From Universal’s billions to Deezer’s new board director…this is MBW’s weekly recap

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly roundup – in which we’re making sure you catch the five biggest stories to make our headlines over the past seven days. The summary of MBW is supported by centtriphelping over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce touring costs.

It’s fair to say that Universal Music Group’s latest financial results this week brought good news for the company’s investors — and music investors in general.

That’s because of the crucial statistic MBW mulled over yesterday (March 2) that showed UMG’s annual revenue from subscription streaming of pre-recorded music has grown 10.0% year-on-year (in constant currency) in 2022 – while maintaining the double-digit annual growth that the music industry has become accustomed to of late.

The company generated EUR from the entire business of UMG (records, publishing and other activities). €10.34 billion (US$10.87 billion) an impressive plus in 2022 13.6% YoY with constant currency

Elsewhere this week, MBW published an in-depth report on HYBE, its relationship with Scooter Braun, and the motivations behind HYBE America 300 million dollars Acquisition of US hip-hop specialists Quality Control last month.

Tl; DR? HYBE is desperate to dilute its ongoing commercial reliance on btsespecially considering the K-pop superstars are on hiatus (due to military commitments) until 2025. Could quality control be the company’s golden ticket to gaining significant market share in another world of music?

Also reported this week: deezer, the streaming platform headquartered in Paris, announced its full-year 2022 results. Annual sales increased 10.6% YoY To 451 million euroswhile operating losses stood at 167 million euros.

Deezer also had other big news: Former Warner exec, Stu Bergenhas joined the company’s Management Board as his successor AmandaCameron (aka: Amanda Ghost), who has stepped down from her responsibilities at the company.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives voted on a corresponding bill in the past few days tick tock Really didn’t like how Lyrical CapitalParent company of Spirit Music Group, grew up 800 million dollars in a mix of financing and senior debt. The money buys copyrights.

Here’s a taste of what happened at MBW this week…

1) UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP GENERATED ON AVERAGE MORE THAN $1 billion each quarter from music subscriptions in 2022

Zooming out and looking at UMG’s holistic business – across recorded music, music publishing, merchandise and related activities – Universal reported full year sales of 10.34 billion euros ($10.87 billion) an impressive plus for 2022 13.6% YoY with constant currency.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, this total revenue grew by 8.8% YoYTo 2.942 billion euros.

2) SCOOTER BRAUN AND HYBE WANT TO BUILD A “MAJOR”. HOW DOES THE $300M BET ON QUALITY CONTROL FIT INTO THIS GOAL?

The most important Post BTS Strategy for HYBE?

A “Multi-Label Structure” who, it is said, “continue to make music and establish artists that resonate with our fans”.

Last year, the company announced that it was “looking out for mergers and acquisitions and the formation of joint ventures so that we can expand our multi-label structure both inside and outside of Korea.”

HYBE added: “We look forward to [merge with/acquire] various labels, administration [firms] and any other company conducting business related to musical intellectual property.”

Input quality control.

3) LYRIC CAPITAL RAISES $800M TO BUY MUSIC RIGHTS

New York-based private equity firm Lyric Capital Group, parent company of Spirit Music Group, has successfully closed its second fund with total commitments of approximately $410 million.

In addition, the Company raised senior debt financing to raise Lyric’s new available capital 800 million dollars.

Lyric says it exceeded its funding target, with “support from a diverse group of new and existing institutional investors.”

4) DEEZER generated over US$470 million in 2022 with an operating loss of US$175 million. IT HAS ONLY APPOINTED STU BERGEN AS DIRECTOR TO ITS BOARD.

Paris-listed streaming company Deezer has a new director on its board: Stu Bergen, a former executive at Warner Music Group. The appointment is effective immediately.

Bergen was previously the longtime CEO of Warner’s International Recorded Music Operations outside the US and UK. After 14 years at Warner, he left the big music company in January 2021.

Of course, there’s a long-standing connection between Deezer and WMG: Warner Music Group’s majority shareholder, Access Industries, is also a shareholder in the music-streaming company.

5) The House of Representatives panel approves a bill that could lead to a total ban on TikTok in the US

Another day, another political hurdle for ByteDance-owned app TikTok.

On Wednesday (March 1), the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to introduce a bill that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok in the US.

“A US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values ​​to the more than 1 billion people who use our service worldwide,” said a TikTok spokesman.

“We are disappointed that this hasty legislation is moving forward, despite its significant negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans who use and love TikTok.”

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is powered by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce touring costs.music business worldwide