Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be certain you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their earnings and cut back their touring prices.
Common Music Group had one heck of a 2021.
The corporate, which trades on the Amsterdam Euronext, noticed its general annual revenues throughout publishing, data, and merch hit €8.50 billion ($10.03 billion) final yr, surpassing the USD $10 billion mark for the primary time in historical past.
That’s in line with UMG’s newly-published This autumn and FY monetary outcomes for final yr, which additionally reveal that the music big’s annual recorded music revenues in 2021 hit €6.82 billion ($8.06bn), up 16.9% YoY at fixed forex.
To place that recorded music income determine into context – adjoining to a different large story to hit our pages this week – UMG’s world recorded music revenues in 2021 had been round 4 occasions bigger than what the entire file business in Germany generated over the identical 12 months.
Arguably the most important music biz story of all this week, nonetheless, got here from gaming big Epic Video games and its acquisition of D2C music platform Bandcamp.
Whereas Fortnite maker Epic has been cosying as much as the music business for the previous few years, barely anybody within the enterprise might have guessed that that the agency would snap up a outstanding on-line file retailer and direct-to-fan platform.
Epic is backed by Sony Corp (a minority investor), whereas Tencent Holdings owns roughly 40% within the gaming big after investing $330 million in Epic again in 2012.
Epic says that Bandcamp will play an “vital position” in its “imaginative and prescient to construct out a creator market ecosystem for content material, know-how, video games, artwork, music and extra”.
Elsewhere this week, Neil Diamond bought his full tune catalog and grasp recording rights to Common Music Group, whereas Dua Lipa was sued for alleged copyright infringement over her hit Levitating.
Right here’s what hit MBW’s headlines up to now 5 days…
Common Music Group noticed its general annual revenues surpass USD $10 billion for the primary time in historical past in 2021.
That’s in line with MBW’s calculations primarily based on the music rights big’s newly-published This autumn and FY monetary outcomes for final yr.
Common, which trades in Amsterdam on the Euronext, yesterday (March 3) introduced its leads to the Euro forex.
These outcomes present that UMG’s complete world revenues for the yr – throughout publishing, data, and merch – weighed in at €8.50 billion ($10.03 billion).
That determine was up 17.0% year-over-year in fixed forex…
Epic Video games, maker of hit online game Fortnite and Unreal Engine has acquired on-line music retailer and direct-to-fan platform Bandcamp.
In a press release printed by Epic, the corporate says that Bandcamp will play an “vital position” in its “imaginative and prescient to construct out a creator market ecosystem for content material, know-how, video games, artwork, music and extra”.
In a weblog put up printed right this moment, Bandcamp’s co-founder and CEO writes that Bandcamp will proceed to function as a standalone market and music neighborhood, and he’ll proceed to guide its staff…
3) Neil Diamond sells full tune catalog and all grasp recordings to Common
2022 is shaping as much as be a blockbuster yr for catalog acquisitions.
On Monday (February 28), we discovered that Common Music Group has acquired the whole thing of iconic artist and songwriter Neil Diamond’s tune catalog (through Common Music Publishing Group), in addition to the rights to all recordings from his profession.
The settlement encompasses hits resembling Candy Caroline, Pink Pink Wine, Solitary Man, Cracklin’ Rosie, Tune Sung Blue, Love on the Rocks and America, and the catalog additionally contains 110 unreleased tracks, an unreleased album and archival lengthy type movies…
4) Dua Lipa sued for alleged copyright infringement over hit single Levitating
British pop star Dua Lipa has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly ripping off a observe by a band referred to as Artikal Sound System to create her hit single, Levitating.
Launched in 2020, Levitating was taken from Lipa’s album Future Nostalgia and has been streamed over 445 million occasions on Spotify alone, and has been considered over 475 million occasions on YouTube.
Filed in a California court docket on Tuesday (March 1), Artikal Sound System’s members declare that Levitating is “considerably comparable” to their very own tune Reside Your Life…
5) Germany’s file enterprise generated $2bn for second straight yr in 2021
Germany’s file enterprise revenues topped $2 billion (on a retail foundation) for the second yr in a row in 2021.
That’s in line with new figures printed by German Music Business Affiliation (BVMI) yesterday (March 3).
BVMI reviews that the German market’s revenues from bodily music gross sales and streaming generated a complete of €1.96 billion (roughly $2.2bn), a rise of 10% year-over-year in comparison with 2020….
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their earnings and cut back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
