Sony Music blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: Sony Music

Read our latest daily deep-dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the digital entertainment world. Check out your favourite analyst, or search by coverage – games, video, music, audio, media & marketing, or critical developments for all.

What comes next in the music streaming model makeover

Blog post by Tatiana Cirisano

17 Jan 2023

Music Streaming

Major labels

independent artists

The independent music community has been rallying for change to the streaming payment model for years. Now, major labels are joining the chorus. Why? The pro-rata model has long benefited bigger record...

Sony just became (even more of) an independent powerhouse

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

1 Feb 2021

AWAL

Kobalt

Sony Music

Sony Music has bought AWAL (and Kobalt Neighbouring Rights) from Kobalt for $430 million . By adding AWAL to its already-booming Orchard division (as well as other distribution companies), it now has leading...

Just what is Tencent’s Endgame?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

16 Jun 2020

Tencent

Tencent Music

China

Tencent’s combined $200 million investment in WMG follows on the heels of its $3.6 billion joint investment in Universal Music. It is hardly Tencent’s first investments in music, having spent $6.2...

Schubert Music Is the Latest Publisher to Push Into Recordings

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

30 Jan 2020

music publishers

music publishing M+A

record labels

Schubert Music Europe, the holding company of Schubert Music Publishing, today announced a deal with Sony’s independent label distribution division The Orchard. Under the deal, Schubert will distribute...

2018 Global Label Market Share: Stream Engine

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

13 Mar 2019

artists direct

DIY

DIY artists

Recorded music revenues grew in 2018 for the fourth consecutive year, reaching $18.8 billion, up $2.2 billion from 2017. Streaming was the engine room of growth, up 30% year on year to reach $9.6 billion....

Just Who Would Buy Universal Music?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

14 Jan 2019

Access Industries

artists direct

Bolloré Group

Vivendi continues to look for a buyer for a portion of Universal Music . Though the process has been running officially since May 2018 , the transaction (or transactions) may not close until 2020. In many...

Could Spotify Buy Universal?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

11 May 2018

Alphabet

Amazon

AOL

Vivendi is reported to be proposing to its board a plan for spinning out Universal Music. It is certainly the right time for a spin off (always sell before the peak), but a full divestment would leave...

The Three Eras Of Paid Streaming

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

28 Jul 2017

3 ages of streaming

3 eras of streaming

3 phases of streaming

Streaming has driven such a revenue renaissance within the major record labels that the financial markets are now falling over themselves to work out where they can invest in the market, and indeed whether...

Announcing MIDiA’s State Of The Streaming Nation 2 Report

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

5 Jun 2017

7Digital

Alibaba

Amazon

2016 was the year that streaming turned the recorded music business into a good news story, with revenue growth so strong that it drove nearly a billion dollars of total growth. Leading streaming services...

Who’s Leading The Streaming Music Pack?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

25 May 2017

apple music

Deezer

Google Play Music All Access

At MIDiA Research we are currently in the final stages of producing the update to our annual landmark report: The State Of The Streaming Nation, a report which compiles every streaming market data point...

Global Recorded Market Music Market Shares 2016

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

26 Feb 2017

Major labels

Sony Music

Sony/ATV

MIDiA and Music Business Worldwide have been tracking record label and publisher financial releases throughout 2016. In addition MIDIA has conducted market sizing work on the publishing sector and research...

Watch Out Access, Liberty Media Is Building A Full Stack Music Company

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

7 Sep 2016

Access Industries

BMG

Deezer

Access Industries’ full stack music company has, ahem, company: Liberty Media. With a combined market market cap of $37 billion, John Malone’s Liberty group of companies is by anyone’s standards...

What Sony Music's Purchase Of Essential Music Says About The Future Of The Music Industry

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

2 Mar 2016

AWAL

Blockchain

consolidation

Independent label services company Essential Music & Marketing is no longer independent, having just been acquired by Sony Musi c and merged with Sony’s label services division Red to create a new...