Tag: Record Companies

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Finance Music Top Stories

Warner Music Group Quarterly Revenues Up 16% – 2022

Billboard:

WMG’s fourth quarter revenues grew 16% overall on strong recorded music and publishing growth.

Warner Music Group, helped by digital revenue growth across recorded music and publishing, reported quarterly revenues rose 16% at constant currency (9% as reported) to $1.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, the company announced Tuesday (Nov. 22). Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation (EBITDA) grew by 16% to $276 million.

In his final quarterly earnings after 12 years as Warner Music’s chief executive, Steve Cooper said, “Against the backdrop of a challenging macro environment, we once again proved music’s resilience, with new commercial opportunities emerging all the time. We’re very well positioned for long-term creative success, and continued top and bottom line growth. We’re excited to have Robert Kyncl joining next year as WMG’s new CEO, as we enter the next dynamic phase of our evolution.”

You can read more @ this location.

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Instruction Listen Music New Releases Podcast Excerpts

How Royalty Points on Album Sales Work – Producer Beau Hill Explains – Music Royalties

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This excerpt was taken from the full in bloom interview with Warrant producer Beau Hill.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW VIA THE EMBEDDED YOUTUBE CLIP / SOUNDCLOUD WIDGET BELOW.

YOU CAN ALSO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW VIA APPLE PODCASTS & SPOTIFY.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT DESCRIPTION:

Beau explains how points on an album work, and reveals how many points he received on Warrant/RATT albums.

You can listen to the entire Warrant Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich interview @ this location.

Beau Hill Interview Excerpt via YouTube

Beau Hill Interview Excerpt via Soundcloud

fullinbloom · Producer Beau Hill Explains How Royalty Points on Album Sales Work – Music Royalties Explained EZ
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Entertainment Music Top Stories

Clive Davis on Jimmy Fallon – The Tonight Show

Clive Davis was a featured guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (1/23). The music mogul chatted with Fallon about his new documentary, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, the advice he gave Bruce Springsteen that changed his career and how the annual pre-Grammy party started.  Watch the video below.

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Music Tech Top Stories

Facebook/Universal Music Group Ink Multi-Year Deal

Facebook just inked a multi-year deal with Universal Music Group (UMG) that will allow Facebook users to share videos featuring music from the label’s massive catalog. In the past, Facebook’s users who uploaded videos that fell under the UMG imprint had them taken down.

No word on when users will be able to share music/videos via Facebook platforms, but word on the street says more music features could be coming soon.

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Music New Releases Top Stories

Steve Vai’s Favored Nations Records Partners w/ Mascot Label Group

Mascot Label Group has teamed up with guitar legend Steve Vai’s Favored Nations Records label. The strategic partnership is a reflection of the synergy created by the respect that Vai’s Favored Nations has garnered as the record industry’s leading boutique guitar oriented recording label, and the strength offered by Mascot Label Group as one of the largest, fastest growing, and dependable independent purveyors of recorded music in the world.

Ed van Zijl, Mascot Label Group: “This is another great step for Mascot Label Group. We are always looking to move forward and collaborate with the best musicians and minds in the business, so we are very excited to be working with the prestigious Favored Nations Entertainment and with the great Steve Vai. Our future together will be very exciting.”

Steve Vai will continue to spearhead his label’s artists and repertoire department, but Favored Nations Entertainment will now benefit from the advantages of Mascot’s well established business structure, which will provide strong marketing, publicity, and distribution on a worldwide basis.

Steve Vai: “We are absolutely thrilled that Favored Nations will be partnering with the Mascot label in Mascot overseeing all FN day to day biz. Ed van Zijl and Mascot have a powerful infrastructure including marketing, accounting, distribution and artist development and have always been a tremendously artist friendly camp. This partnership will also be freeing up more of my time to focus on the A&R function I enjoy most in owning a label.

“And I’m happy to report my first signing under this new deal, “The Mutual Admiration Society” presented by Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox. This record is a dream treat for the lovers of melodic beautiful sounding guitar. Along with the special guest artists who have contributed to this record, Sterling Ball’s unique technique and tone on the guitar is a surprise highlight.”

In addition to all future Favored Nations products, Mascot Label Group will also manage the re-release of the label’s back catalog.

Founded in 1999, Favored Nations provides a platform for artists of the highest caliber to deliver exciting, energetic, and emotional performances in a market that was virtually invented by founder Steve Vai. Favored Nations artists have included Johnny A., Larry Carlton, Peppino D’Agostino, Marty Friedman, Johnny Hiland, Allan Holdsworth, Eric Johnson, Stanley Jordan, Steve Lukather, Novecento, John Petrucci, Eric Sardinas, Neal Schon, Dave Weiner, The Yardbirds, and Dweezil Zappa, among others.

Favored Nations’ inaugural release with Mascot will be the debut by Sterling Ball’s new band, Mutual Admiration Society, which sees Ball teaming with drummer John Ferraro and keyboardist Jim Cox. Produced by the band, the record was mixed by Rich Mouser and engineered by Bill “The Sonic Doctor” Evans (Flying Colors, Galactic Cowboys, Neal Morse), whose ground-breaking mix technology, Harmonic Phrase Analysis, allows mixes to be created with unequalled transparency and detail. Special guests on the album include Steve Morse, Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, Albert Lee, John Petrucci, and session legend Jay Graydon.

Sterling Ball: “When John Ferraro, Jim Cox and I set out the make this record, it was a passion project to celebrate our love for music and guitar. It’s since grown to an incredible project featuring some of the greatest guitarists in the world, and more importantly life-long friends. It’s beyond an honor to be the first release by Steve Vai on Favored Nations, whom I consider to have one of the most discerning voices in guitar related music today”

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Music New Releases Top Stories

EMP Label Group to Relaunch Combat Records

Combat Records will be relaunched as a new label through EMP Label Group, the record company founded by David Ellefson of Megadeth.  The new Combat imprint will act as a conduit to support new and established metal artists, with great respect to the legacy of the past.  According to Ellefson, EMP Label Group do not own the rights to the the Combat catalog, which included artists like Megadeth, Circle Jerks, Nuclear Assault, OZ, Death, Dead Brain Cells, Possessed, Crumbsuckers, Agnostic Front, Agent Steel, Dark Angel, Heathen, Zoetrope and Exodus. Those rights are owned and controlled by SONY.

EMP Label Group’s Combat imprint will focus solely on new releases.

Statement from David Ellefson:
“So excited and honored to be able to revive such an iconic brand that was so instrumental to my history. Even though we signed to Capitol after Killing is my Business, Combat’s logo was on all the MEGADETH releases through COUNTDOWN TO EXTINCTION, and it truly was/is one of the most iconic metal labels of all time, even being home to some of the other artists who would end up on the EMP roster like Helstar.

“The same independent spirit that drove COMBAT in those early days is truly the same spirit that drives what we do with EMP Label Group. As always, thank you for your support, and stay tuned for more details!”

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Music

Universal Music Restructuring Sunset’s Distribution Division

The Universal Music Group has undergone some major reorganization in recent weeks following last year’s departure of Jim Urie, who served as the head of Universal’s distribution arm, Universal Music Group Distribution. Moving forward, the UMGD arm will be no more, though key executives of the branch will remain with Universal in other capacities. A spokesman for Billboard said that no layoffs are currently planned as part of the restructuring. UMGD’s former general manager, Candace Berry, was named executive VP of sales and will oversee account management, sales administration and public relations for Universal’s music imprints.

As part of the restructuring, Universal has shifted brand partnership responsibilities, previously handled by UMGD in conjunction with the Universal Music Enterprises office. Moving forward, these operations will be overseen by Mike Tunnicliffe, Universal’s executive VP of business development and partnerships. The company has also promoted Cynthia Sexton, formerly the executive VP of brand partnerships and licensing for Universal’s collection of East Coast labels. Sexton will now serve as executive VP of partnership content, with responsibilities including working with outside partners and maximizing revenue for UMG’s stable of artists. Angela Sanchez and Alisa Oleander have been given new titles as well, charging them with building and utilizing consumer and artist data.

Not all the new positions created by UMG’s restructuring will be filled from current staff, as several key acquisitions of outside talent will help fill out the roster. Sony executive Todd Goodwin was hired on, for example, to help build marketing strategies as Universal’s VP of college and lifestyle marketing, while ScoreBig.com’s Peter Sinclair was named Senior VP of consumer engagement. Sinclair will be charged with expanding UMG’s e-commerce platforms and direct-to-consumer operations, as well as strengthening fan relations for the label’s artists. Another new hire is Christine Webby, hired away from Warner Music Group, where she served as head of Artist Partnerships at the company’s Atlantic Record imprint. Webby will fill the newly created position of Senior VP, artist & label integrated rights, working with the company’s US-based labels to help maximize the value of ancillary rights.

The reason behind Universal’s restructuring, according to an inter-office memo sent to all Universal staff last week, is to “grow the business for our artists, labels, employees and everyone whose livelihood relies on creating commercial opportunities around music.”

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Music

Universal Music Reaches $11.5 Million Settlement Over Pay for Digital Sales

Universal Music Group agreed this week to pay $11.5 million in penalties over allegations that it had underpaid musicians for digital sales of their music. Filed on Tuesday and awaiting a judge’s approval, the settlement resolves a class-action case against UMG. Plaintiffs in the case number an estimated 7,500 artists, though only a handful of plaintiffs were identified. Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Traffic’s Dave Mason and Whitesnake have been among the most vocal plaintiffs involved. In essence, the claim against UMG claims that digital downloads should be classified as licenses rather than sales. The difference is significant, as artists only take 15 percent of sales, while they get paid 50 percent of sales whenever their music is licensed. Under the terms agreed upon this week, UMG will not have to admit wrongdoing, but will have to pony up the cash nonetheless. The company will increase its royalty payouts to artists moving forward, as well.

UMG’s settlement mirrors similar deals reached between artists and several other major labels. Warner Music and Sony each reached similar agreements in recent weeks, with Warner’s $11.5 million settlement matching UMG’s. In a statement, a spokesman for UMG said the label is happy to put an end to the matter amicably, though it is “confident we appropriately paid royalties on digital downloads and adhered to the terms of contracts.” Of the $11.5 million the label will pay, attorney’s fees and court costs will eat up just over $3 million, while about $200,000 will go to the named plaintiffs. The rest will be divied among artists who had recording deals with UMG or subsidiary Capitol between 1965 and 2004.

While the plaintiffs in the UMG case were pleased with the financial settlement reached, they were perhaps more pleased with UMG’s agreement to bump up royalties in the future. Across the board, UMG is increasing royalty rates by 10 percent. That means that if an artists signed a contract that pays them 15 percent for digital downloads, they will now be getting 16.5 percent. With the matter settled, artists will now likely turn their attention to how they’re compensated for streaming use of their music. At least one lawsuit has already been filed against Sony, challenging how that label accounts for streaming revenue and compensates artists.

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Finance Music

Music Industry Insiders Optimistic for Future

An international music industry trade group announced Wednesday that digital music sales equaled physical sales in 2014, for the first time in history. The group also reported that total revenue was down for the global recording industry, but expressed optimism for the industry moving forward. According to the annual report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, digital and physical music sales each accounted for 46 percent of total music revenues in 2014, with the remaining 8 percent coming from performance rights, royalties and so-called synch-fees.

Since 1998, global revenue for the recording industry has been in a steady decline as the industry has worked on monetizing digital distribution. It’s been an uphill battle, however, as for every legitimate service offering digital downloads or music streaming there has been other sources that facilitate piracy of copyrighted music. In recent weeks, several high-profile cases have been settled over how labels pay artists for musicians. Revenue from streaming services, however, is still an area where artists believe they should be paid more. Country / pop crossover superstar Taylor Swift was in the news earlier this month when she pulled all of her music from Spotify, the current global leader in music streaming. The subject was in the news again last week when rap mogul Jay Z launched his Tidal streaming service.

Despite the recent trend in music revenue, which has essentially seen global music revenue decline by half in seventeen years, many industry insiders and outside observers are optimistic about the record business moving forward. European investment bank Credit Suisse has suggested that the industry could return to growth as early as next year if the kinks are worked out of the streaming model. Spotify is continuing to expand, and has plenty of capital to fund, and YouTube and Apple are each working on their own music streaming services. One group of investors recently projected that by the year 2020, 5 percent of the world’s smartphone users will subscribe to a music streaming service. Subscription streaming services average about $120 per year, which is more than music fans were spending even in the industry’s heyday. With projections of about 5 billion smartphone users by 2020, 5 percent would work out to 250 million. At $120 each, that would be about $30 billion in annual revenue from streaming in five years. That is more than double the amount of revenue brought in this year by the entire industry.

One of the biggest hurdles facing the music industry involves Google’s YouTube, a video-streaming service that is considered the world’s number one source for fans to find new music. Unlike streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, YouTube is not bound by copyright laws, and the industry has been actively lobbying the government to change that. YouTube claims that it pays out hundreds of millions each year to artists and labels, but insiders say it falls well short of fair compensation considering the sheer volume of music available on the site. The issue is out of the industry’s hands, however, and can only be resolved by government action. Recent optimism across the industry proves, however, that the industry may finally be on the verge of overall growth as streaming revenue makes up for the decline in physical sales and digital downloads.

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Music

Music Sales Flat in 2014

The US retail music business was essentially flat in 2014 as increased streaming revenue helped offset the continued decline of CD sales, according to a report released this week by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As sales of digital downloads and streaming revenue continue to climb, the balance between physical and digital music sales is shifting, as physical shipments only accounted for 32 percent of all music revenue last year, down from 35 percent in 2013. Permanent digital downloads accounted for 37 percent of music sales last year, while streaming revenue accounted for 27 percent, up from just 21 percent in 2013.

While CD sales continue to slide, they still make up the bulk of physical sales of music, though other mediums are gaining. Last year, CD sales accounted for $1.85 billion of total music revenue, representing a 12.7 percent decline from the previous year. Vinyl continues to surge in popularity, meanwhile, with sales totaling $315 million in 2014. That’s an increase of 49 percent over 2013’s LP sales. As for digital music services, the numbers were up across the board last year. Revenue from paid streaming subscription services surged 25 percent to $799 million, while revenue from ad-supported streaming services grew 34 percent to $295 million. Revenue from Internet radio services like Pandora and SiriusXM also increased, jumping 31 percent to $773 million.

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Music

Government Reviewing Music Copyright Regulations

The federal government has started reviewing the so-called consent decrees that regulate how performing rights organizations, or PROs, handle music licenses and royalties paid out for musicians. The two decrees have been in effect since 1941, and the Department of Justice is taking a look at them after being asked to do so by some of the world’s largest music publishers and both major PROs. The process began this week with DOJ hearing comments on the issue from PROs, publishers, digital music providers and music listeners. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, meanwhile, has scheduled a hearing concerning the consent decrees for March 10th. A handful of music industry executives is expected to participate, including ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews.

The primary reason for reviewing consent decrees is to address concerns related to the digital age. The decrees were introduced well before there was an Internet, and industry bigwigs would like to see the decrees amended so that digital streaming rights are addressed. A group of music publishers are also asking Congress to reintroduce the Songwriters Equity Act, a measure that would update the US Copyright Act. The US Copyright Office has already issued recommendations on how copyright law might be changed, though those recommendations stopped short of endorsing the Songwriters Equity Act.

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Music

New Albums to Hit Shelves on Fridays, Starting this Summer

Starting this summer, the majority of music releases will take place on Fridays, rather than Tuesdays, thanks to a plan announced Thursday by an international music group. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), sort of a United Nations for the music business, suggested the change will increase sales, as most consumers get paid on Fridays. Why not put out music when everybody gets paid?, is the rationale behind the decision from the British organization. The group has been considering making the change since last summer, and has been gathering input from artists, label executives and retailers for months. In a statement, IFPI cited consumer research that suggests people are most interested in buying new music on Fridays and Saturdays.

Support for moving global release day to Friday has been overwhelming, coming from record stores, music fans, recording artists, labels and even Internet radio services like Spotify and Pandora. About the only opponents of the change have been independent record labels, who fear it will make it even harder to garner attention for their artists.

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Finance Music

Music Industry Trending Upwards

The music business is on its way back, according to comments made Wednesday by the industry’s most powerful executive. Universal Music Group Chairman Lucian Grainge, ranked at the top of Billboard’s Power 100 list of music’s top executives, spoke of a “return to growth” and a “return to health” for the industry. Grainge pointed out that the industry is finally zeroing in on ways to monetize digital sales of music, and spoke of music piracy as a problem of the past. The comments came as the UMG chief spoke at Wednesday’s Code Media conference in Dana Point, California. Grainge pointed to breakout pop singer Sam Smith as proof that that the industry can still make stars.

Grainge’s appearance at the Code Media event came on the same day that UMG announced a new partnership with Vessel, a start-up online video platform on which UMG will debut new music videos. Interestingly, Vessel already had a deal in place with VEVO, another online video platform in which UMG is an investor. When asked about the Vessel partnership, Grainge was less than enthusiastic. “We’ll see how they’ll do,” responded Grainge. “But if we’re going to transition to premium subscription, it’s a great part of that journey.” Grainge did not offer any insight when asked about Apple’s plan to align itself with major music labels, and also declined comment on the plans of rival Jimmy Iovine, the chairman of Interscope Geffen Records.