Finance

Spotify has renamed its Artist Fundraising Pick feature to Fan Support and shared some statistics showing more than 200,000 artists are using it. 90% of the artists with a Fan Support link on their profile use the feature to collect donations from fans, while 10% use it to raise money for their chosen charity or cause. When the feature launched in 2020, Spotify intended it “as a way for listeners to directly contribute to the personal causes and needs of artists.”

Source: Spotify says 200K Artists are Using the Fan Support Feature

Calling itself “the first ever diversified investment company focused exclusively on music businesses”, MUSIC has raised $200 million in “initial” capital as it officially re-launches as a partnership between Pincus and Liontree, plus two new investors – JS Capital Management and Schusterman Family Investments.

Source: Matt Pincus’ MUSIC raises $200m, as it eyes record label, publishing, tech and Web3 investments

Royalty-free music startup Slip.stream has secured $7.5 million of Series A financing from investors including Sony Music Entertainment, Third Prime, and Lightshed Ventures. Slip.stream says it will work with Sony Music to explore new “premium music opportunities” for Sony Music artists within the Slip.stream platform.

Source: Sony Music joins $7.5m funding round for royalty-free music startup Slip.stream

Falling stock prices are coinciding with rising interest rates, inflation and heavier-than-usual debt loads at the largest conglomerates. The heightened pressure to deliver earnings and the need to pay more to service debt will inevitably force a pullback — at least in the short term — in the tidal wave of spending on content production, marketing and distribution.

Source: How the Market Crash Is Forcing Hollywood Giants to Reassess Digital Strategies

Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference Tuesday, Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said he continues to see increased interest among consumers, and recovery beyond the big brand names. Moving forward, Cinemark will continue to experiment with dynamic pricing and featuring films from streaming platforms in the theaters.

Source: Cinemark Looks at Dynamic Pricing, Netflix Releases as Theaters Recover

The company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) efforts certainly look like a success, particularly in light of the fact that Disney+ launched only two and a half years ago. Before celebrating, though, you should know that Walt Disney’s streaming business is still losing money. And worse, its operating losses are growing rather than shrinking as its DTC revenue grows.

Source: Walt Disney Has a Problem: Disney+ Is Costing It a Fortune 

Medallion claims to be building technology that “helps artists create owned and operated digital worlds in web3 to expand fan participation, actionable insights, and economic potential.” Led by The Chernin Group, Medallion’s seed round attracted participation from additional investors from across the worlds of tech, crypto, and music.

Source: Web3 startup Medallion, led by former Songkick CEO Matt Jones, raises over $9m in seed funding round

The company’s results for 2021 mark its second highest annual revenue total, after collecting £271.8 million in 2019. PPL reports that it saw year-on-year growth across all three revenue streams in 2021, including International, Broadcast and online, and Public performance and dubbing, with International and Broadcast, and online licensing revenues reaching record annual amounts.

Source: UK music licensing company PPL reports revenues of $347.7m for 2021, up 12% YoY

According to the FT, citing people familiar with the talks between the band and the companies, the price of the deal, if agreed, has the potential to exceed what Sony Music paid for Bruce Springsteen’s recorded music and publishing catalogs in music’s first $500-plus million artist catalog deal.

Source: BMG and Warner competing for Pink Floyd catalog, which could fetch more than Bruce Springsteen’s $500m+ deal (report)

Disney is beginning to take a closer look at content spend. Disney is not alone here (Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery executives have also indicated that they will be keeping a close watch on content budgets), but the company’s quarterly report gives some indication that the Mouse House is already making tweaks.

Source: Disney Trims $1B In Content Spend Amid Drive for Streaming Profits