Universal Music blog by MIDiA Research

Blog: Universal Music

Just what is Tencent’s Endgame?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

16 Jun 2020

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...

What UMG’s IPO Means for the Business of Music

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

14 Feb 2020

Access Industries

Bolloré Group

music as an asset class

Finishing 2019 on $6.4 billion, Universal Music is to go to IPO hot on the heels of Warner Music’s announcement to do the same. This of course also follows the Tencent-led agreement to acquire 10% of...

Take Five (the big five stories and data you need to know) December 9th 2019

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

9 Dec 2019

a-pop

ad agencies

EPL

Go east: Universal Music launched Red Records, an Asian repertoire joint venture label with AirAsia Group. With Western repertoire accounting for around only a third of all streams in Asian...

Abbey Road 50 Years On: The Two Worlds of Music Listening

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

7 Oct 2019

abbey road

artist audiences

artist fanbases

Half a century after it first after it first topped the charts, the Beatles’ Abbey Road is back at the summit of the UK charts. With the anniversary editions retailing for between $20 and $100, the impact...

Take Five (the big five stories and data you need to know) August 23rd 2019

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

23 Aug 2019

apple tv

Games

google chrome

Taylor Swift, pre-sale love: Taylor Swift tends not to adhere to prevailing industry trends. As a millennial artist with a strong Gen Z following, streaming should rightly be the core of her recordings...

Backing Both Horses: The Thinking Behind Tencent’s UMG Stake

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

6 Aug 2019

bytedance

i-mode

tencent

As long expected, Tencent is poised to take a stake in Vivendi, reported to be 10%. While the news might not be surprising, there are a number of important factors at play: Tencent fast-tracked? Given...

Big Machine (Inadvertently) Just Did a Promo Ad for Label Services Deals

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

1 Jul 2019

Amuse

awakl

Bandcamp

The sales of Taylor Swift’s former label Big Machine Records to Scooter Braun has resulted in an ugly spat that has been played out very publicly. First Braun enthused about acquiring a ‘brilliant’...

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...

Taylor Swift, Label Services and What Comes Next

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

22 Nov 2018

#MERKY

ADA

Billy Bragg

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...

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...

Spotify and the Music Industry: Who Needs Who More?

Blog post by Zach Fuller

6 Apr 2018

Kobalt

netflix

Sony

Following Spotify’s DPO earlier this week, much of the financial commentary around the listing emphasised the company’s loss-making status. Those familiar with Spotify’s business model know this...

Quick Take: Universal’s Partnership with Facebook

Blog post by Zach Fuller

22 Dec 2017

content id

content monetisation

Digital Media

Following its renewed deal with YouTube earlier this week, Universal has signed another landmark agreement for digital monetisation, this time with Facebook. Described by the world’s largest recorded...

Disney, Netflix and the Squeezed Middle: The Real Story Behind Net Neutrality

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

15 Dec 2017

Amazon

apple music

disney

Unless you have been hiding under a rock this last couple of weeks you’ll have heard at least something about the build up to the decision over turning net neutrality in the US, a decision that was confirmed...

What’s In A Number: Can Streaming Really Be Worth $28 Billion?

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

30 Aug 2017

goldman sachs

lehman brothers

streaming

Goldman Sachs just made some headlines with its assessment that Universal Music is worth $23.5 billion and that the paid streaming market will be worth $28 billion in 2030 (up from $3.5 billion in 2016...

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...

Universal And Spotify’s Deal Is An Even Bigger Deal Than It Looks

Blog post by Mark Mulligan

4 Apr 2017

Major labels

music licensing

Spotify

Universal Music and Spotify have finally agreed on terms for the streaming service’s new licensing deal which reportedly includes better rates tied to growth targets and premium windowing. Check out...

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...

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