Blog: wmg

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.

Warner’s acquisition of DIVO showcases its focus on growing authentic local music cultures

Srishti Das

17 Feb 2023

RRR

Naatu naatu

goldern globes

A year ago, Warner Music Group (WMG) acquired a South African independent distribution company, Africori , which focused on distributing local scenes from Africa. Now, it has acquired a majority stake...

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WMG is moving beyond superstars – and that is a good thing

Mark Mulligan

16 Sep 2022

Fandom

fragmented fandom

Streaming

Warner Music Group’s ( WMG’s) Steve Cooper recently stated that the major is no longer financially dependent on superstars – which is, of course, quite a different thing from not being culturally...

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

Mark Mulligan

7 Jan 2022

Major labels

Streaming

music revenues

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,...

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2022 will be a reckoning point for cultural value in digital entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

5 Jan 2022

NFT

Niche

publishing

The turn of the year has kicked off with a bang for digital entertainment – well in keeping with the 20’s so far. $2.2 million worth of ape jpegs have been stolen . Vinyl sales were reported to have...

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The music industry’s centre of gravity is shifting

Mark Mulligan

16 Apr 2021

creator tools

music industry investment

music investment

Regular readers will know that MIDiA has been analysing the creator tool space for some time now and building the case for why the changes that are taking place will be transformational not just for the...

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What UMG’s IPO Means for the Business of Music

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...

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WMG to IPO: Here’s What You Need to Know

Mark Mulligan

7 Feb 2020

Access Industries

downtown music holdings

Len Blavatnik

Throughout the last decade more than $10 billion has been invested into music catalogues. UMG bookended the merger and acquisition (M&A) boom with the Tencent-led $3 billion stake in its business,...

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Music Publishing and the Catalogue Question

Zach Fuller

29 Jul 2019

music catalogue

Music publishing

Recorded music

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Somewhere in a field back in the summer of 2008, Rage Against the Machine used this line as the bridge in their...

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Just Who Would Buy Universal Music?

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...

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Taylor Swift, Label Services and What Comes Next

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...

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Spotify and the Music Industry: Who Needs Who More?

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...

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

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...

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