Earnings Reports
SoundCloud Revenue Rose 19% in 2021 Thanks to Subscriber Growth, Creator Tools Adoption
SoundCloud Holdings GmbH and its subsidiaries reported revenue in 2021 of 230.7 million euros ($273 million at the average exchange rate in 2021 of 1.18308), up 19% from the prior year, according to audited financial statements published by the privately held company in Germany on Tuesday (Dec. 13). SoundCloud, which originally gained popularity for its embeddable streaming widget, has a unique business model that mixes tools for music creators and listening for fans. Fan revenue — from advertising and subscriptions — improved 16.6% to 143.3 million euros ($170 million), or 62.2% of total revenue, down from 63.5% in 2020. Revenue from subscribers grew 20% year over year and exceeded internal expectations, according to the financial statements. Advertising revenue was in line with exp...
Warner Music Posts $1.5B in Quarterly Revenue as Publishing Rises 32%
Warner Music Group, helped by digital revenue growth across recorded music and publishing, reported quarterly revenues rose 16% at constant currency (9% as reported) to $1.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, the company announced Tuesday (Nov. 22). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) grew by 16% to $276 million. In his final quarterly earnings after 12 years as Warner Music’s chief executive, Steve Cooper said, “Against the backdrop of a challenging macro environment, we once again proved music’s resilience, with new commercial opportunities emerging all the time. We’re very well positioned for long-term creative success, and continued top and bottom line growth. We’re excited to have Robert Kyncl joining next year as WMG’s ne...
Lucian Grainge Says Slowing Ad Market Won’t Shake Universal Music
Universal Music Group on Thursday reported its fifth-straight quarter of revenue gains since its public spinoff from Vivendi last year, increasing revenue 13.3% as its many, varied business divisions helped offset slow-downs in areas sensitive to global economic uncertainty. On a call with analysts, UMG chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge attributed the company’s strong quarter — coming amid a downturn in the advertising market — to its diversification strategy. Over Grainge’s 17-years at the helm, UMG has built dominant positions in multiple geographic markets and across nearly every major segment in music, making it less susceptible to “the inevitable ebbs and flows in revenue of any particular business,” he said. That helped UMG offset a slowdown in ad-supported streaming revenu...
The Ledger: What to Expect From Next Week’s Q3 2022 Earnings Calls
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. Music companies face a multitude of pressures as 2022 comes to an end: crippling inflation, a tight labor market, a chaotic environment for breaking new artists, interest rates that are dampening catalog valuations, and high costs of touring amidst a crush of artists on the road, among other challenges. The upcoming slate of corporate earnings provides an opportunity to hear about these opportunities and challenges from leaders of publicly traded music companies who rarely go on the record. Spotify reports third-quarter earnings after the close of trading on Tuesday (Oct. 25). Universal Music Group and Deez...
Deezer Lost Subscribers, Added Revenue in First Half of 2022
With a newfound focus on a small number of lucrative, established markets, music streaming company Deezer reported revenue of 219 million euros ($218 million) in the first half of 2022, up 12.1% as reported (+9.9% at constant currency) versus the prior-year period. The Paris-based company received 132.4 million euros ($131.9 million), or 60.3% of its revenue, in its home country of France, up 11.1% year-over-year. Revenue from the rest of the world improved to 87 million euros ($86.7 million), up 13.6% from the prior-year period, and accounted for 39.7% of revenue, up from 39.1% a year ago. In Brazil, Deezer’s second-largest market, revenues improved 25% at constant currency. Other revenue — advertising and ancillary revenue — grew 58.3% (50.3% at constant currency) to 6.8 million euros ($...
The Ledger: Concert Companies Are Maintaining a Rosy Outlook for the Rest of 2022
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. Strong demand for live music is not a surprise given fans’ time away from concerts in 2020 and 2021. But it’s not straightforward, either. Fans are dealing with inflation and high gas and airfare costs. Companies face staffing shortages and higher costs. Artists are flooding markets’ venues seeking to recapture lost business. Still, judging from some companies’ statements around their latest quarterly results, indications point to an exceptional second half of the year. Live Nation’s second quarter earnings showed a company is primed for a record year. Live Nation sold more than 100 million tickets to its concerts this ...
HYBE’s Revenues Soared in Q2, But That Doesn’t Account for BTS Break
With BTS on a break since June and its members pursuing solo projects, HYBE’s solid second-quarter earnings release was as much about what happens next than what already happened. HYBE’s total revenue improved 83.8% to 512.2 billion KRW ($397.7 million) from April to June. Most growth came from the company’s “artist direct involvement” segment, which increased 153%. Concert revenue grew to 85 billion KRW ($66 million) from nothing in the prior-year period on the strength of BTS’s four concerts in Las Vegas and Seventeen concerts in Japan. Revenue from ads, appearances and management grew 39% to 30 billion KRW ($23.3 million) While merchandising and licensing improved 97.2% to 98.8 billion KRW ($78.7 million), contents fell 22.6% to 70.7 billion KRW ($54.9 million), partially because online...
The Ledger: Three Major Trends Revealed in Music Companies’ Q1 2022 Earnings
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. From streaming services to concert promoters and ticket sellers, music companies have reported encouraging first-quarter earnings results that show consumers continue to adopt subscription services and eagerly return to live events after COVID restrictions were lifted in late 2021. The same companies’ stock prices tell another story, however. While music companies posted double-digit gains in subscription growth, revenue, ticket sales and many other metrics, their share prices are down by double-digits in 2022. That’s not a surprise given the state of the economy: Inflation is at a 40-year high ; rising interest rates s...
Tencent Music Revenues Fall 15%, Subscriptions Grow Amid Regulatory ‘Headwinds’
The effects of government intervention on Tencent Music Entertainment, the leading music streaming platform in China, were visible in the first quarter as the company’s revenues dropped 15.1% to RMB 6.64 billion ($1.05 billion) from the prior-year period. Shenzhen-based TME operates QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing. In a statement, executive chairman Cussion Pang attributed the decline to “headwinds in an evolving market landscape,” a reference to the difficulties created by increased Chinese regulations and increased competition from Cloud Village, the music streaming platform spun off by Netease in Dec. 2021, and Quishiu Yinyue, a new music service by Douyin, the Chinese version of short-form video platform TikTok. The quarterly report’s bright spot was music subscripti...
BTS, Justin Bieber Concerts Boost HYBE’s Quarterly Earnings
Korean music company HYBE, home to K-pop superstars BTS, posted revenue of 285 billion KRW ($226 million) in the first quarter of 2022, the company announced Tuesday (May 3). The result — which marks a nearly 60% revenue increase year over year but a decrease of 37.8% from last quarter — followed a record-breaking year for HYBE in 2021, when the company surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the first time thanks to its acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. The Q1 results were bolstered by a return to large-scale live events, including BTS’ Permission to Dance shows in Seoul in March, which drew over 45,000 fans in person. An additional 1.4 million fans viewed the livestream, which smashed box office records; the March 12 screening alone grossed $6.9 million in North America, making...
Music Earnings Q4 2021: Taking Stock of Spotify, WMG, SiriusXM & More Companies
Most public music companies continued hot streaks by turning in good or excellent numbers for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021. For the majority of them, however, it would have been difficult not to impress in 2021 compared to 2020. COVID-19 shut down the touring business for three quarters of 2020, hampered brick-and-mortar retail for much of the year and hammered advertising spending, which affected radio broadcasters as well as streaming services. By the end of 2021, businesses’s main problems were rising costs and labor shortages, not unemployment and unpredictable consumer spending. Each component of the music ecosystem had encouraging results. The three majors — Universal Music Group, Sony’s music division and Warner Music Group — had combined revenues of about $25.4 billion, up 19.8%...
HYBE Revenue Jumps 58% to $1.1B in 2021 Following Ithaca Acquisition
HYBE, the home of BTS, blew past US $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2021 thanks to the South Korean entertainment company’s acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. Formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, HYBE posted revenue of $1.06 billion, up by 58% from 2020 and 114% greater than 2019. At the same time, operating profit lifted to $158 million, up 30.8% from the prior-year period. Ithaca Holdings helped HYBE’s album sales grow about 110% in 2021. Sales of HYBE’s Korean artists grew 18% to 15.1 million (in South Korea only). Ithaca Holdings contributed 7.5 million album equivalent units by SB Projects artists, mostly from Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, and another 4.8 million album equivalent units from Big Machine (HYBE’s earnings release gave U.S. sales only...
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