Finance

After two straight quarters of subscriber losses, Netflix returned to growth in the third quarter of 2022 — and told investors it’s expecting a strong Q4 to finish the year, even though it doesn’t expect big gains right away from the launch of its cheaper, ad-supported plans. The streaming giant reported 2.41 million net new paid subscribers in Q3, including a gain of 100,000 in the U.S./Canada region, to stand at 223.1 million worldwide as of the end of September.

Source: Netflix Bounces Back in Q3 With 2.4 Million Subscriber Gain, Issues Upbeat Q4 Forecast but Doesn’t Expect ‘Material’ Lift From Ad-Plan Launch

Reservoir has grown to represent over 140,000 copyrights and 36,000 master recordings and pulled off a major coup by agreeing a global administration deal with music icon Joni Mitchell last year. As time has gone on, the focus has stretched to labels (Chrysalis Records/Tommy Boy Records/Philly Groove Records) and management through ventures with Blue Raincoat Music and Big Life Management.

Source: Golnar Khosrowshahi: ‘Reservoir going public has created opportunities that I never imagined’

The streaming revolution was supposed to usher in a big, bright, beautiful future for media conglomerates. Instead, increased competition, rising interest rates, a looming recession and the mountain of debt that these corporations amassed to fuel a wave of consolidation has left everyone from Netflix to Warner Bros. Discovery scrambling to revise their pitch to shareholders.

Source: Why Wall Street Fell Out of Love With Netflix and Other Media Companies

Exceed enables investors to purchase interests in several musician-specific revenue categories (streaming and publishing royalties among them); interested individuals will receive any owed compensation quarterly, and the amount that each user can invest is limited by Exceed depending on his or her “net worth and annual income,” per the service.

Source: Artist-Investment Platform Exceed Raises $8MM, Hires President

During Tuesday’s market hours, Hipgnosis Songs Fund – the publicly traded operation that’s dropped billions on song rights in recent years – parted with 3.4 percent of its stock-price value to finish at an even 82 GBX (currently 93 cents). As mentioned, the figure represents an all-time low for Hipgnosis, shares in which have fallen by about 33 percent since mid-October of 2021.

Source: Hipgnosis Stock Dips to New Low, But Some Analysts Are Upbeat

The Loretta Lynn’s catalog — with “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” and more — generates about $1.62 million annually, according to a Billboard estimate. Lynn’s recordings — which are largely owned by Universal Music Group through deals she struck with Decca and MCA, before leaving to work with a variety of labels in the 1990s and onward — generated about $1.18 million in revenue last year, based on Billboard’s estimates.

Source: How Much Are Loretta Lynn’s Royalties Worth?

PRS for Music has announced that its October of 2022 distribution cracked a ‘highest ever’ total of £211 million. The 210 percent YoY gain is particularly noteworthy because PRS, despite posting a 22.4 percent revenue jump (as well as a nearly 60 percent improvement for income deriving from plays in public establishments) during 2021, stated that the public-performance total remained 38.1 percent beneath its pre-pandemic counterpart.
Source: PRS for Music Announces ‘Highest Ever’ £211 Million Distribution

Spotify’s current share price is around $87, which is 71% below its 52-week high. The stock price has shed 15% in the last month alone. Analysts believe Spotify will face higher churn rates due to inflationary pressures and turbulence in Europe and Asia. The company just launched audiobooks in September, but analysts believe they won’t be a significant revenue generator for the company.

Source: Ark Investment Management Dumps $18M Spotify Stock Stake

Primary Wave Music, home to catalogs of Whitney Houston, Prince, Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks and more, has struck a $2 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield, which is new the space, will take a significant minority interest in Primary Wave, and commit $1.7 billion to fund a permanent capital vehicle focused on acquiring music rights from top acts.

Source: Primary Wave Music Strikes $2 Billion Deal With Brookfield to Invest in Music Copyrights

New York City-headquartered Influence Media, which in February revealed that it had partnered with Warner Music and BlackRock to invest $750 million in music IP, unveiled this latest play today. According to higher-ups, the “groundbreaking deal” will see Influence take a stake in the “master recordings catalog” of 46-year-old Blake Shelton, referring specifically to works that became available to fans between 2001 and 2019.

Source: Blake Shelton Sells Recorded Catalog to Influence Media Partners