According to the Financial Times, the estate of David Bowie is negotiating the sale of the legendary artist’s songwriting catalog. Citing ‘people familiar with the matter’, the FT reports further that negotiations ‘are at an advanced stage’ and that the catalog has ‘attracted bids of around $200 million’.
Source: David Bowie estate in talks to sell catalog for $200m (report)
Utopia, with offices in Zug, London, Helsinki and Stockholm, says it’s on a mission to revolutionize the monitoring of music consumption – and consequent royalty payments to rights-holders – worldwide. The company claims to be building a technology platform that “brings a completely new approach to serving all music industry needs and to enable accounting, transparency and efficiency, repairing the fragmented industry along the way”.
Source: Utopia Music acquires Lyric Financial, expands into the US
Endeavor, run by super-agent Ari Emanuel, is selling 80% of its studio division as part of an agreement with the Writers Guild of America that forced agencies to sell majority stakes in their content divisions. Earlier this year, CAA sold a majority stake in Wiip, the producer of HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” to Korean company JTBC Studios.
In the US and UK media sectors, news publishers including News Corp, the New York Times, Reach and Gannett were among the worst hit by the pandemic. Just over 18 months on, and Press Gazette analysis today shows how Britain and America’s largest listed consumer publishers have staged a full comeback on the stock market – and are now worth more than they were at the end of 2019.
Source: Media company share prices: News giants recover from Covid-19 slumps
Universal Music Group reported double-digit revenue growth in Q3 2021, enjoying major boosts in publishing, streaming, and physical sales. Predictably, and in keeping with UMG’s Q1 and Q2 2021 income breakdowns – as well as those of Warner Music, Sony Music, and the broader music industry – “subscription and streaming” accounted for the lion’s share of revenue, at €1.13 billion ($1.32 billion at the present exchange rate).
Source: Universal Music Group Reports Double-Digit Revenue Growth In Q3 2021
The valuation explosion we’ve seen in music rights is happening in another segment too, it seems: DIY distribution. In August, US-based DIY distribution platform DistroKid accepted an investment from Insight Partners, valuing it at $1.3 billion. Now, a rival to DistroKid, Steve Stoute’s UnitedMasters – has locked in its own princely valuation.
Source: UnitedMasters valued at $550m, after raising $50m in new funding round
Revenues for Sony’s music and games division saw growth in the second quarter of 2021, but the company is still struggling with pandemic-related troubles for its pictures division, company executives said in an earnings call Thursday morning.
Source: Sony Music and Games Q2 Growth Helped Offset Declines in Movies and TV
For the first time since the launch of Peacock last year, management didn’t provide an update on the number of sign-ups in either the earnings release or call. NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said only that the company has “added a few million more subs” and more monthly active accounts.
Source: Comcast Takes $520M Loss on Peacock, Doesn’t Disclose New Sign-Ups
In its Q3 earnings report, Alphabet shared that YouTube clocked $7.2 billion in ad revenues, up more than $2 billion over the same quarter last year. (Last year, it made $5 billion in Q3, meaning revenues have grown by 44% year-over-year). This doesn’t include revenues for YouTube’s subscription products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music Premium, or YouTube Premium.
Source: YouTube Made $7.2 Billion In Ad Revs Last Quarter, Up 44% Year-Over-Year – Tubefilter
Spotify grew its customer base to 172 million paid subscribers and 381 million total monthly active users (MAUs) in the three months ending Sept. 30, the company reported Tuesday (Oct. 27). Total revenue in the third quarter was 2.5 billion euros ($2.90 billion in current dollars), up 27% on the same period the previous year and a 7% rise on Q2’s 2.33 billion euros ($2.75 billion) tally.
Source: Spotify Hits 172 Million Paid Users as Quarterly Revenue Climbs 27%