Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
Earnings season is upon us, and this week Universal Music Group reported 9.5% YoY revenue growth for Q1, with subscription streaming revenues up 9.3% YoY.
Meanwhile, Spotify posted another record-high operating profit in Q1, at $535.6 million, while the paid subscriber base grew 12% YoY to 268 million.
Finally, South Korea’s HYBE posted a nearly 39% YoY jump in first-quarter revenue, to the equivalent of $348.4 million, driven by a tripling in concert revenue.
We also got word this week that music creation marketplace Splice has acquired virtual instrument library Spitfire Audio, marking Splice’s entry into the plugin sector.
Finally, MBW reported this week that Ole Obermann, formerly of ByteDance, and Rachel Newman have been named Co-Heads of Apple Music.
Universal Music Group delivered a strong start to 2025 with its Q1 earnings report on Tuesday (April 29), posting revenue growth of 9.5% YoY and adjusted EBITDA growth of 10% YoY at constant currency.
Subscription streaming revenues grew 9.3% YoY at constant currency to reach €1.252 billion ($1.317bn).
During the earnings call, UMG’s Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, COO and CFO Boyd Muir, and EVP and Chief Digital Officer Michael Nash offered insights into UMG’s performance and strategic initiatives.
Spotify grew its global Premium Subscriber base to 268 million paying users in Q1.
That’s according to the company’s latest financial results (for Q1 2025), filed Tuesday (April 29), in which SPOT reported that its Premium Subscriber base was up 12% YoY, and up by 5 million net subscribers on the 263 million that SPOT counted at the end of the prior quarter (Q4 2024).
The streaming company also posted a record-high quarterly Operating Income of €509 million ($535.6m), which was below SPOT’s guidance of €548 million for Q1.
Shortly before the earnings came out, news reports suggested Spotify is preparing a sweeping price increase across several global markets starting this summer, as the streaming giant aims to keep its profitability momentum…
South Korean entertainment powerhouse HYBE has achieved its highest-ever first-quarter revenue haul, surpassing the 500 billion South Korean won mark in the three months to the end of March.
HYBE reported KRW 500.6 billion (approx. USD $348.4 million at current exchange rates) in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday (April 29), a 38.7% jump from KRW 360.9 billion ($251m) last year.
This marked a recovery from Q1 2024 when HYBE’s revenue dropped 12.1% YoY to KRW 360.92 billion ($251.7m).
Concert revenue emerged as the standout performer, more than tripling YoY to KRW 155.2 billion ($108m) from KRW 44 billion ($30.7m), defying the market’s forecast for a 48.6% drop in concert revenue to KRW 74.6 billion ($52m)…
Splice — valued in 2021 at nearly USD $500 million after securing $55 million in funding – has acquired UK-based “high-end” virtual instrument library Spitfire Audio.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but according to the Financial Times, which cited a person familiar with the matter, the deal is worth about USD $50 million.
The acquisition marks Splice’s entry into the plugin sector, which it notes is valued at $640 million, and aligns with its existing subscription and rent-to-own businesses.
The move positions Splice to capitalize on the growing music creation market, forecast (by Midia Research) to nearly double to $14 billion by 2031…
In February, MBW broke the news that Ole Obermann was leaving his role as Global Head of Music Business Development at ByteDance after five and a half years.
Our sources told us that he had lined up a big role at Apple Music.
Now we can confirm that Obermann has indeed joined Apple, in a newly created role in music focused on strategy and innovation.
MBW understands that Obermann has taken up a joint leadership position at Apple Music alongside Rachel Newman as the new Co-Heads, Apple Music, reporting into Oliver Schusser…
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide
