News Ole Obermann and Rachel Newman named Co-Heads, Apple Music Obermann officially joins Apple from ByteDance
Analysis Subscription growth, super-premium, and short-form video’s ‘inadequate monetization’: 7 takeaways from Universal Music Group’s Q1 2025 earnings call Sir Lucian Grainge, Michael Nash, and Boyd Muir dug deep into the company's strategy and numbers on their Q1 call
News Influence Media strikes catalog deal with DJ Khaled; launches two JVs with the artist and his We The Best Music Group The collaboration involves film and TV projects, brand partnerships, and a new focus and name and likeness rights
Analysis News UMG generated $3bn+ in Q1 – up 9.5% YoY, driven by Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, and more superstars Company's subscription streaming revenues grew 9.3% YoY
News Desiree Autobee, Jamey Sussman appointed Synch Directors at Payday Music, as publishing company opens new LA studio Having sync execs in the ground in New York, LA, and London is 'producing amazing results' for Payday Music
News Jason Feinberg appointed SVP/Head of Kobalt’s music publishing platform KOSIGN Feinberg previously held roles at 138 Strategic, Universal Music Group and Pandora’s AMP platform
News Sony Corp strikes strategic partnership with BandLab Technologies to bring spatial sound and other tools to the company’s millions of users Initial phase of partnership integrates Sony’s Spatial Sound technology; co-branded hub within BandLab to act as gateway for future offerings
News Epidemic Sound acquires AI startup Song Sleuth to tackle music’s ‘black box’ problem The Stockholm-based soundtracking platform is launching a new service called Aentidote aimed at identifying unclaimed and undistributed royalties
News Henri Lanz appointed Senior International A&R and Creative Advisor of Warner Music Nordics Lanz worked as Chief Creative Advisor at Sony Music Finland over the past year
News Carlyle nears $464m bond sale backed by music rights from Litmus portfolio (report) Reported bond sale is backed by rights from artists including Benny Blanco, Keith Urban and Katy Perry
News YouTube ad revenues jumped 10.3% in Q1 to nearly $9bn Alphabet's ad revenues could face 'headwinds' in Q2 from the ongoing tariff war between the US and China
Analysis On… breaking down barriers to build bridges in the music business The following MBW op/ed comes from Dr. Portia Sabin, President of the Music Business Association
News Live events and ticketing company DEAG reports 18% jump in revenue to record high $400m in 2024 The company says it made a 'conscious' decision to increase spending on longer-term investments, even if it meant a shrinking EBITDA
News StubHub strikes deal to become ATG’s official resale ticket partner for 16 US venues The partnership will enable fans to buy tickets for events at ATG theaters directly through StubHub
News Spotify set to hike prices across Europe, Latin America, following 18% price rise in Netherlands A Spotify individual subscription in the Netherlands now costs EUR 12.99 per month
News IMPALA welcomes EU’s Downtown deal probe; UMG remains ‘confident’ $775M acquisition will close in H2 2025 IMPALA represents 6,000+ independent music companies in Europe
Analysis News From Warner’s Crumbl copyright lawsuit to the EU’s Downtown deal probe… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
News Tencent Music close to $2.4 billion deal to acquire podcast firm Ximalaya – with a potential payday for Sony Music Sony Music acquired 4.6 million shares in Ximalaya for a consideration of USD $50 million in 2020
