The era of Google’s dominance in search and advertising hasn’t been one in which the news sector has thrived. In fact, it has coincided with a calamitous collapse in revenues and a dramatic contraction of the industry overall. What they’re worth to us has been, overall, less than zero. The news industry has gone backwards. Yet news businesses still can’t conceive of managing without them.
Source: Perhaps Google is really worth nothing to the news industry
Runway, a startup best known for its suite of generative AI media tools, has raised $308 million in a new funding round. “Today marks an important milestone as Runway announces a significant next step towards our goal of creating a new media ecosystem with world simulators,” the company wrote in the press release. “[Our recent] advancements aren’t merely incremental improvements; they form the foundation for an entirely new approach to media.
Source: Runway, best known for its video-generating AI models, raises $308M | TechCrunch
Berlin-based BMG reported $497 million/€459 million (up 11.1% YoY) in revenue for 2024’s opening half. Like with the majors’ financials, acquisitions are factoring into the numbers. Among different things, BMG dropped approximately $540 million/€500 million on some 24 catalogs as well as signings during 2024, with 10 of the catalog deals having wrapped in H1, higher-ups disclosed.
Source: BMG Reports Over $1B in 2024 Revenue Amid Distribution Pivot
Pophouse Entertainment, the Sweden-based music investment firm co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, has raised over EUR €1.2 billion (USD $1.3 billion) for its debut fund. The Stockholm-based company announced Monday (March 31) that Pophouse Fund I raised over €1 billion ($1.1 billion), reaching its hard cap and making it, “one of the largest first-time private equity funds to be raised in Europe in the last decade”.
Source: Pophouse Entertainment, the firm behind ABBA Voyage, closes $1.3bn music rights buying fund
A cybersecurity company that combats AI deepfakes called GetReal Security has closed a $17.5 million Series A funding round. GetReal says it “specializes in the detection and mitigation of malicious generative AI threats” including deepfakes and impersonation attacks. Its technology is used by “multinational corporations, financial institutions, media organizations, government agencies, and social media companies”.
Source: GetReal Security raises $17.5m to combat AI deepfakes
PPL, the UK’s collective management organization (CMO) for performers and recording rightsholders, recorded the highest revenue in its 90-year history in 2024. Revenue for the year rose 6% year-on-year to GBP £301 million (USD $384.4 million at the average exchange rate for 2024) from the previous record of £283.5 million ($352.6 million) set in 2023.
Source: UK collection org PPL’s 2024 revenue jumps 6% to record $384M
As we move closer to an April 5 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company, AI startup Perplexity has once again thrown its hat into the ring as a potential buyer. “All of society benefits when content feeds are liberated from the manipulations of foreign governments and globalist monopolists,” it says. Perplexity didn’t announce where the funding would come from for the acquisition.
Source: AI Startup Perplexity Wants to Buy TikTok, Open Source the ‘For You’ Feed
In a significant executive shuffle announced Monday, OpenAI is expanding COO Brad Lightcap’s responsibilities while CEO Sam Altman shifts his attention more toward the company’s technical direction. Lightcap will now “oversee day-to-day operations,” international expansion, and manage key partnerships with tech giants like Microsoft and Apple, according to Bloomberg.
National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) head David Israelite just recently emphasized the stat, “one of the craziest” he’s seen, in a LinkedIn post. By now, many are aware of Spotify’s audiobook-bundling embrace, which is fueling significant royalty effects in the music world. And to put it mildly, the situation isn’t sitting right with songwriters and publishers.
Source: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Made More From Stock Sales Last Year Than All US-Based Songwriters Combined
Spotify updated its annual Loud and Clear report on Wednesday, confirming that for a second consecutive year, the streaming giant paid out half of its royalties to independent artists. Of the $10 billion Spotify doled out to music rights holders last year, it gave about $5 billion to indie labels and artists, the company said, a $500 million increase from 2023. The report comes weeks after Spotify announced its first-ever full year of profit, 18 years after the company was founded in 2006.
Source: Half of Spotify’s Royalties Are Going to Indie Artists