Adele’s 30 helped drive a solid quarter for Sony Music as recorded-music revenue hit $1.65b during the company’s fiscal third quarter, an increase of 15.2%.
Streaming revenue of $1.075b was up 36% in yen for the three-month period ending 12/31. Publishing was up 15% in the quarter, to $467m.
Besides Columbia’s Adele, top sellers were Doja Cat’s Planet Her, Lil Nas X’s MONTERO and The Kid LAROI’s F*ck Love.
Margins for recorded music and publishing are near 20% for the first nine months of the fiscal year
Sony expects the music division to hit close to $9.8b when its fiscal year ends on 3/31, with an operating income of $1.8b.
In a presentation to analysts, Sony Executive Deputy President and CFO Hiroki Totoki said the company has invested approximately $900m in music catalogs in the fiscal year. Big-ticket items included Bruce Springsteen’s recorded music and music-publishing catalog, Bob Dylan’s recorded-music catalog and a majority stake in Alamo Records.
While recorded music and music publishing were up, the sector’s profits slipped to $496m due to 2020 Q3's benefiting from the smash Japanese movie Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. Sony includes its visual media and platform business in the music category; their exclusion would show the division up 22% in the fiscal year’s first nine months.
Overall, Sony Group’s income hit $27.2b in the quarter, with profits up 20%, or $4.15b, thanks largely to the reopening of movie theaters.
OH, TANNENBAUM! ANOTHER GREAT CAREER HITS THE SKIDS
Another talented journalist trapped in the career cul de sac (5/20a)
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THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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