The audio giant reported 675 million monthly active users, the largest fourth-quarter increase in Spotify’s history, as the company reported momentum from “strong holiday and Wrapped campaigns.” Paid subscribers grew 11 percent year over year to 63 million, up from 252 million last quarter and 3 million above guidance. Both came in above Spotify’s guidance.
Finance
Fox Corp. Expects to Launch New Stand-Alone Streamer by End of 2025
Fox Corporation expects to launch a new stand-alone subscription-based streaming service by the end of 2025, as the company, which has resisted the call to plunge millions into developing premium content for broadband audiences, sees new allure in the business. The plan, said Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, would be to launch a new broadband outlet that helps “put our content in front of everybody who wants it on any platform.”
Source: Fox Corp. Expects to Launch New Stand-Alone Streamer by End of 2025
Warner Bros. Discovery strikes JV with Cutting Edge to co-own vast catalog of film & TV music
Entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery has struck a deal with UK-based Cutting Edge Group to create a JV through which they will co-own and co-manage WBD’s vast catalog of film and TV music. The creation of the JV is claimed to be, “by value, one of the largest music rights deals ever transacted.” The Financial Times reports that the deal is worth more than USD $1 billion.
In the wake of new Spotify deal, Universal Music adds $3.4 billion to its market cap
Off the back of yesterday’s Spotify/UMG pact announcement, today (January 27), Universal Music Group’s share price on the Amsterdam Euronext has risen by a whopping 7.35% vs. the stock’s closing price on Friday. This jump has had a significant impact on UMG’s public valuation. According to MBW’s calculations, at the close of Friday, UMG had a public market cap of approximately EUR €44.30 billion, or around USD $46.47 billion at current exchange rates.
Spotify Paid Out $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024; $1 Billion More Than 2023
Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 — some $1 billion more than last year, the previous record — making its total around $60 billion since it was founded in 2006. The company made the announcement in a blog post Tuesday morning. The news comes two days after Spotify reached a new deal with Universal Music that sees more-favorable royalty payments to musicians from the service’s audiobooks-music “bundle” announced last year.
Roc Nation partners with South Korea’s Musicow to launch royalty trading platform in US
The new platform, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2025, will allow music rights owners “to securely fractionalize royalty revenue from their songs and sell shares, enabling fans to earn alongside them,” Roc Nation said on Thursday (January 23). Musicow purchases the copyright of a song from its original creator and splits the rights into smaller portions, allowing members on the platform to buy shares in the copyright royalties.
Spotify slams ‘ridiculous and unfounded’ Duetti report
The company suggested that “Spotify’s payouts are holding down industry rates” by presenting a table comparing the effecting per-stream rates of Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify, with the latter at the bottom. “These claims are ridiculous and unfounded,” a Spotify spokesperson responded. “No streaming service pays per stream because that approach would incentivize streaming services to minimize streams. It would mean low engagement, fewer artist connections, and lower overall payouts.”
Source: Spotify slams ‘ridiculous and unfounded’ Duetti report
Spotify Mechanical Royalties Just Dropped 30-40%, Publishers Say
Spotify’s mechanical publishing royalties took a sudden-and-sizable dip this month for many US-based publishers and songwriters, according to preliminary stats shared with Digital Music News over the past few days. That includes multiple reports of 30-40% drops compared to previous months — all specifically tied to US-based mechanical publishing royalties.
Source: Spotify Mechanical Royalties Just Dropped 30-40%, Publishers Say
Music AI raises $40m in Series A round, as its Moises platform hits 50m users
Music AI, the “AI-first” company behind the increasingly popular Moises music creation platform, has announced it has raised USD $40 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Connect Ventures – an investment partnership between entertainment and sports agency CAA and venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) – along with Brazilian investor monashees.
Source: Music AI raises $40m in Series A round, as its Moises platform hits 50m users
Digital art venue MakersPlace shuts down amid NFT market decline
MakersPlace, a digital art platform specializing in non-fungible tokens, is shutting down amid a sharp drop in the NFT market. The company, launched in 2018, announced its closure on Jan. 15 after six years of operations. “Ongoing market challenges and funding difficulties have made it impossible to sustain operations while fulfilling our mission,” MakersPlace’s content manager, Brady Evan Walker, said in the announcement.
Source: Digital art venue MakersPlace shuts down amid NFT market decline