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What Music Has Been Removed From TikTok After UMG Fallout?
Your music selection for your TikTok posts took a serious hit.
UMG Partners With Music Wellness App Vera to Help People With Dementia
Universal Music Group has been named the exclusive launch partner for Vera, a mobile application created by music wellness and technology company Music Health. Vera is an AI-driven music app designed specifically for people suffering with dementia. The technology used in the Vera application “allows Vera to curate the perfect song at the right time for every individual listener.” According to UMG, the venture took Music Health three years of rigorous research and development. The research included more than 20,000 hours of observation and analysis to effectively conclude that Vera had a positive impact on the quality of life of people with BPSD, or the Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia. “We’ve built Vera to know and find the music that mea...
Why UMG’s Public Debut Boosted Warner & Other Music Stocks Too
Demand for UMG shares may have helped two more music companies: the share prices of French music distributor Believe SA and U.S. music rights company Reservoir Media increased 3.1% and 11.6%, respectively, on Tuesday. Investors also appeared hungry enough for UMG to purchase shares of Pershing Square Holdings, which has a 10% stake in UMG, and drive its share price up 5%. Sensing an opportunity, WMG’s owner, Access Industries, sold 2.34 million shares to Morgan Stanley & Co. on Tuesday for an unspecified amount. WMG could benefit from the added liquidity to the market. Although the shares represent less than 0.5% of WMG’s outstanding shares, WMG’s float – shares available for trading – represent about 19% of its shares, according to multiple financial sources. (UMG says its float is 42...
Universal Music’s Going Public: Here Are Your Options for Buying a Share
But U.S. investors won’t have easy access to UMG shares because they’re trading on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, not a U.S. exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. So, besides Tuesday’s listing starting at 3 a.m. EST, U.S.-based investors will have other complications getting in on the action. Some brokerage accounts that cater to international trading, such as Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab, provide access to exchanges in dozens of countries. However, these accounts are good for frequent, serious investors, not casual investors who might be burdened by tax issues, fees and currency fluctuations. Alternatively, a U.S. individual can eventually buy shares of a mutual fund that owns shares of UMG, or an exchange traded fund that includes UMG. The benefit is a...
It’s a Growth Story: What’s Behind UMG’s Accelerated IPO Plans?
Vivendi could earn about 9 billion euros ($10.9 billion) from the IPO, if it maintains majority ownership by unloading just just under 30% of UMG at the same 30 billion euros ($36.3 billion) valuation used last year when it sold a 20% stake to a consortium led by Chinese tech giant Tencent Corp. At that head-turning 36-times EBTIDA valuation, a multiple often seen in fast-growing tech companies, Tencent “made people take a step back and look at the valuations of music companies,” says Michael Poster, the head of Michelman & Robinson’s corporate and securities department. That’s not an unreasonable valuation: a rapidly-growing streaming market, believed by Goldman Sachs to reach 1.15 billion subscribers...
Vivendi Planning to Move Forward With UMG IPO This Year
The idea is to avoid the so-called “conglomerate discount,” under which a company could be valued by the market as less than the sum of its parts — especially by investors looking for more direct exposure to the music sector at a time when streaming is fueling growth and optimism. “This plan is the result of the joint efforts in recent years by the Vivendi and the Universal Music Group, under the leadership of Sir Lucian Grainge, to further the company’s position as the music industry’s undisputed leader,” Vivendi said in a letter about the move that was shared internally at Universal by Grainge, the company’s chairman and CEO. “Recently the successful opening of UMG’s share capital to an international consortium led by Tencent has confirmed its attractiveness with strategic investor...
