Record Labels
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...
Sony Music Africa to Offer Record Deals to Afrochella Contest Winners
Unsigned and emerging artists in Africa will soon be able to compete for global distribution deals and record contracts with Sony Music Africa through a new collaboration between the major label and the companies behind the Afrochella Festival in Ghana. Afrochella’s parent company, Culture Management Group, and media streaming service Audiomack, are teaming up with Sony Music Africa to expand the “Rising Star Stage” competition, which previously entitled winners to a chance to perform onstage at the festival. With Sony’s involvement, up to 10 prize winners chosen from a short list of 25 will be signed to distribution deals with Sony Music Africa, which will take their music out to the world, Sony says in a press release. The Grand Prize winner will secure an exclusive recording ...
Megan Moroney Inks Deal With Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records
Singer-songwriter Megan Moroney has inked a label deal with Sony Music Nashville and Columbia Records. During her opening performance slot for Warren Zeiders: The Up to No Good Tour on Wednesday evening (Nov. 16) at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Moroney announced her label signing, and also told the audience that her song “Tennessee Orange” will be sent to country radio. According to Moroney’s manager, Punch Bowl Entertainment’s Juli Griffith, Moroney and her team were in talks with 18 record labels before signing with Sony Music Nashville and the NYC-based Columbia. “We picked this combination because they understand exactly who Megan is and what she has already created,” Griffith tells Billboard. “Their plan is to come in and enhance what we are already doing under her creative vi...
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...
Stefflon Don Inks New Global Recording Partnership With BMG
MOBO Award-winning artist Stefflon Don has entered into a global recording partnership with BMG, Billboard has learned exclusively. The Jamaica-via-London MC will release her debut studio album, Island 54, in 2023. Among the forthcoming album’s tracks will be “Clockwork” featuring dancehall superstar Spice. The single was produced by Grammy-winning Beam (Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Pop Smoke), while its accompanying video counts five million views on YouTube. In a statement announcing her new partnership, Stefflon Don said, “I’m excited about partnering with BMG because they trust my creativity. They have an amazing support team across the globe, and I am super excited to expand my fan base alongside my new family BMG.” Tim Reid, BMG’s senior vp of repertoire & marketing, stated, “Ste...
Iggy Pop Signs With Atlantic & Andrew Watt’s Gold Tooth Records for Next Album Release
Punk icon Iggy Pop has signed with Atlantic Records, in partnership with producer Andrew Watt‘s Gold Tooth Records, for the release of his next album, the companies tell Billboard. “I’m the guy with no shirt who rocks,” said Pop in statement. “Andrew and Gold Tooth get that, and we made a record together the old-fashioned way. The players are guys I’ve known since they were kids and the music will beat the s— out of you. Have a great day.” The first release from Pop’s forthcoming album, debut single “Frenzy,” is slated to drop on Oct. 28. The album is Pop’s first since 2019’s Free, released by Caroline International/Loma Vista. “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Andrew and Gold Tooth into the Atlantic family,” said Atlantic Records chairman and CEO Craig Kallman. “As a brilliant producer...
Adam Lambert Returns to WMG With EastWest Records Deal
Singer-songwriter and Queen collaborator Adam Lambert has returned to the Warner Music fold, signing a global deal with EastWest Records ahead of new music. The American Idol runner-up’s first release under the deal, a cover of Noël Coward’s “Mad About The Boy” for a documentary about the witty playwright, arrives Friday (Oct. 7). According to the label, fans of Lambert can expect more music soon and a new album next year. Lambert’s first pairing with WMG — for flagship Warner Records — resulted in 2015’s The Original High, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. That album, his third studio effort, followed a successful run at Sony Music’s RCA, where he scored a No. 1 album for 2012’s Trespassing and top-3 finish for his debut, 2009’s For Your Entertainment. The singer and LGBTQ...
Maria Fernandez, EVP/COO of Sony Music Latin Iberia on ‘Latin Hitmaker’ Podcast
As COO and executive vp of Sony Music Latin Iberia, María Fernández is one of the most powerful women in Latin music. But power is rarely on her mind. “Power is something I never sought and something I never really think about,” says Fernández. “To me, real power is the power that doesn’t need to be displayed.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Fernández was long a Sony secret weapon who worked largely behind-the-scenes, until her boss, CEO/president Afo Verde, nudged her forward. “He’s the one who told me that to truly understand this business and contribute to it, I had to spend more time with managers, with artists, with people in the industry. It allowed me to have a vision that normally people that are in finance may not have,” says Fernánde...
Blake Shelton Sells Master Recordings Ownership to Influence Media Partners
Country hitmaker Blake Shelton has sold the ownership of his commercially-released master recordings from 2001-2019 to Influence Media Partners, the company announced Tuesday (Oct. 4). Over his career, Shelton has enjoyed 72 Hot Country Songs entries, including 14 No. 1s and 33 top 10s; 58 Country Airplay entries, including 28 No. 1s (3rd-most all-time) and 36 top 10s; two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200; and seven No. 1 albums on Top Country Albums. The catalog sale includes tracks like “Boys ‘Round Here,” “Honeybee,” “Nobody But You” (with Gwen Stefani), “God’s Country” and “Austin,” among others. Additionally, Shelton will team up with Influence Media for a joint venture that will serve to promote his music while still allowing him to earn a share of the profit generated fro...
Defected Records’ New Owner Wez Saunders On Protecting The Label’s Legacy: I’m Not Here To Reinvent The Wheel’
On a late summer morning in London, Wez Saunders walked into work at the Defected Records headquarters and greeted his staff as he has for years. But on this otherwise normal day, something felt different: “Just for a split second,” Saunders recalls, “it was like, ‘Wow, I own this now.’” On August 23, Defected announced that its founder, Simon Dunmore, was stepping down as CEO, with Saunders, who has been with the label in various roles since 2014, acquiring the music company and all its subsidiaries. (Dunmore will stay on in a new role as A&R consultant.) Though Saunders had worked closely with Dunmore in running Defected’s day-to-day operations, there’s a pressure in taking over a label with so much history. When Dunmore launched Defected in 1999, its first release, Soulsearche...
Warner Music Group Discloses Compensation for Incoming CEO Robert Kyncl
Warner Music Group’s newly named CEO Robert Kyncl will earn roughly $15 million, depending on meeting performance targets, in his first year on the job, according to a company SEC filing. Kyncl will share chief executive duties with outgoing CEO Stephen Cooper in January 2023 and will become sole CEO on Feb. 1, the SEC filing shows. Kyncl, named as Cooper’s replacement on Sept. 21, will also become a director of the company. Kyncl, formerly the chief business officer at YouTube and an executive at Netflix, will receive a base salary of $2 million, a target performance-based bonus of $3 million and an annual grant of performance share units with an aggregate, pre-tax value of $10 million (the first grant will be in January 2023). He will be reimbursed for expenses up to $500,000 for relocat...
Inside Track: Warner Music Group Closes In on Robert Kyncl as Next CEO
Former YouTube chief business officer Robert Kyncl is in serious talks to succeed outgoing Warner Music Group CEO Stephen Cooper, and sources familiar with the situation say his tech background has made him the frontrunner in the music group’s search for a new leader. One source says WMG has yet to make a final decision but adds it’s possible a deal could be reached within the next few weeks Talks are said to be progressing, and there’s a sense that Kyncl the frontrunner given his background and the desire for someone who is very plugged in to the business side of the tech world, says another insider. Other candidates remain in the running, says the source — SiriusXM president/chief content officer Scott Greenstein, Warner board member and Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc and former Pandora CEO Roger ...
