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...BMG is the world’s fourth-largest music label — but lags far behind the top three “majors”, Universal, Sony and Warner. The company earned revenues of €905mn in 2023, up 4.5 per cent year on year....
...Beyoncé, who is signed with Universal’s rival Sony, seems to have benefited from the stand-off....
...Apple has also bought about two dozen AI start-ups in the past 10 years, focused on the application of AI reasoning to image and video recognition, data processing, search capabilities and music content...
...Warner in 2021 agreed to buy hip-hop label 300 Entertainment for more than $400mn, as well as Russian indie label Zhara Music. Sony Music in 2021 paid $430mn to buy independent music company AWAL....
...Music publishing valuations have declined 14 per cent from their peak in 2019, according to Shot Tower Capital, an investment bank that advises on music transactions....
...“Universal Music, Sony and Warner need to maintain revenue growth in order to keep investors happy. So you start looking for non-organic growth,” said Midia analyst Mark Mulligan....
...Stringer was also by then hustling his way through the ranks at Sony, becoming chair of Sony Music UK in 2001 before moving to Columbia in the US in 2006....
...US private equity group Apollo Global is in discussions with Sony Pictures Entertainment about making a joint takeover bid for Paramount Global that would rival ongoing talks between controlling shareholder...
...Cutting Edge Group (CEG), a music financier, publisher and record label based in London, has secured $500mn from a syndicate of four banks, led by US lender Fifth Third Bank and Northleaf Capital....
...And a little off-centre — just behind those at labels or in publishing, or at Spotify or Apple Music — are the bankers and the finance people lending and securitising these portfolios....
...Warner, the third-largest music group after Universal and Sony, said the approach was preliminary and non-binding, and that it had asked for a limited amount of information to conduct due diligence with...
...The volumes of music they stream are limited more by the hours in the day than the depth of their rosters. The combined market share of UMG, Sony and Warner is more than 70 per cent....
...But Triller was accused of inflating its users numbers and has been sued by the largest music groups in the world — Universal and Sony — for failing to pay them royalties owed....
...In that time, shares in music promoter Live Nation have jumped almost 30 per cent....
...The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com...
...In the top 20 this week there were a few well-known US stalwarts such as Ariana Grande and Beyoncé....
...by Metaphor Music....
...“We are trying to expand our portfolio and create a system based on strong IPs like Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony to compete better on the global stage,” said Park....
...For Apple, giving users a choice of app stores and payment providers on iOS means unpicking a wide array of technical linkages between services, as well as publishing 600 new application programming interfaces...
...And just streaming as a format which is now have people, at least in the US, listen to music mostly. It changes the relationship to artists because you have every song you could ever want....
...Lilah is joined by pop music critic Ludo Hunter-Tilney, and Taylor Nicole Rogers, the FT’s Labour and Equality correspondent. We love hearing from you! Write us....
...On behalf of 17 music publishers including Sony Music Group and Universal Music Publishing Group, the National Music Publishers’ Association filed a suit in the federal district court of Nashville alleging...
...The US Department of Justice last week announced it was suing Apple for allegedly using its power in the smartphone sector to squash competition....
...Today’s moves come a few weeks after the EU fined Apple more than €1.8bn for stifling competition from rival music streaming services in a long-running case dating from 2021....
...Clip courtesy of Pepsi, Sony Music, Weathered and Jojo Lorenzo. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com...
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