Blog: Major labels

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Why HYBE expanding into China is a bigger deal than you think

Cover image for Why HYBE expanding into China is a bigger deal than you think

Olivia Jones

17 Jun 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

Korean and Chinese labels have been a hot topic in the news lately. First, HYBE sold its entire 9.38% stake in fellow South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment to Chinese music streaming giant Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) for approximately $177 million USD (per Music Business Worldwid...

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20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Cover image for 20 years ago, labels targeted fandom. Will it work the second time around?

Tatiana Cirisano

27 May 2025

Business Strategy

Music streaming

The New York Times headline “ The New Deal: Band As Brand ” would not look out of place in today’s pages. In the article, the writer explores how record labels are responding to a need to diversify revenue streams by seeking to monetise fandom, via expanded rights deals.

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Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023

Cover image for Global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023

Mark Mulligan

18 Mar 2024

recorded music 2023

recorded music revenues

Growth is back! After a slower 2022, global recorded music revenues grew by 9.8% in 2023 to reach $35.1 billion, compared to 7.1% in 2022, which means that the market is now more than double (124.5%) the size it was in 2015.

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What indie book publishers can gain from audiobooks

Cover image for What indie book publishers can gain from audiobooks

Rutger Rosenborg

22 Feb 2024

Music streaming

In the music industry, three major labels generate the lion’s share of revenue: Universal, Sony, and Warner. In the book publishing industry, the “big five” publishers dominate: Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins.

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What is at stake in the TikTok-UMG showdown

Cover image for What is at stake in the TikTok-UMG showdown

Tatiana Cirisano

1 Feb 2024

Music streaming

Universal Music Group

Music’s biggest on-again, off-again relationship just took a turn for the ugly, as Universal Music Group is pulling its music off TikTok. We have seen this movie before: Every time the music industry negotiates licenses with social platforms, the battle boils down to a question of who needs the ot...

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The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists

Cover image for The industry’s narrative is not always the same as the artist's narrative: Redefining success for independent artists

Keith Jopling

6 Mar 2023

Creator economy

Last weekend, there was a fascinating quote from Maseo of hip hop legends De La Soul in the UK Guardian: “On our second album, we learned the importance of controlling the narrative. I learned early on that a hit record can hurt your entire body of work if you let the industry control your narrati...

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What comes next in the music streaming model makeover

Cover image for What comes next in the music streaming model makeover

Tatiana Cirisano

17 Jan 2023

Music streaming

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 labels, but their cut of the pie is now diminishing due to a number of factors: The growth of inde...

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The future of marketing and A&R is all about scenes

Cover image for The future of marketing and A&R is all about scenes

Tatiana Cirisano

15 Sep 2022

Music streaming

fragmented fandom

Today’s era of hyper-fragmentation raises all sorts of questions for the music industry, in particular marketing and A&R departments. In a landscape where it is harder than ever to have a mainstream impact, how do you drive culture? How do you break artists and build superstars? What will peak...

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A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Cover image for A counterculture music industry is emerging — welcome to the platform era

Tatiana Cirisano

5 Jul 2022

What do TikTok’s distribution tool , Universal Music Group’s samples marketplace , and Snoop Dogg’s virtual marijuana have in common? On the surface, not much. But beneath, these news headlines are just three more recent reflections of what MIDiA has identified as a new iteration of the music ...

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Major label revenue surged in 2021, but what does that mean?

Cover image for Major label revenue surged in 2021, but what does that mean?

Mark Mulligan

7 Jan 2022

Major label revenue surged in 2021, but what does that mean? 2021 was an anomalous year for the recorded music market. Two of the majors did an IPO, the pandemic continued to disrupt the marketplace, and major label revenues grew at unprecedented rates.

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Music market shares: independent labels and artists are even bigger than you thought

Cover image for Music market shares: independent labels and artists are even bigger than you thought

Mark Mulligan

3 Dec 2021

Independent labels

record label market shares

It has been a long time since the music industry has been in such good shape. So long, in fact, that there are not too many executives left who worked through the pre-crash days. 2021 was the year in which the major label groups capitalised on the momentum, with Universal and Warner going public, an...

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Addison Rae will not be owned: The pitfalls of the major label business model

Cover image for Addison Rae will not be owned: The pitfalls of the major label business model

Kriss Thakrar

25 Mar 2021

Independent artists

TikTok stars are rejecting major labels. It is no secret that major labels are being outpaced by independent artists in the overall market. Addison Rae has a combined following of over 100 million between TikTok and Instagram alone, and she has leveraged her position to independently put together an...

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Taylor Swift and the changing tide of artist power

Cover image for Taylor Swift and the changing tide of artist power

Hanna Kahlert

16 Feb 2021

Media and Marketing

Cultural trends

In the latest episode of a long-running feud between Taylor Swift and Big Machine Records, the western princess turned pop icon is releasing the first of her original re-recorded albums under her own ownership.

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Independents Grew Fastest on Spotify in 2019, But There’s a Twist

Cover image for Independents Grew Fastest on Spotify in 2019, But There’s a Twist

Mark Mulligan

28 Apr 2020

Independent artists

Independent labels

Tomorrow (Wednesday 29 th April) Spotify announces its Q1 2020 results, at which point we will find out whether it had a COVID-bounce like Netflix did ( adding 15.8 million subscribers in Q1 ) or whether growth slowed.

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Welcome to the Age of the Artist

Cover image for Welcome to the Age of the Artist

Mark Mulligan

27 Feb 2020

age of the artist

artist distribution

As it enters the third decade of the millennium, the recorded music business is in rude health. Revenues are about to enter the second half of a decade of annual growth, streaming is booming and investment is pouring in.

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Creator Support: A New Take on User Centric Licensing

Cover image for Creator Support: A New Take on User Centric Licensing

Mark Mulligan

26 Apr 2019

artist streaming income

User-centric licensing (i.e. stream pay-outs based on sharing the royalty income of an individual user split across the music they listen to) has stimulated a lot of debate. I first explored the concept of user-centric licensing back in 2015 and stirred up a hornet nest, with a lot of very mix...

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2018 Global Label Market Share: Stream Engine

Cover image for 2018 Global Label Market Share: Stream Engine

Mark Mulligan

13 Mar 2019

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.

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Is Spotify’s Acquisition of Gimlet (the ‘HBO for audio’) the Beginning of the Audio Influencer Boom?

Georgia Meyer

7 Feb 2019

Audio ad engagement

Following six days of speculation, Spotify announced yesterdaythat it is acquiring Gimlet Media (comprising Gimlet – the production house, and Anchor – the production, distribution and monetisation software tool), for an undisclosed sum.

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Taylor Swift, Label Services and What Comes Next

Mark Mulligan

22 Nov 2018

Taylor Swift has done it again, striking a deal with UMG that includes a commitment from the world’s largest label group to share proceeds from Spotify stock sales with artists, even if they are not recouped (ie haven’t generated enough revenue to have paid off the balance on their advance so no...

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Midem 2018 – Definitive Disruption: Streaming Opportunities in Africa

Georgia Meyer

13 Jun 2018

The Africa focus at this year’s Midem began in April, with four local forums in South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Congo. This culminated in a focused set of talks, seminars and a keynote on the main conference stage from Tencent Africa.

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