Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
Despite an overall impressive Q2 earnings report, investors punished Universal Music Group this week for a miss on its streaming revenue numbers, with UMG’s stock price sliding by double digits. On its earnings call, the company’s leadership team made a solid case for why the boom in music streaming subscriptions isn’t over just yet.
Meanwhile, on Spotify‘s earnings call, CEO Daniel Ek pretty much confirmed that a new “deluxe” subscription tier is coming to the platform. He also made it clear the company isn’t planning on backing down from its conflict with US music publishers over its decision to “bundle” music and audiobooks offerings, thereby reducing mechanical royalty payouts.
Also this week, Kobalt Music Publishing and a number of other publishers launched lawsuits against 14 NBA teams, accusing them of using their music without permission in promo videos on social media and on the NBA.com website
Meanwhile, we got surprising news out of South Korea, where K-pop giant HYBE abruptly announced the departure of CEO Jiwon Park, after a three-year stint.
And speaking of changes at the top of the C-suite, streaming service Deezer named Alexis Lanternier as its new CEO, replacing interim CEO Stu Bergen, who stepped in earlier this year to replace Jeronimo Folgueira.
Here’s what happened this week…
Credit: UPI / Alamy
1) WHY UMG’S SLOWDOWN IN STREAMING REVENUE GROWTH IS (PARTLY) AN ILLUSION… AND 4 OTHER THINGS WE LEARNED FROM Universal’S LATEST EARNINGS CALL
The news about Universal Music Group following its latest earnings report on July 24 was dramatic, to say the least: A double-digit stock price drop. A run of analyst downgrades. Speculation that the music streaming boom may be hitting the skids.
All of this was based on a single metric: UMG’s streaming revenues in Q2.
To be clear, streaming revenues are still very much growing at Universal. Most notably, subscription streaming revenues were up 6.9% YoY in Q2 – yet that fell short of analysts’ estimates, which was for around 11% growth. The picture was worse for ad-supported streaming revenue, which actually fell 3.9% YoY in the quarter.
Other measures of financial success, however, remained thoroughly impressive at UMG in Q2…
2) DANIEL EK TALKS NEW SPOTIFY ‘DELUXE’ TIER, THE COMPANY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MUSIC BUSINESS AND MORE ON Q2 EARNINGS CALL
On Spotify‘s latest earnings call, co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek pretty much confirmed what has long been rumored and unofficially reported – that Spotify will be launching a new, pricier “Super-Premium” tier as part of its efforts to differentiate its paid subscription plans.
Spotify’s leadership isn’t willing to share many details about this new subscription plan, though it’s widely expected to include high-fidelity audio – a feature that Spotify has yet to roll out, despite it being available on some other streaming services for years at this point.
Other possible features include access to “superfan clubs” and new playlisting and song management tools.
Ek described the new tier as being for “huge music lovers who are primarily looking for even more flexibility in how they use Spotify and the music capabilities that exist on Spotify…”
Credit: rafapress/Shutterstock
3) 14 NBA TEAMS SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OVER ALLEGED USE OF MUSIC IN SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WITHOUT PERMISSION
14 NBA teams have been hit with lawsuits in the US alleging that the pro basketball franchises used copyrighted music without permission in promo videos posted to their social media channels and on the official NBA.com website.
The lawsuits, filed by Kobalt Music Publishing, Artist Publishing Group and others, target some of the highest-ranked teams of the 2023-2024 season, including the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Also facing lawsuits are the Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and San Antonio Spurs.
All 14 lawsuits were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday (July 18), and they all allege that the teams in question “did not obtain plaintiffs’ license, authorization, or consent” to synchronize copyrighted music with the videos in question…
4) HYBE CEO JIWON PARK RESIGNS; CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER JASON JAESANG LEE NAMED AS NEW CHIEF EXEC AT K-POP GIANT
There has been a significant leadership shakeup at South Korea-headquartered entertainment giant HYBE.
Jiwon Park, who has served as HYBE’s CEO for the past three years, has stepped down from his role at the company.
HYBE says that Park has led the company through “unprecedented growth” during his tenure as CEO, which started in July 2021.
The company added that Park will continue to contribute to its growth strategy by “leveraging his expertise in the intersection of entertainment and technology”…
5) ALEXIS LANTERNIER APPOINTED AS THE NEW CEO OF DEEZER
Deezer has named Alexis Lanternier as its new CEO.
Lanternier will succeed interim CEO Stu Bergen at the France-headquartered music streaming service, effective September 2, 2024.
Bergen will remain on Deezer’s Board of directors. Bergen was appointed interim CEO in March, following the departure of former CEO Jeronimo Folgueira.
Deezer said that the appointment will “position Deezer for continued profitable growth and innovation in the evolving music streaming industry”…
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide
