivendi has closed its sale of a 10% stake in Universal Music Group to a consortium led by Tencent. It confirmed the deal was based on an enterprise value of €30bn, or $33bn at current exchange rates, compared with $33.6bn when the transaction was announced at the end of 2019. (Billboard)
  • The Kobalt Music Group lost $56.7m on revenues of $543.4m for the year ended 30 June 2019, up from $38.9m the prior year. (Billboard)
  • Spotify and Warner Music Group have announced a renewed global licensing partnership. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 27 Mar 2020
  • United Talent Agency has implemented a company-wide salary cut. (Variety)
  • Hits speculates on the future of Paradigm, which is said to have laid off 250 of its 750 staff, plus slashed remaining staff pay by half. "Will we see a new agency rise from the ashes, or old ones get rebooted?".
  • Independent distributor TuneCore announced that longtime CEO Scott Ackerman has decided to step down, effective 15 April. He’ll stay on in an advisory role reporting to Denis Ladegaillerie, CEO of owner Believe Group. A search for a new CEO is underway. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 20 Mar 2020
  • Tencent Music Entertainment revenues jumped 34% to $3.65bn in 2019. (Billboard)
  • MelodyVR has reported a 56% spike in sales of its virtual music concerts over the past seven days. Shares rose 0.33p to 2.83p. (Standard)
  • Live Nation's share price dropped 61.5% from its 52-week high set on 19 February. (Billboard) Live Nation faces new financial pressure because of its high debt load and vulnerability from the widespread shutdown of concerts. (Variety)
ISSUE: 13 Mar 2020
  • Stephanie LaFera has been named Head of WME's electronic music division.  (Billboard) 
  • US based ICM Partners has acquired London-based Primary Talent International. (RotD)
ISSUE: 06 Mar 2020
  • Warner Music Group has delayed a plan to kick off its IPO this week due to concerns over the coronavirus. (CNBC)
ISSUE: 28 Feb 2020
  • Pan-Nordic live entertainment company All Things Live has acquired Sweden's electronic dance music festival Big Slap. (IQ) 
  • The French market for recorded music showed growth of 5.4% in 2019, with a turnover of €772m. (RotD)
  • Japanese industry body the RIAJ revealed that streaming revenues grew by 33% in 2019. There was a 30% increase in the value of subscription audio streaming accounting for the bulk of those revenues. (RIAJ)
  • Recorded music revenues in Germany grew 8.2% in 2019 to reach €1.62bn on a retail basis. Streaming revenue increased 27% and now accounts for 55.1% of total revenues. Physical revenue was down 8.9% year-on-year. (BVMI)
  • US recorded music sales jumped 13% to $11.1bn last year, according to the RIAA's annual year-end report. Streaming revenues rose by 20% to $8.8bn, less than the 30% rise of 2018. It accounts for 79.5% of all revenue. Paid subscriptions were up 25% year-on-year. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 07 Feb 2020
  • Spotify is in talks to renegotiate onerous music royalty deals. (FT)
  • Spotify added 11m subscribers in the final three months of 2019, ending the year with 124m worldwide and 271m total monthly active users. The company said it was the fastest they've ever added at least ten million subs. Total revenue for 2019 was up 29% on the year prior to €6.76bn. Operating loss for the quarter was €77m. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 Jan 2020
  • Create Music Group has appointed electronic music industry veteran Ethan Baer to the position of Senior Vice President, Business Development, Head of Electronic at the company. (MBW) 
  • DJ download store Beatport reported that since launching in 2004, it has paid $300m to independent dance music labels — with over 259m track downloads on the site. (RotD) In 2019, Beatport sold music for 74,000 independent labels.
  • Revenue at Soundcloud increased to €108m in 2018, up 19% year-on-year. (MBW) Annual operating losses narrowed from €51.4m in 2017 to €32.9m in 2018, while post-tax loss dropped to €32.0m, down from €63.8m. Subscription payments made up 77% of revenues, with advertising generating 23%. 2019 results will be filed later this year
ISSUE: 10 Jan 2020
  • Vivendi has sold a 10% stake in Universal Music Group to a consortium led by Tencent in a deal valuing UMG at €30bn. (Guardian)
  • LA-based artist-songwriter-producer management company Milk & Honey is expanding into the UK. A new office in London will be headed by Ant Hippsley. (MBW)
  • Defected Records hires James Kirkham as chief business officer. (MW) 
  • Dan Chalmers has been officially named Director of YouTube Music in Europe, Middle East and Africa. (RotD)
ISSUE: 06 Dec 2019
  • LiveStyle-owned dance music giant ID&T has hired industry veteran Edo Van Duijn as Music Director. (MBW) 
ISSUE: 29 Nov 2019
  • eBay has struck a $4.05bn cash deal to sell StubHub to rival reseller Viagogo. (TechCrunch)
ISSUE: 15 Nov 2019
  • Tencent Music announced its third-quarter 2019 results, showing solid growth in paid user subscriptions for its music apps and a rebound in monthly average ad revenue per user. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 01 Nov 2019
  • Spotify reported user numbers reached 113m paid subscribers and 248m total active users monthly in Q3, up from 108m premium and 232m monthly active users total in June. Q3 revenues grew by 28% year-on-year to €1.73bn, including 29% growth for its premium subscriptions and 20% growth for its advertising revenues. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 25 Oct 2019
  • Vivendi says its sale of a 10% stake in Universal Music Group to Tencent should be completed in a matter of weeks, and that it is in talks with others who have “expressed an interest in investing at a similar price level”. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 18 Oct 2019
  • Spotify UK’s operating profit increased by 125% year-on-year in 2018 to £10.46m. (MusicWeek) Net profit for the year was £6.82m, up from £3.49m. Admin expenses were £68.87m, up 17.5%.
  • Audio-streaming service Mixcloud published its financial results for 2018. Revenue was £2.44m, up 46% from 2017. Losses increased from £885k in 2017 to £3m in 2018 as cost of sales grew and administrative expenses leapt from £1m to £4m. (MusicAlly)
ISSUE: 11 Oct 2019
  • FFRR Records, the dance label at Parlophone Records, has appointed Andy Daniell to lead the label. (RotD) He was previously at Defected Records.
ISSUE: 13 Sep 2019
  • Nick Holmstén, Spotify’s global head of music since October 2018, is to transition to an advisory role. (Billboard)
  • Randy Phillips has stepped away from his position as CEO of LiveStyle and is working for the company's investors as a consultant as LiveStyle prepares to sell more of its assets. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 06 Sep 2019
  • Sony Music UK has acquired full-service merchandise company, Kontraband. (RotD)
  • Sony Music's Arista Records has launched an electronic music label called Last Nite. Matt D'Arduini has been appointed GM of the label, as well as senior VP A&R at Arista Records. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 23 Aug 2019
  • Dance music veteran and turntablist A-Trak has joined the Board of Managers at Beatsource, a new digital music service for open format DJs. Beatsource, a joint venture between Beatport and DJCity, is set to launch its download store next month. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 16 Aug 2019
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30. (PRNewswire) Online music paying users reached a record 31m, an increase of 33% year-over-year.
ISSUE: 09 Aug 2019
  • Vivendi has revealed it is in talks to sell a 10% stake to Tencent in a deal that would value Universal Music at €30bn. The Chinese company would have an option to double its stake within a year on the same terms. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 02 Aug 2019
  • Spotify has grown its user base to 108m premium subscribers and 232m total active monthly users as of the end of June. The figures are up from 100m and 217m at the end of March. (Billboard)
  • Beatport and Loopmasters have joined forces in a new partnership. Beatport has sold off its Sounds business to Loopmasters, while also taking a strategic investment in Loopmasters. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 26 Jul 2019
  • New and used music gear marketplace Reverb has been acquired by e-commerce website Etsy in a deal worth $275m. (Fact) 
ISSUE: 19 Jul 2019
  • Sony is to bring together the recorded music and music publishing businesses to form Sony Music Group. (Billboard) Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer will run Sony Music Group as well as Sony Music Entertainment. Jon Platt, Chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, will report to Stringer. Sony Music Entertainment Japan will remain a separate entity. The change is effective 1 August.
ISSUE: 05 Jul 2019
  • According to a statement issued to the Stock Exchange following 7digital’s AGM, the company said it needs to raise £4.5m by 31 July to avoid entering administration. (DMN) eMusic has offered £1.3m and is planning a mass market distribution project using 7digital’s blockchain platform.
ISSUE: 14 Jun 2019
  • Live Nation Entertainment has launched Electronic Nation, a new division focused on expanding offerings of all electronic genres across the UK. It will be led by Cream MD Scott Barton. (RotD, Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 May 2019
  • International Music Summit (IMS) has released its annual in-depth economic study of the electronic music industry. (RotD, Billboard, Music Week, Mixmag) Among the findings, it was estimated the overall sector value dipped 1% in 2018/19 to $7.2bn as a period of stabilisation continued. Growth in 2018/19 came from the value of recorded music, festivals and hardware & software, which was offset by a decrease in the value of clubs, and earnings of DJs & artists. Electronic Music is ranked as the world’s third most popular music genre behind pop and rock.
    Download the full report on the IMS website.
ISSUE: 10 May 2019
  • Live Nation's first-quarter 2019 earnings showed revenue up 17% to $1.7bn on the quarter last year, with an operating loss of $24m, and its highest-ever first-quarter adjusted operating income at $115m. (Pollstar)
ISSUE: 03 May 2019
  • Amanda Playle and Jho Oakley have launched an artist management company, Decade. (RotD) The pair previously worked together at JHO Management. The initial roster is Pendulum, Knife Party and Cameron Hayes.
  • RAC and Goldroom have launched Minerva Music, a label that distributes music on the Ethereum blockchain. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 03 May 2019
  • Kobalt reported that its gross collections grew by 30% to $494m in the fiscal year ending 30 June 2018. Revenues increased by 25.3% to $402m. AWAL revenue grew 50%. (RotD)
ISSUE: 29 Mar 2019
  • Stephanie Karten has joined Armada Music as US-based A&R Director. Stephanie was previously Director of A&R and Digital at Robbins Entertainment. (MBW) 
  • Downtown Music Holdings is acquiring AVL Digital Group. (Billboard) AVL's digital businesses include AdRev, CD Baby, DashGo and Soundrop, which collectively distribute and monetise more than 10 million tracks on behalf of over 900,000 artists, labels and other rights holders. A purchase figure of around $200m has been reported.
ISSUE: 22 Mar 2019
  • Music's next big startup Splice raises $57.5M to sell samples.(Techcrunch)
  • Tencent Music Entertainment Group delivered its first earnings report as a public company, meeting market expectations but exposing soaring license and content production costs which pulled its shares down 6%. (Reuters) 
ISSUE: 15 Mar 2019
  • TaP Music has announced The Weird & The Wonderful’s Steven Braines and Sophia Kearney as founders of its new electronic division. (RotD)
ISSUE: 08 Mar 2019
  • Live Nation reported attendance growth of 93m in 2018, up 8%, as well as an increased concert revenue of 11% to $10.8bn - its eighth consecutive year of record results. (Billboard) 
  • Mixmag announce global event series with BUDX. (Mixmag)
  • BMG, Skint’s owners since 2014, has announced the return of label founder Damian Harris as creative director with his first move being a rebrand. (RotD)
ISSUE: 01 Mar 2019
  • HMV was acquired by Sunrise Records for just £883,000. The Canadian company will pay more than £300,000 a week until July for the right to occupy HMV stores and its London headquarters. (BusinessFast)
  • KKR and Tencent Music Entertainment Group are exploring rival bids to purchase up to half of Universal Music from Vivendi, a deal potentially worth up €20bn. (Reuters) 
ISSUE: 22 Feb 2019
  • Universal Music Group reported figures for 2018 that saw recorded music generate €4.8bn, 5.9% up from 2017; music publishing at €941m, up 10.2%; merchandising and other income streams falling slightly to €273m from the prior year total of €283m. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 15 Feb 2019
  • AEG Facilities and SMG, which between them operate and run many of the world’s most important large entertainment venues, have announced their intention to merge, forming a new company called ASM Global. (IQ)
  • Universal Music Group has agreed to acquire Ingrooves, building on a long strategic alignment and previous 25% stake in the independent distributor. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 08 Feb 2019
  • Spotify snaps up Gimlet and Anchor in podcast push. (Techcrunch)
  • HMV has been bought out of administration by Canada's Sunrise Records in a deal which will buy 100 stores out of administration, securing 1,487 jobs, but 27 stores will close, resulting in 455 redundancies. (BBC)
  • Warner Music Group reported a 15.1% increase in revenue to $1.2bn in its fiscal first quarter, up from $1.045bn in 2017. (Billboard) 
  • In its fiscal third quarter results to 31 December, Sony music operations saw revenue decline but operating income increase dramatically thanks to the closing of the EMI Music Publishing acquisition. (Billboard) Streaming accounted for 53% of revenue.
  • Spotify posted its first-ever quarterly operating profit of €94m, although the company warned that this was largely because of the fall in its stock price, which reduced costs such as taxes on stock options. It said its loss guidance for 2019 was up from €200m to €360m, despite monthly users rising 29% year-on-year to 207m in the fourth quarter. Paying subscribers leapt at an annualised rate of 36% year-on-year to 96m. Revenues rose 30% to €1.5bn. (Guardian)
ISSUE: 25 Jan 2019
  • The Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley has tabled a bid to rescue HMV from administration. (BBC) He was one of a handful of parties to lodge formal offers with administrators KPMG‎.
  • iHeartMedia has received necessary approval for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, which will cut its debt load and spin off its outdoor advertising business. (Billboard) iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman and President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Rich Bressler have extended their contracts by four years.
ISSUE: 18 Jan 2019
  • HMV administrators KPMG have confirmed that 'a number of offers' have been received for the company raising hopes that a rescue deal may be found. (MW)
ISSUE: 21 Dec 2018
  • Two years after emerging from SFX bankruptcy, global producer of live events LiveStyle is growing again (and profitable). (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 14 Dec 2018
  • Tencent Music Entertainment ended its first day of trading on a high at the New York Stock Exchange, with shares up 8.6% at $14.12, valuing the company at $22bn. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 07 Dec 2018
  • Tencent Music Entertainment has launched its initial public offering, with the entire offer to raise up to $1.2bn, with $615.4m going to Tencent Music and the rest to selling shareholders. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 30 Nov 2018
  • Shares in China’s Tencent Music Entertainment are expected to start trading on December 12. (FT) Analysts believe the float would value Tencent Music at $30bn.
ISSUE: 23 Nov 2018
  • AEG Europe has appointed John Langford as Chief Operating Officer, Emma Bownes has been promoted to VP of Venue Programming and Paul Reeve has been confirmed as Chief Financial Officer. (RotD)
  • Marshmello's manager Moe Shalizi is leaving Red Light Management to start his own firm. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 16 Nov 2018
  • MTV has acquired the New Year’s Eve event SnowGlobe Music Festival. (MBW) 
  • UK-based festival travel portal Festicket has secured a further $10.5m in investment to fund its expansion internationally. (IQ)
  • Sony Corp has completed its acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, which will be merged into Sony/ATV giving the company about $1.27bn in revenue, based on most recent annual revenues of about $610m for Sony/ATV and $663m for EMI Music Publishing. (Billboard)
  • Universal Music Group reported €1.49bn in revenue for the company's third quarter ended 30 September, a 13.3% increase from the prior year-earlier period. (Billboard) Recorded music revenue was €1.16bn, a 15.9% increase. Music publishing totalled €266m, a 9.9% increase. Merchandise and other income streams came to €73m, a 9.9% decrease. Streaming revenue was €662m, up 37.6%, download revenue was €116m, down 21.1%, while physical was down 10.2%.
ISSUE: 09 Nov 2018
  • Spotify has announced plans to buy back as much as $1bn of its shares as it looks to take advantage of the recent sell-off in its stock. Spotify said the buyback programme will expire on April 21, 2021. (TechCrunch)
  • The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has published a 10-year report confirming that its members contributed an estimated £1bn in revenue to the UK economy in the three-year period between 2014 and 2017. (IQ)
  • Global royalties’ collections for creators of music, audiovisual, visual arts, drama and literature rose to a record high of €9.6bn in 2017, up 6.2% on the previous year, according to the 2018 Global Collections Report published by CISAC. (RotD) Music royalties have grown to €8.3bn, up 6.0%, with digital also reported over €1bn for the first time.
ISSUE: 02 Nov 2018
  • Sony Music Entertainment’s global revenue forecast for 2018 has been revised by a higher 8% by Sony Corp, partly due to its now-approved purchase of EMI Music Publishing. (Billboard) 
  • The European Commission has approved Sony Corp's plan to become the sole owner of EMI Music Publishing through its agreement to acquire the shares of Mubadala Investment Company and its consortium partners. (Billboard) 
  • Live Nation has reported its best quarter ever across all divisions - concerts, sponsorship and ticketing - with revenues of $3.8 billion - an increase of 11% compared to Q3 2017. The company is on track to post another record breaking year as so far 2018 has seen an 8% increase in attendance, an 11% uplift in revenue and 24% increase in operating income. (Billboard)
  • Volatility in global markets has stripped out about $10bn of Spotify’s market cap in the space of three months. (IO) 
  • Spotify ended September with 191m monthly active users, up 6% on Q2 and 28% on Q3 2017. That figure includes 87m paying subscribers, up 5% on Q2 and 40% on Q3 2017. However, this new number of paying subscribers represents a slowdown in growth velocity. Spotify saw an average addition rate of 1.33m subscribers per month in the last quarter, compared to a rate of 2.67m a month in Q2. The company generated revenues of €1.35bn, up 31% year on year, with an operating loss of €6m, a 92% improvement on a year ago. (Techcrunch) Of that revenue, €1.21bn came from premium subscribers;ad-supported revenue totalled approximately €140m. 
  • Lyor Cohen has warned that Article 13 will have 'severe unintended consequences' for the music industry. (MBW)
ISSUE: 26 Oct 2018
  • Distribution and services company Believe has acquired one of the biggest independent distribution companies in Europe, Groove Attack, for an undisclosed fee. (MBW)
ISSUE: 19 Oct 2018
  • UK press company Jukebox PR is launching Jukebox Management, a new division that extends their offerings to include artist management, distribution, bookings, content creation, syncing and much more. (RotD)
  • Insomniac has entered into a partnership with ALDA after acquiring 50 percent of the Amsterdam-based company known for developing, producing and promoting dance music events and experiences around the world. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 12 Oct 2018
  • Sentric Music has combined with Black Rock Publishing to launch Sentric Electronic – a dedicated electronic music publishing service. (RotD)
  • Electronic music promotions company Listen Up has unveiled plans to expand into the Asian market. They will open offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, with founder Luke Neville and partner James Mack going into business with former Sony Music exec Ryan Wilson. (Music Week)
ISSUE: 28 Sep 2018
  • Bestival Group is seeking a "new partner”. The Richmond Group, controlled by British loans tycoon James Benamor, has offered to buy the festival brand for £1.1m. (IQ) 
ISSUE: 21 Sep 2018
  • Warner Music has acquired EMP Merchandising, a leading European music & entertainment e-tailer. At $180m, it is their largest takeover in five years. (RotD) 
ISSUE: 14 Sep 2018
  • Machine Management, home to Clean Bandit, Danny Howard and Fakear, has been fully acquired by James Grant Group. (MBW) Subsequent to the buyout, JGG has appointed Machine founder Iain Watt as MD of its UK music division. 
ISSUE: 07 Sep 2018
  • Beatport has appointed Heiko Hoffmann as Director of Artists & Label Relations. He has over two decades of experience in the electronic music industry and previously was editor-in-chief of Germany’s Groove magazine. He is a regular keynote speaker, moderator and panellist at conferences including ADE, Sonar, IMS and MIDEM. (All Access)
ISSUE: 31 Aug 2018
  • Sentric Music has acquired a stake in Black Rock, the boutique electronic music publishing company co-founded by former AFEM CEO Mark Lawrence. (RotD)
ISSUE: 10 Aug 2018
  • Ingrooves has named Berlin-based Joshua Hedglin as Label and Business Development Manager where he will oversee the company’s roster of UK & European dance and electronic labels and continue to bring in label partners. (MBW)
ISSUE: 03 Aug 2018
  • Neighbourhood PR has appointed former Warner/Parlophone and Virgin/EMI Senior Publicist Paul Guimaraes to its team. He continues to represent acts such as David Guetta, Blonde, Icarus and more. (RotD)
  • Boiler Room has announced the appointment of music-industry executive Maria Murtagh-Hopkins to the newly created position of Chief Strategy Officer. (RotD)
ISSUE: 27 Jul 2018
  • In the first half of 2018, overall on-demand streaming increased 42% to reach 403.5bn US streams. Electronic/dance music fell 7% to 11.05m album consumption units, from 11.9m, while its market share dropped to 3.61%, from 4.51% in the first six months of 2017. (Billboard) 
ISSUE: 13 Jul 2018
  • VMS Live, the specialist music and venues company, has announced a series of new deals including two new venue partnerships and the appointment of BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Timzee to the position of development manager. (IQ)
ISSUE: 06 Jul 2018
  • Providence Equity Partners – the US investment firm which has, through Superstruct Entertainment, recently invested in Sziget and Elrow – has acquired a majority stake in Advanced Music SL, the Barcelona-based company behind the Sónar festivals. (IQ)
  • Boiler Room has announced Jodie Nicholson as its first ever Managing Director. (RotD)
  • Ultra Music has launched a Nordic operation with Michel Petre appointed as Managing Director. (RotD)
ISSUE: 15 Jun 2018
  • AWAL, Kobalt’s recording company, has acquired radio promotion and music marketing firm, in2une Music. (RotD, Billboard)
ISSUE: 25 May 2018
  • IMS Business Report: After years of successive growth, largely powered by a thriving North American market, the global electronic music business slipped by 2% in 2017 to $7.3 billion, down from $7.4 billion the previous year. (RotD, Billboard, CA, MusicWeek, IQ, TMN, M)
    Download the full report on the IMS website.
  • Erin Mills and James Paterson have been made Directors at Listen Up, the 360 promotional service offering radio, club, digital and press campaigns globally. (RotD)
ISSUE: 11 May 2018
  • Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, is set to be revived by its new owner, Blue Raincoat Music. (RotD)
ISSUE: 04 May 2018
  • SoundCloud has announced Nancy Hood - previously of PayPal - as Senior Vice President, Listener. (Variety) She will lead the growth and expansion of SoundCloud’s global consumer listener business, which encompasses consumer subscriptions and advertising. 
ISSUE: 20 Apr 2018
  • Digital audio streaming platform Mixcloud has closed an $11.5m investment from WndCo, a holding company that focuses on businesses operating at the intersection of media and technology. (Billboard, TechCrunch) Ann Daly, former president of DreamWorks Animation, and Anthony Saleh, an investor and artist manager of Nas and Future will join Mixcloud’s board.
  • United Talent Agency (UTA) has announced a big move into the electronic and dance-music space by acquiring top indie agency Circle Talent. (RotD, Variety) Circle’s roster includes Marshmello, Kaskade, Excision, Illenium and many others; co-founders Steve Gordon and Kevin Gimble will serve as UTA’s co-heads of electronic music, working closely with global head of music, David Zedeck.
ISSUE: 13 Apr 2018
  • SoundCloud's just-published financial results for 2016 show that the company’s revenues grew by an impressive 88.9% to €50.3m that year (around $62m) but that its net loss grew by 45.4% to €74.5m ($91.8m) in 2016. (MusicAlly)
ISSUE: 06 Apr 2018
  • Goldman Sachs COO David Solomon — AKA DJ D-Sol — reportedly used his side gig as an EDM DJ to help win Spotify's business. (Business Insider)
  • The Department of Justice is investigating Live Nation for antitrust violations after it "used its control over concert tours to pressure venues into contracting with its subsidiary, Ticketmaster." (NYTimes)
  • Spotify valued at $26.5bn after first day of trading on the NYSE. (FT)
  • SoundCloud is reportedly surpassing growth targets less than a year after $170m financial rescue. Kerry Trainor, who pulled together the fundraising deal, says the company's sales in 2017 surpassed its annual goal of $100m and that the user base rose in each of the past three quarters. (FT)
  • Beatport has acquired DJ streaming and subscription service Pulselocker in a deal that taps into the former’s patented "locker" technology, allowing DJs to access an integrated cache of music from the cloud without an internet connection. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 29 Mar 2018
  • Toby Andrews, former manager of Bob Moses and General Manager of International Marketing for Sony Music International in London, has been named General Manager of Astralwerks in LA. (RotD)
ISSUE: 23 Mar 2018
  • Beatport launches a new Creative Services division. (Billboard)
  • Ultra Music Festival has acquired Miami’s Winter Music Conference. (Billboard) UMF will expand into China with Ultra Beijing this June.
ISSUE: 16 Mar 2018
  • Dubset has announced a strategic relationship with the music licensing and administration company Rumblefish that will enable the registration and tracking of mechanical royalties for DJ mixes and remixes. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 09 Mar 2018
  • Zeon Richards has been announced as Head of A&R at Ministry Of Sound Recordings. (RotD) He was previously at Polydor, where he worked for three years as an A&R consultant.
  • Kobalt is to invest $150m in its AWAL independent artist and label services division to "better serve its growing roster". The company is hiring another 100 AWAL employees and introducing a lineup of new technology products at this year’s SXSW. (RotD, Billboard) Kobalt is also combining all of its recording business under the AWAL brand.
ISSUE: 02 Mar 2018
  • Circle Talent Agency has added agent Guy Oldaker to the team, bringing over several acts, including Liquid Stranger, Break Science and Illenium. (Billboard)
  • Astralwerks, the New York-based dance label, is relocating to Los Angeles. General Manager Glenn Mendlinger - who has been with the label for more than 20 years - will leave the company. (Billboard)
  • The music collaboration developer Splice has bought remix-contest site Indaba. (Billboard, EDMSauce, Splice)
  • Lawyer Jules O’Riordan (DJ “Judge Jules”) joins Sound Advice.
ISSUE: 23 Feb 2018
  • Music discovery platform WAV has partnered with Chris Lake's Black Book Records. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 16 Feb 2018
  • Creditors of music and media mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman are seeking to force him into bankruptcy over a $7.36m judgment against him. (CelebrityAccess)
  • VNUE, a publicly-traded company specialising in live concert recordings and experiential content for music fans, will be acquiring music identification and rights startup Soundstr. (Billboard)
  • Word-of-mouth software for live events company Verve is rolling out the platform in six new languages and with local teams to support its growing European client base in Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands. (RotD)
  • LANDR Audio announced today that it will begin digital distribution to Beatport, the world’s largest electronic music store for DJs. (RotD)
  • Discogs, the digital database and marketplace that has grown into a go-to hub for vinyl lovers, has unveiled a new leadership structure and begun rolling out a new set of initiatives. (Billboard) The company saw a 20% increase in the number of releases sold in its marketplace last year.
ISSUE: 02 Feb 2018
  • Chinese streaming and tech giant Tencent Music Entertainment has joined forces with Sony Music Entertainment to create a new Asia-based label. (Billboard) The electronic dance music imprint will be called Liquid State and will focus on emerging Asian artists in the field, but also take on board talent from all over the world.
ISSUE: 26 Jan 2018
  • A second lawsuit has been filed to place SFX Entertainment founder and former CEO Robert Sillerman into bankruptcy to force an asset sale and collect multi-million judgements against him. (Hypebot)
ISSUE: 19 Jan 2018
  • Beatport has promoted SVP/Technology Jonathan Steffan to Chief Information Officer, and SVP/Music, Marketing & Analytics Terry Weerasinghe to Chief Product Officer. (AllAccess)
ISSUE: 12 Jan 2018
  • Global, the UK’s second-largest festival operator [Snowbombing, Hideout, Electric Elephant, Field Day, South West Four and more] recorded its eighth consecutive year of growth in 2016–17, increasing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) 4.4% to £74.5m. (IQ)
ISSUE: 22 Dec 2017
  • Music creation and collaboration platform Splice has raised $35m in funding, and paid participating artists $5m in revenue. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 15 Dec 2017
  • Patrick Moxey's Ultra Records elevates Adrian Nunez to VP of A&R for Payday. (Variety)
  • International electronic music booking agency Analog has announced its merger with Spanish agency Magnum Bookings to form Analog Spain. (Billboard)
  • Electronic music industry veterans Matt Abbott and Phil York have announced the launch of Spektrum Talent, a “new breed of booking and management agency” that promises to handle every aspect of an artist’s career. (IQ)
ISSUE: 01 Dec 2017
  • Blue Raincoat Artists has announced the purchase of Berlin-based DJ and electronic music booking and management agency Spar-ks. (RotD) As part of the deal, founder and CEO of Spar-ks Katrin Schlotfeldt will join the Blue Raincoat team, bringing with her the full roster.
  • Music licensing and digital distribution company Dubset Media has partnered with Merlin in a deal that both parties say will "unlock new revenues" for independent artists and rights holders. (Billboard, PRNewswire)
ISSUE: 24 Nov 2017
  • Coalition Talent, the live booking and entertainment agency, has announced a wide-ranging joint venture agreement with Ministry of Sound. (RotD) The MoS events team are relocating to Coalition’s central London offices and will develop and implement a range of new live events and brand partnerships.
ISSUE: 17 Nov 2017
  • Goldenvoice parts ways with FYF Fest founder Sean Carlson. (RA) He has since been accused of multiple accounts of sexual assault. (Mixmag)
  • New dance music label, Teamwrk Records, launched by Lucky Entertainment, has announced a partnership with Universal Music Australia for exclusive global digital and physical distribution, as well as promotions and marketing services. (TheMusic)
ISSUE: 10 Nov 2017
  • Patrick Moxey, the founder of dance and electronic label Ultra Music, is relaunching classic hip-hop label Payday Records. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 03 Nov 2017
  • SoundCloud CFO Holly Lim moves to TuneIn. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 20 Oct 2017
  • Dance-music veterans Justin Kleinfeld and Lawrence Lui have announced the formation of Bampire, which they describe as a full-service marketing, project management and artist services company. (Variety)
  • Robb McDaniels has been appointed CEO of Beatport. (Variety, Billboard) He has previously been CEO of INgrooves.
  • German venture capital firm EMH Partners has invested $50m in an expansion round for Berlin-based Native Instruments. (Unquote)
ISSUE: 13 Oct 2017
  • EDM Magazine has been acquired by EDMtv Network founder and record label executive Matt Bolton for $2.5m. (RotD)
  • Mixcloud, which specialises in long-form audio, has struck a licensing agreement with Warner Music and is in negotiations with Universal and Sony. (FT) It plans to offer subscriptions to specific radio personalities or programmes, who will also earn a cut of the sales.
ISSUE: 29 Sep 2017
  • San Franciso-based Gigwell, a management platform for booking agencies, has announced the acquisition of Jamplify’s Ticket Counts Pro and Live Intel products. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 22 Sep 2017
  • Split Music, a London-based publishing agency for experimental electronic music, is starting a label called Research. (RA)
  • The Prodigy are returning in early 2018 with a new album via their label Take Me To The Hospital. It will be their first through a new deal with BMG. (Billboard)
  • New Order has announced a full and final settlement has been reached in the long running disputes with their former bassist Peter Hook. (RotD, Guardian)
  • San Franciso-based Gigwell, a management platform for booking agencies, has announced the acquisition of Jamplify’s Ticket Counts Pro and Live Intel products. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 15 Sep 2017
  • XL Recordings owners Richard Russell and Martin Mills shared a £20m dividend in 2016, in part thanks to Adele’s 25 breaking sales records. (Mail on Sunday) It was the biggest selling album for two consecutive years in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Accounts show pre-tax profits dipped from £29.2m to £22m for the year ending December 31, 2016, as turnover fell from £76m to £58m.
  • Amsterdam-based record label Armada Music has opened an office in London. (RotD) The branch will focus mainly on local A&R and promotion. The dance label was founded in 2003 by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis.
  • Warner Music Group (WMG) has acquired Dutch independent electronic music company Spinnin’ Records, along with its music publishing and artist management divisions. One co-founder, Roger de Graaf, will be CEO, while another, Eelko van Kooten, is leaving. (RotD, Billboard) Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but a figure of $100m+ has been speculated.
ISSUE: 08 Sep 2017
  • Gary Richards, founder of Hard Events, has joined LiveStyle, a resuscitated version of the bankrupt promoter SFX Entertainment, as president of LiveStyle North America. (LATimes)
  • Warner Music Group has officially acquired Spinnin’ Records. (RotD) The deal is said to be worth more than $100m. (MBW)
ISSUE: 25 Aug 2017
  • Sony has become the first major to allow its music to be monetised through unofficial mixes thanks to a deal with rights clearance startup Dubset. (TechCrunch, Billboard, WSJ) It will use MixBANK, Dubset's rights management tool, for the licensing, distribution and monetisation of DJ sets and remixes that use its music.
ISSUE: 18 Aug 2017
  • Since January of 2016, SoundCloud’s overall traffic has dipped by roughly 25%, according to tracking data shared by SimilarWeb. (DMN)
  • Following SoundCloud’s $169.5m investment round from Temasek, Singapore’s state investment company, and Raine Group, the boutique investment bank (FT), Kerry Trainor, formerly of Vimeo, has been named as the new CEO as founder and outgoing CEO Alex Ljung takes the position of Chairman. (Billboard, Venturebeat) 
ISSUE: 11 Aug 2017
  • Leading Scandinavian online mastering platform CloudBounce is moving to secure new partners following the recent announcement that rival platform LANDR, has launched a digital distribution service. (DT)
  • Merchant bank The Raine Group and Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings will reportedly each acquire stakes in SoundCloud imminently, valuing the company at $300m in total. (MBW)
  • Existing SoundCloud shareholders are to vote to accept or reject a reorganisation proposal today that will decide the fate of the company. If rejected, CEO Alexander Ljung suggests the company would not be able "to continue as a going concern”. (Axios, TechCrunch) Kerry Trainor, who stepped down as CEO of Vimeo last summer, may be named as the new SoundCloud CEO. (Recode)
  • Live Nation has launched an electronic music division named Live Nation Electronic Asia. (LNE, Pollstar)
ISSUE: 04 Aug 2017
  • Gary Richards will depart HARD and move to Tomorrowland and Electric Zoo promoter Livestyle. (Mixmag)
  • To stave off financial ruin, SoundCloud is said to be selling stakes in the company to two private equity firms - combined, the stakes make up majority ownership of the streaming service. (Bloomberg, Hypebot)
ISSUE: 28 Jul 2017
  • Pretty Lights Music expands from a record label to ‘multi-media resource’. (Billboard)
  • SoundCloud has closed its Sydney office. (AdNews) It will continue to be available in Australia, but its dealings with advertisers and the industry will be made through its US office.
ISSUE: 21 Jul 2017
  • Wynn Nightlife appoints Kevin Clark as Executive Director of Talent and Programming. (Billboard)
  • Amy Wheatley has been appointed General Manager of Ministry of Sound Recordings. (RotD) She was previously Head of UK Marketing at Three Six Zero.
ISSUE: 14 Jul 2017
  • Further to a Facebook post from producer Kenny Hayes, which said he was leaving All Around The World after 19 years as "Universal have taken over and closed down the studios", RotD understands UMG has exercised its option to pick up the 50% share from founders Matt Cadman and Cris Nutall and now wholly own AATW. The pair remain as consultants for now. Their Blackburn office continues, although other staff are said to be leaving. The TV channels (Now 80s, Chilled 90s, AKA and Clubland) continue unaffected for the present.
  • Soundcloud co-founder Alex Ljung has given his first major public interview since the announcement of layoffs. (TechCrunch) He claimed Soundcloud was on its way to “taking back control” of its destiny. The company has also responded to “extensive inaccuracies” in a TechCrunch article which claims it is almost out of money. (Variety)
ISSUE: 07 Jul 2017
  • SoundCloud announces 173 staff lay-offs and the consolidation of its offices in a blog post by co-found Alex Ljung. (SoundCloud) Earlier in the week it was reported that the company is being “eyed by a host of players”, including Deezer who are said to be the most interested, other streaming services and a number of private equity companies, according to NYPost.
ISSUE: 30 Jun 2017
ISSUE: 09 Jun 2017
  • Everfest, a global festival search engine and calendar, has raised $3.6m in a funding round co-led by Live Nation Entertainment and ATX Seed Ventures. (Hypebot, IQ)
  • Stephen Bryan is joining YouTube as Head Of Label Relations. (Hypebot) He was previously SoundCloud’s Chief Content Officer.
ISSUE: 02 Jun 2017
  • SoundCloud's Chief Content Officer, Stephen Bryan, a key player in its shift from user-generated audio platform to full-service music streaming service, is leaving the company later this summer. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 26 May 2017
  • Dubspot CEO resigns amid reports of fraud, provides statement. (DA)
ISSUE: 19 May 2017
  • Ultra Music Festival is embroiled in a legal battle with a Croatian promoter, which licenses the brand for the annual event in Split. Adria MM accuse Ultra of making outrageous demands and blocking them from social media, while Ultra claim the Croatian promoter breached its contract and more. (MNT)
ISSUE: 12 May 2017
  • Amazon is now running and promoting its own gigs exclusively for Amazon Prime customers in UK. (Times) Prime members will be able to buy tickets to exclusive London performances and shows will also be filmed and made available later globally on Prime Video. To combat touts, Amazon is limiting tickets to two per customer and no physical tickets will be sent out. Photo ID will be required as proof of identity to gain entry and tickets won’t be transferable or refundable, but can be purchased as a gift for someone else.
  • LiveStyle, the company formerly known as SFX Entertainment, has named former label exec Chris Monaco as Chief Revenue Officer, Brand Partnerships, and Sponsorships. (IQ)
ISSUE: 05 May 2017
  • New York City hedge fund manager David Moradi has been awarded $160.5m in a lawsuit against Marquee Las Vegas after he was attacked by a manager and security officers. (Magenticmag)
ISSUE: 28 Apr 2017
  • X-ray Touring agency has entered an equal joint partnership with Paradigm and Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa in the US. (RotD)
  • Mixmag Media, which has reinvented Mixmag in recent years by expanding online and in digital video has acquired Kerrang! from Bauer and will turn it from a print weekly to a monthly in the UK and focus on building its global, digital audience. (CampaignLive) The company will also revive The Face, which closed in 2004, as a digital brand.
ISSUE: 31 Mar 2017
  • Geffen Records is to relaunch with A&R executive Neil Jacobson as President. (Billboard) The label’s initial roster includes Avicii and DJ Snake.
  • SoundCloud Go and Go+ have launched in the Netherlands. (Hypebot)
  • SoundCloud VP of Community, David Noël, is leaving the company after eight years. (BusinessInsider)
  • SoundCloud has received $70m in debt to fund growth plans. (Bloomberg, Billboard) The company said it would be used for developing technology and hiring "while building a financially sustainable platform”.
  • Native Instruments has announced the acquisition of MetaPop, a start-up that specialises in monetising unofficial remixes. (Fact)
ISSUE: 24 Mar 2017
  • SoundCloud has taken over Pinterest's office in Berlin. (BusinessInsider)
  • Discogs is expanding into the world of second-hand music production gear with the marketplace launch of its new Gearogs site next month. (Fact)
  • LA-based Deckstar, which represents Steve Aoki amongst others, is to come under the wing of the global sports, music and entertainment management company James Grant Group (JGG) as part of a multi-million dollar merger. (Billboard)
  • SBE Entertainment Group is rumoured to be talking about combining efforts with Hakkasan Group in an effort to expand their current markets beyond their respective geographies. (MagenticMag)
  • Global Entertainment has acquired majority stakes in several festivals including Hideout in Croatia. (IQ)
  • SoundCloud has received $70m in debt to fund growth plans. (Bloomberg, Billboard) The company said it would be used for developing technology and hiring "while building a financially sustainable platform”.
ISSUE: 17 Mar 2017
  • SoundCloud has responded to a story reporting that it may consider bids for just the amount it had raised to date, saying “we are actively speaking with a variety of potential investors” and that “we expect to see 2.5x year-over-year revenue growth in 2017, driven in part by SoundCloud Go”. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 03 Mar 2017
  • SoundCloud has launched a mid-priced subscription plan, SoundCloud Go, offering an offline, ad-free service for £5.99 per month. The existing premium £9.99 service has been renamed SoundCloud Go+. (SoundCloud, SoundCloud, Verge)
  • Dubset Media has completed a $4m round of Series A funding. Dubset's MixBANK technology identifies musical recordings used in mixes and remixes, determining the appropriate rights holders, and simultaneously clearing the mix or remix across all rights holders. (Billboard, TechCrunch)
ISSUE: 17 Feb 2017
  • Marc Strigel, SoundCloud’s Chief Operating Officer, and its finance director Markus Harder have both left the company. (FT, Hypebot) “SoundCloud is begging for money, but I wouldn’t give them any right now” a German financier said. SoundCloud hit back at the FT report; calling much of the account "inaccurate”, "disappointing" and not up to the usual journalistic standards. (Hypebot)
  • SoundCloud has appointed Merritt Farren as its new General Counsel, based in Berlin. (PRNewswire)
  • SoundCloud has struck a deal with Rubicon Project to automate its audio and video ad inventory as it looks to bolster its programmatic offering to better monetise its content. (Drum)
ISSUE: 03 Feb 2017
  • Madison Square Garden buys majority stake in nightlife company TAO Group. (Billboard)
  • James Barton, founder of Creamfields festival and the former President of Electronic Music at Live Nation Entertainment, is heading a new as yet unnamed LA company with UK-based financial consultancy Edition Capital, and US investor Providence Equity Partners. The venture aims to launch up to 10 festivals across Europe, starting with the acquisition of Sziget in Hungary. (Audience)
  • Pacha Group, including the hugely successful Pacha Ibiza, has been sold for a reported €350m to private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners. (DiariodeIbiza) Trilantic has said it plans to significantly increase the workforce.
ISSUE: 13 Jan 2017
  • Following a statement (FT) in SoundCloud's Annual Report warning it may run out of cash this year, after incurring a €51m loss in 2015, with the directors and auditors saying it may not be possible to continue as a going concern, the company has now expanded on the statement claiming its on a “very positive positive path to building a financially sustainable platform”. (Hypebot)
  • SoundCloud co-founder Eric Wahlforss is stepping away from the role of CTO at the platform and taking a new position as Chief Product Officer. New hire Artem Fishman, previously Vice President Of Engineering at Yahoo, is taking up the CTO position. (TechCrunch)
ISSUE: 06 Jan 2017
  • The UK industry has recorded a 1.5% increase in Album Equivalent Sales (AES) on 2015 as 123m albums or their equivalent were either streamed, purchased on physical format, or downloaded by UK music consumers in 2016, according to figures released by the Official Charts Company and the BPI. Audio streams recorded a 68% rise on 2015, totalling 45bn - not including video streaming. (RotD) 1bn audio streams now take place in the UK each week, with the milestone figure being achieved within one week last month (December) following three years of massive growth for the format. (OCC) Sales of CDs declined by over a tenth in 2016 (-11.7%) while downloaded albums and singles now account for just 22.6% of music consumption volume. Sales of vinyl reached a 25-year high with over 3.2m LPs sold – a 53% rise on last year. (BBC)
  • Google is reportedly “very interested” in purchasing SoundCloud for $500 million. (Fact)
  • SoundCloud is rumoured to run out of funding this year after posting €51M in losses. (Pulse)
ISSUE: 16 Dec 2016
  • Spotify has abandoned plans to acquire SoundCloud. (FT, TechCrunch) The deal is said to have fallen through because Spotify did not want to slow its path towards a flotation with the costs and licensing agreements needed to buy SoundCloud.
  • Hits states Ministry of Sound was acquired by Sony Music for $55m.
  • At RCA UK, Colin Barlow is said to be exiting and Dave Dollimore, who joined Sony with the Ministry of Sound deal, expected to be the new head. (Hits) Dipesh Parmar is believed to be lined-up to replace Dollimore as day-to-day head of MoS, which will become a new frontline label within the Sony structure. (MBW)
  • East21, one of China’s biggest club and music festival operators, has struck a deal with DJ Mag for the rights to its monthly dance music and DJ magazine in China, including Hong Kong and Macau. (Standard) The five-year licence agreement is worth in excess of £1m to the 25-year-old publication and gives East21 the rights to host events under DJ Mag’s coveted Top 100 DJs banner.
ISSUE: 09 Dec 2016
  • Live Nation Entertainment has bought a 51% controlling stake in Secret Sounds, the Australian music festival group who produce Splendour in the Grass and Falls Music & Arts Festival. (FT, PRNewswire) The deal values Secret Sounds at about $60m.
  • SFX Entertainment has emerged from bankruptcy ahead of schedule. (IQ) New CEO Randy Phillips says he plans to apply the AEG Live model to debt-free LiveStyle, saying: “We’re going to be a music company that specialises in electronic music”. (WSJ)
ISSUE: 25 Nov 2016
  • Vivendi has rebranded Flavorus, the ticketing company it acquired from then-bankrupt SFX Entertainment for S$4m in June, as See Tickets, bringing it into line with its US ticketing operation. (IQ)
ISSUE: 11 Nov 2016
  • Music streaming and hardware company Electric Jukebox, founded by entrepreneur Rob Lewis, will raise £8m when it reverses into an AIM-listed company this week. It has secured licensing agreements with the majors, which will also become shareholders. (SundayTimes)
  • Fan-to-fan ticket resale platform Twickets has opened on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs to give the public an opportunity to invest.  The company aims to raise £700,000. (RotD)
  • Ticketmaster sold more than $1bn of secondary tickets in the first nine months of 2016, according to the latest financial results of its parent company Live Nation. (MusicAlly)
  • Artist services firm ReverbNation has acquired music-related consumer research company AudioKite, to provide artists the tools to test their new musical offerings before investing further capital in them. (Forbes)
  • Nine months after filing for bankruptcy, SFX Entertainment has been given the go-ahead to emerge from administration. (IQ)
  • Former AEG Live Chief Executive Randy Phillips has been confirmed as the new CEO and President of the re-organised SFX Entertainment. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 04 Nov 2016
  • The Intellectual Property Office is fielding views from across the music, publishing and entertainment industry on the European Commission's draft legislation to modernize the European copyright framework. (Billboard)
  • Russia's economic downturn spells controversy for smaller industries - like royalty collection. (Billboard)
  • Sony Music Entertainment has signed a deal with US publishers which resolves issues over proposed new statutory mechanical royalty rates from 2018-2022. (MBW)
  • More than a year after the European Commission began accusing Google of anti-trust violations related to several pillars of its business, the American search giant appears ready to respond. (Billboard)
  • In the US, following what many perceived as meddling in the Copyright Royalty Board's rate-setting process by Sony, the major has now agreed to the same terms that Warner and Universal acceded to, negotiated between them and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). (Billboard)
  • Pan-European licensing body ICE has clinched a new multi-territory licensing deal with SoundCloud for GEMA, STIM and PRS For Music repertoire. (MusicWeek)
  • YouTube has reached a landmark agreement with the Germany-based music rights organisation GEMA. (FT)
ISSUE: 28 Oct 2016
  • YPlan, the events discover and booking platform, has been acquired by Time Out Group for an initial price of £1.6m — significantly less than the approximately £31m that the London startup had raised. (TechCrunch)
  • Russian social network vKontakte has brokered a licensing agreement with indie label global digital rights agency Merlin covering audio and video content from Merlin's members. (MusicAlly)
  • Sony Music Entertainment has invested a six-figure sum in ‘Europe’s largest live booking platform’ – startup gigmit, based in Berlin. (MBW)
  • In Australia, Jaddan Comerford and Matt Emsell have launched their new venture, 1825 Records, with the aim of launching the careers of local acts overseas. (TMN)
ISSUE: 21 Oct 2016
  • Fabric has issued a statement saying: “We have unfortunately had to allow most of our staff to take redundancy and revert to a small manageable team”. The club will begin its appeal against Islington Council's decision to revoke its licence on November 28.
  • SFX and MasterCard, supposedly in a "multi-year global partnership" since August 2014, have fallen out, with each accusing the other of breaching their original agreement. (IQ, Magnetic Mag)
  • Pacha Group has reportedly been sold for €350m. (Mixmag)
ISSUE: 14 Oct 2016
  • Ministry of Sound has appointed See Tickets as its primary ticket agency for all events, including those at its flagship London superclub. (IQ)
  • Pacha Group plans to open 25 hotels and spa resorts around the world, modelled on its own brand which is symbolised by its cherry logo. (Times)
ISSUE: 07 Oct 2016
  • As previously reported, Spotify and SoundCloud in talks to create ‘superpower’. (FT)
  • According to Digital Music News and data collected by PrivCo, SoundCloud amassed a gross revenue of $28m in 2016 - a 43% increase from year’s past. (Mixmag)
  • Global has expanded its UK festival footprint to a total of 11 events with the acquisition of South West Four, Field Day, Boardmasters, Rewind, Y Not and Truck festivals, and purchased a further stake in Snowbombing/Festival No.6 promoter Broadwick Live. (IQ)
ISSUE: 30 Sep 2016
  • The Deltic Group, the UK’s largest operator of premium late night bars and clubs, has appointed a new Head of Entertainment, Charlotte Purdy. (RotD)
  • Traxsource has appointed Steve Mill as Deep House A&R Manager, Ysanne Reid as Marketing Manager and Mimmo Falcone as Afro House A&R Manager. (RotD)
  • Lyor Cohen has been named Global Head of Music at YouTube. (Billboard, NYTimes) Cohen will continue as CEO of 300 until December 5 of this year, after which that company's management "will transition Lyor’s day-to-day responsibilities to the leadership team within the company."
  • Spotify is said to be in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud. (FT, Billboard)
ISSUE: 23 Sep 2016
  • The RIAA has reported the US music industry to have experienced an 8.1% growth in overall revenue during the first half of this year, totalling $3.43bn. (Billboard, Musically, Bloomberg, AdAge) Digital revenue overall totalled 77.5% of total revenue ($2.66bn), with streaming revenue growing 57.4% overall ($1.61bn). Digital download sales were down 17.1% ($1.012bn). Physical sales were 19.6% of the total, down from 24.7% last year ($671.9m).
ISSUE: 16 Sep 2016
  • International nightclub brand Pacha is reportedly up for sale after 49 years. Pacha, associated venues including Destino and Lio, as well as its international franchises reportedly have a price tag of €500m. (Billboard)
  • Warner Music UK has announced the launch of new imprint 2TE Records. (RotD) Headed by Shaurav D’Silva, previously of 3Beat, the urban and dance music label will be part of Warner Bros. Records UK, under the leadership of Phil Christie.
ISSUE: 09 Sep 2016
  • Ministry of Sound founder Lord Palumbo is to step down as chairman, but will retain his majority stake. He will be succeeded by Lohan Presencer, Chief Executive, who in turn will make way for Jonathan Bevan, formerly of Clear Channel, where he was president of Europe and Australia/NZ. (Times)
  • Fabric, one of the UK's most well known nightclubs, is to close permanently after its licence was revoked by London local council Islington, due to what it described as a "culture of drugs" at the venue. (BBC) However, Fabric will appeal the decision and will be backed by the Night Time Industries Association's Fund For Fabric campaign, which will seek to raise up to £500,000 to help with the club's legal fees. (Mixmag) See News and Comment for reactions.
  • This week's INDUSTRY INSIDER is unsurprisingly dominated by the name FABRIC. In a quite shocking week for global electronic music, our entire industry has been rocked by the news that the iconic London club has been closed by Islington Council. The story will unfold in many ways but do be sure to click to the lead story in Comment, Opinion and Analysis by the UK's Independent newspaper. We have had messages from colleagues from all over the planet, shocked by the decision, and perhaps this one article will go some way to explain the complexities and agendas going on behind the scenes. Fabric's Keith Riley and Cameron Leslie have done a great job defending their club and culture, but now the next stage of the battle really begins. IMS, Mixmag and Pete Tong are fully behind the attempts to re-instate Fabric but also to ensure that the genre's reputation isn't one again damaged by outside forces failing to understand the efforts by reputable promoters to educate whilst they entertain. #SAVEFABRIC #SAVENIGHTLIFE. Ben Turner (IMS Co-Founder)
ISSUE: 02 Sep 2016
  • Revelator, a platform for distributing, selling and licensing music online, has raised $2.5m, having raised $3m already. (TechCrunch)
  • Dice has added $6m in funding to expand its app which facilitates hassle free music discovery and fee-free ticketing. The new funds will be used to expand beyond London worldwide. (TechCrunch)
  • MBW reports Spotify has been directly paying producers to create tracks with specific musical guidelines. These producers receive a flat fee for their work, in addition to studio and musician expenses – but Spotify holds on to the master copyright. The tracks appear on some of its relaxing first-party playlists.
ISSUE: 19 Aug 2016
  • Proper Music Group has signed Hospital Records to manage its physical distribution for the UK & Ireland and shipping to Europe. (RotD)
  • Music licensing and digital distribution company DubsetMediaHoldings has inked a direct deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. (Billboard)
  • Ministry of Sound MD Dave Dollimore may play an expanded, significant role as MoS and Sony Music realign themselves. (Hits)
ISSUE: 12 Aug 2016
  • Black Rock City, LLC, the organisation that owns Burning Man, bought seven parcels of land in Gerlach, NV. (Mixmag)
  • Former business partners SFX and Viagogo will lock legal horns this month as secondary ticketer Viagogo seeks $1.6m+ for alleged breach of contract. (IQ)
  • Ministry Of Sound’s General Counsel and General Secretary, Marcel Apfel, has become a director of the company. (MBW)
  • Sony Music Entertainment UK has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Ministry of Sound Recordings. (RotD) It has acquired the label outright, including its artists, back catalogue and compilations business.
ISSUE: 05 Aug 2016
  • Crowdmix, the London music streaming and social network startup that went into administration in July, has been sold to Nick Candy, the billionaire property tycoon who was also its main investor. (Business Insider)
  • A group of financial managers and music industry players, including Windish Agency, artist-management group Tmwrk and music management consultancy Mtheory, are starting The Unison Fund, an investment fund geared to financing tours, album production, videos and other ventures for emerging artists. (WSJ) The group has secured $25m in commitments from investors for its initial fund and is said to be considering acquiring music festivals such as those owned by SFX Entertainment.
ISSUE: 29 Jul 2016
  • Crowdmix, the failed social network app, has confirmed the appointment of administrators for its three companies. (TheGazette)
  • Event technology platform Eventbrite has announced three prominent hires from the dance and nightlife industry in the US: Senthil Chidambaram, Founder and CEO of Dancing Astronaut; Barak Schurr, Founder of Wantickets.com and Nightclub Hall of Fame inductee and Diego Carlin, CEO of Wantickets.com in the US. (RotD)
  • Reports suggest Randy Phillips, who was CEO of AEG Live for 13 years, will take over as Chief Executive of SFX Entertainment when it announces a new restructuring plan.(IQ)
  • SoundCloud is up for sale to prospective buyers with a billion dollar price tag (Bloomberg, Billboard) The service boasts 175m users, many of which come from the dance music and DJ communities.
ISSUE: 22 Jul 2016
  • SFX has announced that Beatport will no longer be sold and will continue to operate as a marketplace, revealing that changes made to the company have “dramatically improved its profitability”. (Mixmag)
ISSUE: 15 Jul 2016
  • Warner Music distribution and marketing arm WEA has shut down the accounts of a number of record stores doing less than $10,000 in business annually with them. (Pitchfork)
  • SFX would appear to be running out of options in its efforts to exit bankruptcy and has now withdrawn a proposed Beatport sale. (Hypebot)
  • Social music startup Crowdmix goes into administration. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 Jun 2016
  • SFX has announced that it has terminated its pre-Chapter 11 Restructuring Agreement and entered into direct talks with bondholders and creditors. (Hypebot)
ISSUE: 10 Jun 2016
  • SFX has received a $4m bid for ticketing wing Flavorus from Vivendi Ticketing after an auction. (Billboard) SFX acquired Flavorus in early 2014 for $17m. (Hypebot)
  • Former SFX CEO Robert Sillerman speaks out for the first time about his company's implosion: 'I don't begrudge them their anger'. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 03 Jun 2016
  • BE-AT.TV signs new distribution deal with Music Choice. (All Access)
  • Universal Music acquires music marketing company Fame House (with clients including Tiësto) from SFX for $1m. (Hypebot)
ISSUE: 27 May 2016
  • Live Nation has acquired YouTube rights-management company and multi-channel network (MCN) InDMusic as it continues to seek new opportunities in video. (IQ)
  • The US's largest secondary ticketing site StubHub, owned by eBay, has become the world's largest with the buy-out of its main Latin American rival Ticketbis. (IQ, VentureBeat)
  • Revenues at Spotify surged 80% last year to nearly €2bn (£1.5bn) but losses widened as it invested heavily amid tough competition. (Guardian)
ISSUE: 20 May 2016
  • UK club venue operator chain Deltic Group is preparing to appoint advisers to consider strategic options, including an initial public offering or private equity sale, over the next 12 to 18 months. (Times)
  • !K7 is expanding its management division [Brandt Brauer Frick, DJ Tennis, Tricky] with additional staff and new clients, and also rebranding from !K7 Records to !K7 Music. (RotD)
  • AEI Media has rebranded “to a name that’s more appropriate to their multi-platform operations across the music industry’s live, physical and online realms” - AEI Group. (RotD)
ISSUE: 13 May 2016
  • Warner Music Group has become the first major record company to report that streaming has become its largest source of revenue, surpassing sales of physical formats. (FT, Billboard) Total recorded music revenue grew 10% to $610m in the first three months of the year. Overall digital revenue increased 20% to $328m. Streaming revenues surged 59%.
  • Alda Events, SFX Entertainment’s single largest unsecured creditor, has filed a lawsuit in the Netherlands against its bankrupt parent company, citing non-payment of monies owed from its partial acquisition by SFX in 2014. (IQ)
ISSUE: 06 May 2016
  • Just Isn’t Music, Ninja Tune’s publishing company, is expanding into North America, with creative director David O’Bryan, moving to LA to head up the company’s sync business. (RotD) JIM has signed The Prodigy’s Maxim, for publishing, co-writing and synch representation.
  • The winning bidder for Beatport will have to wait until 26 May to find out if they have won the auction to acquire the store from SFX. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 29 Apr 2016
  • Universe, a Live Nation Entertainment company that specialises in self service ticketing software and social event management, is opening its first European office in London. (RotD)
ISSUE: 22 Apr 2016
  • Pandora has generated more than $2bn in all-time royalties for artists and songwriters, nine months after hitting its $1.5bn royalties milestone. (BusinessWire)
  • Crowdmix is said to have laid off around 12 of its 160 staff. The music social network is due to launch in May. (BusinessInsider)
  • Live Nation-Gaiety Holdings has acquired a majority share in The Warehouse Project and the Parklife Festival. (MusicWeek)
  • AEG Live is in final negotiations to acquire New York-based independent promoter Bowery Presents. (Billboard, Dancing Astronaut)
  • SFX is set to continue its fire sale of assets with ticketing service Flavorus put up for auction by the bankrupt events company. (Mixmag) Dutch promoters ID&T, QDance, and B2S will also be auctioned soon. (DeephouseAmsterdam)
ISSUE: 15 Apr 2016
  • New figures from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) show a 5% increase in the value of the recorded music industry in 2015, the first upwards trend the industry's had in its wholesale figures since 2012. (ABC) Streaming now accounts for 62% of the overall market. Digital downloads went down by almost 13%, while CD sales fell 4%.
  • The Eclectic Bar Group, owners of Lola Lo and Dirty Blonde nightclubs, has announced the acquisition of The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, which owns and operates the Grade II-listed, structure for £18m. (FT, BBC, Guardian)
  • Former Beatport CEO Matthew Adell has launched Metapop, a tool to help artists earn money from fan remixes. (Pulse, Mixmag)
  • SFX Entertainment’s remaining 36 employees in New York will made redundant in July but shows will go on as it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy. (NYPost)
ISSUE: 08 Apr 2016
  • Kobalt’s revenues increased by 26% in 2015 to $245.1m. The company also recorded an operating loss of $24.5m and a loss after tax of $27.3m, up from $18.5m the previous year. (MBW, MusicAlly) It finished the 2015 financial year with $90m turnover in the three months to end of June. Publishing revenues stood at $194.18m last year, up 16.5%, whilst its neighbouring rights division turned a profit for the first time, recording $935,000 on revenues of $20.86m (+27%).
  • SFX Entertainment will lay off about 50 employees in New York in July. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 01 Apr 2016
  • 7digital Group posted an operating loss of £3.1m for the year to the end of December - down from £4.5m the prior year. Net loss increased from £2.6m to £7.9m. Revenues of £10.4m were up from £10.2m in 2014 and gross profits increased to £7.1m from £6.0m. Content sales of digital downloads were down 44% to £2m in 2015. (II, 7Digital)
  • Spotify has raised $1bn in convertible debt from investors, a deal that extends its runway but comes with some strict guarantees, sources said. (WSJ, Billboard, TechCrunch) Spotify indicated to new investors it plans to go public in the next two years. WSJ claims Spotify has $600m in the bank.
  • SoundCloud, with 175m registered users, is launching its long-planned subscription service, but for now the $9.99-a-month service will only be available in the US. SoundCloud Go will have a catalogue of more than 125m tracks. (Guardian, Billboard, TechCrunch)
  • A row over the future of music streaming service Pandora has led to the departure of its CEO Brian McAndrews and the return of the company's founder Tim Westergren to the position. (Pandora, Register, Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 Mar 2016
  • SoundCloud has confirmed last week’s story that it has signed a licensing deal with Sony Music. (NYTimes)  Sony's affiliated labels, including independents distributed by The Orchard and RED Distribution, are included in the deal. SME labels and artists will gain access to SoundCloud's promotional tools, analysis and data. (RotD)
ISSUE: 18 Mar 2016
  • Spotify hires Microsoft general counsel Horacio Gutierrez as its top lawyer. (Geekwire)
  • Digital music distribution service Tunecore has revealed a 47% increase in publishing revenue last year, fuelled by a 57% jump in sync revenues. (DMN)
ISSUE: 11 Mar 2016
  • PledgeMusic is to acquire US–based NoiseTrade and Set.fm. (RotD) NoiseTrade connects artists and labels with fans through the exchange of free music for data and Set.fm allows musicians to capture and instantly sell live performance recordings.
ISSUE: 04 Mar 2016
  • Robert Sillerman has asked a judge in SFX’s bankruptcy proceedings to pause an ongoing lawsuit against him while SFX’s chapter 11 process concludes. (Billboard)
  • In addition to unloading Beatport, a beleaguered SFX Entertainment is hoping to sell other non-core assets, including respected digital music marketer Fame House. (Hypebot, Billboard)
  • A motion filed in a US Bankruptcy Court suggests SFX will sell Beatport. “While the Beatport Assets are valuable to the SFX enterprise, given SFX’s current financial condition, SFX cannot afford to make additional investments in Beatport as may be needed in the future, and therefore, has decided to sell the Beatport Asset”. (KCC)
ISSUE: 26 Feb 2016
  • Magna Entertainment, a division of the investment firm Magna, has taken a “major position” in PledgeMusic. (PRNewswire) The size of its investment remains undisclosed.
  • Universal Music Group’s revenues were €5.11bn in 2015, up 2.7% at constant currency. Revenue was up 12.1% as reported by Vivendi. Subscription and ad-supported streaming revenues grew 43% to €954m. Recorded music revenues were up 2.4% to €4.11bn. Music publishing revenues rose 3% to €756m. Streaming and subscription services accounted for 24% of UMG's total recorded music revenues in the second half of the year, double its share in the first half of 2015. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 19 Feb 2016
  • Imagem Production Music is rebranding to Cavendish Music following Cavendish Music’s acquisition by ole. (BusinessWire)
  • SFX’s bankruptcy filing provides detailed finance information, showing a company falling short. (Billboard) Predicted revenues of $500m in 2015 were actually $337m, which meant predicted profit of $60m-$70m became a loss of $18m. Beatport saw revenue fall from $46.5m in 2014 to $39.1m in 2015, turning a $7.1m profit to a $5.5m loss.
ISSUE: 12 Feb 2016
  • Warner Music Group reveals it will share with artists any proceeds from the sale of its equity stake in music streaming companies. (Billboard, Bloomberg, MBW) Sony Music has followed with a similar statement.
  • Nocturnal Tour Management and Rooted Touring have merged to produce Nocturnal Touring and Rooted Productions (NTRP). They are the biggest combined Electronic music touring and production company in the UK.
  • Many of SFX Entertainment’s largest creditors are SFX-owned promoters awaiting deferred purchase price payments, according to a 476-page creditor matrix seen by IQ.
  • SFX has been granted access to $80m of $115m debtor-in-possession financing, a form of financing during a bankruptcy that has seniority over other debt. (Billboard)
  • SoundCloud, which has 175m monthly listeners, has reported that in the year to the end of December 2014 it made a loss of €39.1m on revenues, which rose 54%, of €17.4m. (FT, Billboard, MusicAlly) The auditor said that the need for additional funding represented “a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
ISSUE: 05 Feb 2016
  • BMG has invested in Ram Records, with the aim to help the drum & bass label grow in the UK and internationally. (RotD)
  • Faction Entertainment, a new music management business founded by former INgrooves principle Robb McDaniels, has launched with six founding manager clients. (Billboard)
  • Streaming company Guvera lost AU$81m (£39.4m) last year on revenue of AU$1m, but claims a AU$1bn (£487m) valuation. (AFR)
  • SFX has filed for Chapter 11 reorganisation in order to restructure its debt. Robert Sillerman will be replaced as CEO but will remain chairman of the bankrupt company. (Billboard, iQ, NYTimes) Subsidiary Beatport is assuring partners and consumers of a ‘business as usual’ approach.
ISSUE: 29 Jan 2016
  • Ninja Tune has announced expansion of its international department with new staff in Germany and France. (RotD)
  • SFX Entertainment has settled a lawsuit which alleged that chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman stole three early partners' ideas for the consolidated EDM promoter that became SFX. (Billboard)
  • SFX Entertainment’s share price fell by 13.71% on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday (Jan 27). (MBW)
ISSUE: 22 Jan 2016
  • Raoul Chatterjee has joined SoundCloud as Director of Content Partnerships. (RotD) He was previously SVP of Music at 7digital Group.
  • Spotify has acquired two companies. (RotD) Firstly, Cord Project, which designs and build products exploring audio on connected devices. Secondly, Soundwave, which focuses on developing innovative technology and products to aid music discovery.
  • Prolifica Management has added a writer/DJ/producer division and new staff members. (RotD)
  • SFX Entertainment has raised $20m "for itself and certain of its operating subsidiaries, obtaining capital for its working and general corporate purposes". (Billboard)
ISSUE: 15 Jan 2016
  • Sydney-based dance label Hussle Recordings has announced a new ‘strategic partnership’ with Universal Music Sweden. (MBW)
  • SFX Entertainment -20.7%, receives default notice. (Seeking Alpha)
  • SoundCloud has confirmed that the company secured a line of credit, which a Swedish news outlet reports at $32m, with an option for another payment double that of the original. (Billboard, TechCrunch) SoundCloud CEO Alexander Ljung said the agreement will "expand revenue opportunities, improve the accuracy of royalty distributions, and launch new services for our 175m monthly active listeners."
  • SoundCloud has signed a multi-territory licensing agreement with Universal, covering the company's recorded-music division and its publishing group, in preparation for the platform's subscription model roll-out later this year. (RotD) Sony is the only major label not to have signed a licensing agreement with the platform.
ISSUE: 08 Jan 2016
  • SFX Entertainment has announced a settlement with Spotify, the result of a breach of a $10m recoupable advance and licensing agreement caused at least in part by CEO Robert Sillerman’s own failure to fund a $15m investment in SFX. (Pollstar)
ISSUE: 18 Dec 2015
  • AudioBoom, which allows users to share online sound clips from music and audiobooks by embedding them into their own websites, had just £50,000 in sales in the first half of the year, sending the AIM share price down 24%. (FT) The company expects to become profitable in 2017 based on current user growth.
  • Songkick has raised a further $10m in funding from previous backer Access Industries. (TechCrunch, Billboard, Songkick)
ISSUE: 11 Dec 2015
  • It has been reported that James Barton of Live Nation will be moving to American events company SFX Entertainment in a “senior role”. (Mixmag)
  • Jukedeck, a music composition system, has raised £2m in venture capital funding to accelerate its growth. The company aims to cater for online video makers by providing an original, royalty-free soundtrack, which is sold at £5 per track. (FT, TechCrunch)
  • Booking agency Elastic Artists remains on the verge of administration, with some artists unpaid for four weeks and many agents leaving the company. (ResidentAdvisor)
ISSUE: 04 Dec 2015
  • !K7 has announced a new global services and neighbouring rights management partnership with Anja Schneider and Berlin-based electronic music imprint Mobilee Records. (RotD)
  • EDM promoter SFX has hired an investment bank to explore options for selling non-core assets and reducing debt load. (Billboard)
  • Dance music booking agency Elastic Artists has held back payments from its artists after hitting what it describes as "financial difficulties." (HBF) Manchester collective Levelz have hijacked the Facebook and Instagram pages of the company in apparent retaliation. (Fact)
  • Dutch mogul John de Mol, revered in the Netherlands for producing reality television shows such as Big Brother, Fear Factor, and The Voice of Holland, is currently in talks to purchase ID&T from its parent company, SFX. (Dancing Astronaut)
ISSUE: 27 Nov 2015
  • Australia's record industry is on track to return to growth for the first time since 2012 with digital revenues accounting for more than two-thirds of sales and the contribution from streaming services doubling for the second year running. (SMH)
  • Raoul Chatterjee, 7digital’s SVP Music, is said to have been appointed to cover European industry relations at SoundCloud, based in London. (MBW)
  • UK booking agency Elastic Artists, home to Danny L Harle, Dixon and Leon Vynehall, is reportedly set for administration. (Fact)
ISSUE: 20 Nov 2015
  • TuneCore's Q3 results show sales and streams rose by 90% year-on-year, though payouts to artists only rose by 6.1% to $34.7m. (IBT)
  • Crowdmix, the soon-to-be-launched music-focused social networking app, has appointed Dick Wingate as President, Artist & Entertainment Services for North America. (RotD)
  • Discogs has hit $43m worth of sales this year, with vinyl accounting for 79% of sales on the online retailer. (Mixmag)
  • SFX Entertainment is apparently nearing bankruptcy after a poor third quarter. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • Robert FX Sillerman has withdrawn his latest offer to buy back the remaining pieces of his concert promotion company SFX Entertainment, according to a filing with the SEC. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 13 Nov 2015
  • Pandora and Sony/ATV Music Publishing have announced a multi-year licensing agreement for Sony/ATV’s catalogue of musical works. (BusinessWire, Billboard)
  • For the first nine months of the year, SFX's revenue grew 18.6% to $306.5m, or 34% at constant currency. Net loss increased to $144m from $86.4m. Event attendance during the nine-month period increased 34.8% to 4.08m. (Billboard) Third quarter revenues declined $111.2m, down from $114.7m in 2014.
ISSUE: 06 Nov 2015
  • The Music Business Association has partnered with the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM) to launch the Electronic Music Workgroup. (MBA) It plans to give representatives from throughout the electronic music sphere a place to "gather and discuss ways to streamline commerce for DJs, producers, and rights-holders for DJ mixes, remixes, mashups, and original tracks for both live and online content."
ISSUE: 30 Oct 2015
  • James Sealy, the former Chief Operating Officer of Three Six Zero Group, has joined Bkstg to launch an artist-to-fan mobile app in late fourth quarter. (Billboard)
  • Deadmau5 has filed a lawsuit claiming tens of millions of dollars in damages over unauthorized remixes and mashups that he asserts have violated among other things, his moral rights. (Billboard)
  • Barclays Center in Brooklyn has inked a name-in-title sponsorship deal with subscription streaming service Tidal that will see the arena’s theater configuration operate as the Tidal Theatre. (Billboard)
  • SFX has received indications of interest from multiple parties that are exploring a potential buyout of the company. (Hypebot)
ISSUE: 23 Oct 2015
  • eMusic, one of the Internet's first digital music stores, has been sold to cloud media startup TriPlay. (Billboard)
  • Australia’s copyright collecting society, APRA AMCOS, has reported a record figure for music royalty collections – A$300m – and noted a 26% increase in royalties received from foreign sources for Australasian music. (RotD)
ISSUE: 16 Oct 2015
  • Pitchfork Media has been acquired by publisher Condé Nast for an undisclosed amount. (Fact)
  • Sony Corporation is taking steps to sell off its half of music publishing unit Sony/ATV Publishing. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • SFX Entertainment saw its stock soar almost 11% after an analyst said shares of the electronic dance music promoter are way undervalued relative to peers. (NYPost)
  • Robert F. X. Sillerman has submitted a new proposal to take SFX Entertainment private again. (Billboard) Sillerman, who is chairman and CEO of the company, would buy out remaining stockholders for up to $3.25 per share in cash.
ISSUE: 09 Oct 2015
  • SFX Entertainment has extended a deadline for offers to buy all or parts of the company to 14 October. (NYTimes, Mixmag)
ISSUE: 02 Oct 2015

  • SFX Entertainment is considering selling off some assets at fire sale prices. Assets being considered for include online music store Beatport, ticketing company Flavorus and a number of international festival producers. (Billboard, Fact)

ISSUE: 25 Sep 2015
  • Australian independent label Future Classic (home to Flume and Chet Faker amongst others) has partnered with Caroline International for the distribution of its catalogue. (RotD)
  • SoundCloud’s rumoured imminent deal with Universal Music Group is now on ice, according to sources. (DMN)
  • SFX Entertainment has received $90m in financing this week. (Mixmag)
ISSUE: 18 Sep 2015
  • Universal Music has taken a 50% stake in the Enchanted Valley Carnival in India. (BusinessStandard)
  • Ministry of Sound CEO Lohan Presencer has called for Apple Music to create a business model for third-party playlist creators, while warning fellow independent labels to beware of majors’ attempts to “manipulate” the system. (MusicAlly)
  • SFX Entertainment has raised $90m in new financing from new and existing investors. (Billboard) An unnamed institution investor purchased $30m of senior preferred stock. Sillerman Investment Partners III LLC purchased $15m and has an obligation to purchase an addition $15m over the next 30 days. $30m comes from the company's revolving credit facility from GoldenTree Asset Management.
ISSUE: 11 Sep 2015
  • SFX’s share price dropped by another 7.96% to $0.46 per share at the end of trading on Friday (September 4). (MBW) That equated to an SFX market cap of $44.94m – less than half the valuation it attracted a month prior.
ISSUE: 04 Sep 2015
  • In its latest filing for 2014, Shazam had revenue of £36m with an operating loss of £13.8m and a net loss of £14.8m. Revenue increased 113%, but total expenses grew 126% and net loss increased 158%. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 28 Aug 2015
  • Sillerman’s failed bid, debts and growing losses test SFX investors’ patience. (NYTimes)
ISSUE: 21 Aug 2015
  • SoundCloud is apparently on the verge of agreeing a licensing deal with Universal Music Group, according to reports. (Fact)
  • The stock price of SFX Entertainment continues to fall, on August 20 it was down 24% to $0.79. Wall Street's Seeking Alpha suggested that SFX was running out of cash and likely headed to bankruptcy.
ISSUE: 14 Aug 2015
  • Digital distributor EPM will cover payments in the interim until Beatport releases the royalties in a few weeks’ time. (Mixmag)
  • Revenue generated through ad-based music streaming is set to exceed US$1bn by 2017, up from US$782m in 2015. (Reseller, CNet)
  • SFX's Q2 revenue grew 48% to $121m from 29 festivals and 238 other events. Net loss in the quarter grew 36% to $48m. Net loss in the six-month period ending June 30 improved 2% to $89.6m. Festival attendance grew 38% to 1.1m. The 13 festivals also owned by SFX in the previous second quarter experienced attendance growth of only 3%. . (Billboard, Business Wire, Forbes)
  • SFX shares drop to an all time low of $2.03 as CEO Robert F.X Sillerman misses deadline to prove that he could finance his promise to take the company private again. (Hypebot)
ISSUE: 07 Aug 2015
  • SoundCloud has hired DeJuan Wilson as Vice President Of Global Marketing And Brand. (MusicWeek)
  • Rumours suggest that more senior staff at Tidal, including SVP Label and Artist Relations Zena Burns, have quit. (Hits)
  • Robert Sillerman’s SFX is facing a potential $100 million lawsuit from former business partner Paolo Moreno. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • A judge denied Robert Sillerman's request for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed last year by three men claiming Sillerman took their idea and work toward building SFX Entertainment before cutting them out. (Billboard)
  • Labels and artists who sell their work through Beatport received a letter telling them their money is "trapped" within the corporate structure of SFX, the parent company. Creators were told they would be paid "in the next few weeks" by the service. (Billboard, MBW) Reports suggest it has paid 'trapped' royalties to majors, but indies left high and dry. (Music Week) Small labels have raised cash flow concerns, as the payment covers April-June payment. Anyone who uploads to Beatport's UGC streaming platform only receives 5% of income, or 10% on the Beatport Mixes platform.
ISSUE: 31 Jul 2015
  • Alibaba, the Chinese web commerce giant, has announced the formation of a division to focus on the music industry. (Billboard)
  • Recent reports are suggesting that SoundCloud could completely run out of money by the end of the year. (Fact)
  • The proposed sale of EDM promoter SFX has failed to attract any competing offers, putting the $490 million sale to its CEO one step closer to closing. (Billboard)
ISSUE: 24 Jul 2015
  • Azealia Banks has announced that she has split with her management company Prospect Park Management after less than a year together. (Billboard)
  • Flipagram, the photo, video and music sharing app, has closed a $70m funding round and announced global licensing deals with top record companies, distributors and music publishers, giving users access to millions of short music clips to use. (Hypebot)
  • SFX Entertainment has promoted Greg Consiglio to president and CEO of Beatport. (SeekingAlpha) SFX is also "pushing more of our operations to the local and regional levels around the world."
ISSUE: 16 Jul 2015
  • Facebook claims it has "no plans to go into music streaming", despite previous reports stating otherwise. (Billboard)
  • HMV has agreed a deal to open 15 shops across the Middle East and is also in talks about separate deals to expand into Australia, China, and India. (Sunday Telegraph)
ISSUE: 10 Jul 2015
  • LANDR has secured $6.2 million in a new round of funding, with investors including Warner Music Group, Pete Tong and Tiga. (Billboard)
  • Doppler Labs, who launched the Dubs mechanical ear plug and the Here Active Listening system, has announced a $17m round of funding, with investors including Live Nation, Universal and Warner. (TechCrunch)
  • David Guetta is facing a $6 million lawsuit for alleged copyright infringement. (Dancing Astronaut)
ISSUE: 03 Jul 2015
  • Apple Music has now signed publishing deals with both Merlin and Beggars Group. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • Kilimanjaro Live and Deutsche Entertainment are to launch MyTicket.co.uk which will be a purchase hub for all of their events in the UK with ties to the German arm of the DEAG group. (RotD)
  • Ministry of Sound and global entertainment and media service provider arvato Replication have signed an exclusive and longterm contract to produce discs for the global market. (RotD)
  • GiggedIn, Australia’s only crowdfunding platform devoted to live music, has secured $500k in a seed-funding round ahead of its global expansion. (TMN) It will be launching GiggedIn Infinite, which will allow subscribers to gain unlimited access to participating shows if they take out a $25 monthly subscription.
ISSUE: 26 Jun 2015
  • Apple Music have reversed their royalty policy, now agreeing to pay royalties to artists during the free trial period following heavy criticism from the industry. (XLR8R)
  • Following a successful 12-month trial in Ireland, HMV will once again be selling vinyl and CDs online. (FACT)
  • Nielsen unveiled heaps of data on the dance music industry at EDMBiz. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • Events guide and ticket agent Skiddle aims to improve the cash flow of up to 50,000 event promoters and organisers with a new direct payment service. (IndustryInsider)
  • It was rumoured that EDMbiz Startup Contest winner Clone Technologies, who have created software that automates live event streaming, had raised $1 million in funding, but this has since been proven to be untrue. (Digital Music News)
  • Live video streaming platform BE-AT.TV has announced the acquisition of non-commercial Ibiza radio station Ibiza Sonica, a leading online and FM radio station based upon the White Isle. (DataTransmission)
  • Tidal lost yet another CEO this week and continued to lose ground on its streaming rivals. (Dancing Astronaut)
ISSUE: 19 Jun 2015
  • EDM promoter SFX Entertainment (which also owns Beatport), is selling $15 million worth of stock to a separate company and another entity related to its founder, Robert Sillerman. (Billboard)
  • Annheuser-Busch, 7UP and T-Mobile are EDM’s biggest-backers, spending millions investing in DJs, festivals and more. (Dancing Astronaut)
  • The US music publishing industry experienced a drop in revenue to $2.14bn in 2014, a loss of 2.5%. (Billboard)
  • Independent label groups have slammed the Apple Music contract. (FACT)
  • PRS for Music, STIM and GEMA, have been granted clearance from the European Commission to establish a pan-European online music rights licensing and processing hub. (Billboard) The one-stop service will enable faster and simplified rights negotiations for digital music services operating in Europe and will result in faster and more precise payments of royalties to rights holders, say the societies.
  • UK Music's economic study Wish You Were Here 2015 shows music tourism numbers in the UK increased by 34% between 2011 and 2014, with 9.5m people travelling to music events in 2014. These music tourists, attending live concerts and festivals in the UK, helped generate £3.1bn in direct and indirect spend. (RotD, BBC)
  • Apple is now facing the prospect of a ‘massive withdrawal’ from a ‘very large group of indie’ artists and labels from Apple Music. (DMN)
ISSUE: 12 Jun 2015
  • Global Release Date will be begin on July 10 backed by a newly-created New Music Fridays brand. (RotD, RotD)
  • Music-minded entrepreneurs have launched two new pressing plants in the US – Cascade Record Pressing in Oregon and Burlington Record Plant in Vermont. (Resident Advisor)
  • Moog Music owner and CEO Mike Adams has unveiled an employee ownership plan to gradually transfer the ownership of the company to staff. (Fact, NY Times)
  • A new report by the IFPI and Music Canada has named London, Montreal, New York, Berlin, Austin, and Melboure as the best cities to adopt a vibrant music economy. (The Music)
  • Two of the technology startups trying to shake up the live music and ticketing market – Songkick and CrowdSurge – are merging. The new company will keep the Songkick brand, with the merger accompanied by a $16m funding round from three venture capital firms. (FT, Billboard, Guardian, TechCrunch)
  • Nettwerk Music Group has acquired New York independent house label Maxi Records [artists on the roster include Sagat, Danny Tenaglia, Armand Van Helden, Roger Sanchez]. (MBW)
  • Smart Bar starts record label, Northside '82. (Resident Advisor)
ISSUE: 05 Jun 2015
  • Big Group has announced a partnership with Dancestar Ventures to develop the Dancestar Electronic Music Awards identity in global markets. (RotD)
  • A recent Forbes report has estimated that the top 100 clubs in America raked in $1.36bn in 2014. (Mixmag)
  • According ING Economists, the Dutch dance music industry is expected to hit a value upwards of €200m in 2015. (Deep House Amsterdam)
  • The contract SoundCloud is about to sign with US music publishers has been leaked. (DMN) Publishers are awarded a share of the greater of 10.5% of revenues from its free service or 22% of the cost of payments made for sound recording payments. DMN comments that advances in the contract "create some sticky potential issues with songwriters, including the possibility of not getting paid".
  • PRS for Music has extended the consultation period for Tariff LP which is applied to ticketed live popular music events. (RotD)
  • Duke Dumont has signed a management deal with Three Six Zero. (Music Business Worldwide)
ISSUE: 28 May 2015
  • SFX Entertainment is one step closer to going private, as chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman agrees to offer for the outstanding stock he does not already own. (Billboard, LATimes)
  • Universal Music Publishing Scandinavia has extended its exclusive global publishing agreements with Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso. (RotD)
ISSUE: 22 May 2015
  • Amsterdam club night Les Enfantes Terrible have launched their own label. (Fact)
  • The International Music Summit, currently being held in Ibiza, has published its annual report on the Electronic Music Industry.  (IMS - pdf) The worldwide industry is estimated to have grown 12% year-on-year to $6.9bn.
  • Kaskade and Los Angeles management company Little Empire Music announced they had obtained a minority ownership stake in Miami management firm Super Music Group. (Billboard)
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About IMS

IMS: International Music Summit is a global educational and motivational thought-leadership platform dedicated to the continued development of electronic music primarily through the presentation of global summits for the industry. 

About Beatport

Beatport is the worldwide home of music for DJs, producers, and their fans. Founded in 2004, the Beatport family of companies includes Beatport, the preeminent store for electronic music DJs, Beatsource for the open-format DJ community, and Loopmasters, Loopcloud and Plugin Boutique for music producers. Follow us on Twitch, Facebook and Twitter, and Instagram.

About AFEM

AFEM: A global voice for electronic music; representing our culture and commerce. AFEM's membership spans all industry sectors, with over 250 company members across 25 countries, the organisation connects its worldwide membership to develop opportunities and enable change.

About ROTD

Record of the Day has produced a subscription-based daily publication for the music industry for over 21 years, featuring all the best news and comment, along with an editorially-chosen future hit. Sign up for a free trial here.
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