Sam Taylor - CMU | the music business explained (Page 8)

Utopia! Whotopia? The Swiss music company has a Proper strategy…

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Utopia Music • 4 min read

Utopia! Whotopia? The Swiss music company has a Proper strategy…

What does a defunct 1990s London-based ad agency have to do with Swiss music company Utopia? It involves a fat man smothered in orange body paint, a tin of quick drying wood preservative, and an ill-considered photo shoot described to CMU as “looking like it took place in a brothel”...…

Sam Taylor • 28 Mar 2024

As BMG’s 2023 numbers show continued growth, could a merger with Warner Music or Believe be on the cards?

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BMG • 4 min read

As BMG’s 2023 numbers show continued growth, could a merger with Warner Music or Believe be on the cards?

BMG’s renewed spend on acquisitions - primarily music rights - over the past three years is starting to pay off. With €847 million invested since 2020 it could make a lot of sense for WMG to buy BMG. Or could BMG make a bid for Believe?…

Sam Taylor • 27 Mar 2024

French regulator AMF knocks back Believe consortium’s accelerated bid, giving Warner Music a chance to make a formal offer

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Believe • 5 min read

French regulator AMF knocks back Believe consortium’s accelerated bid, giving Warner Music a chance to make a formal offer

WMG has access to Believe’s data and fourteen days to make a binding offer for the business. What does that mean and what does it look like? Can Warner find the cash? Even if it can, the deal would bring Warner, Believe and Deezer under common ownership - and will that pass regulatory oversight?…

Sam Taylor • 25 Mar 2024

Prison sentence for unnamed Danish music executive in landmark “industry insider” streaming fraud case

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Streaming Fraud • 5 min read

Prison sentence for unnamed Danish music executive in landmark “industry insider” streaming fraud case

An unnamed Danish music executive has been handed prison time for streaming fraud that took place over a six year period between 2013 and 2019, involving music stolen from known artists and around half a million pounds in royalties…

Sam Taylor • 22 Mar 2024

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University Of Kent • 4 min read

University Of Kent axes music courses

The music industry has responded to the news that the University Of Kent is closing its music department. UK Music says it hopes that, as a General Election approaches, politicians will “reflect on the policy decisions” that have led to music courses being axed at this and other universities…

Chris Cooke & Sam Taylor • 22 Mar 2024

MIDiA shows $35.1 billion in global recorded music revenues - but what does that number actually mean?

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MIDiA • 6 min read

MIDiA shows $35.1 billion in global recorded music revenues - but what does that number actually mean?

It’s music stats season and tomorrow the IFPI’s £25,000-a-pop Global Music Report is released. MIDiA released its own global recorded music revenues report earlier this week - and with significant differences in headline numbers likely, we take a look at why that is…

Sam Taylor • 20 Mar 2024

Hipgnosis Songs Fund share price takes another battering as SONG says HSM made an “error” in key financial metric

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Hipgnosis • 5 min read

Hipgnosis Songs Fund share price takes another battering as SONG says HSM made an “error” in key financial metric

If you thought the Hipgnosis vs Hipgnosis drama was already peaking, think again. It might barely even have started. In an announcement today, SONG yet again marked down the value of its assets sending the share price plummeting further…

Sam Taylor • 18 Mar 2024

Think you understand the music industry’s revenue stats? Think again…

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Industry Stats • 4 min read

Think you understand the music industry’s revenue stats? Think again…

Headline stats for UK, France, Germany and Spain have been released in advance of IFPI’s Global Music Report - but they’re not as straightforward as they might seem. You can look at two sets of numbers that appear to represent the same thing, but are actually completely different.…

Sam Taylor • 15 Mar 2024

Believe x WMG takeover dance warms up as financial regulator is called in

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Believe • 10 min read

Believe x WMG takeover dance warms up as financial regulator is called in

We’re not calling it a takeover battle - yet. After Warner quietly threatened to get the French financial markets authority to step into its maybe/maybe-not bid for Believe the independent committee at the French indie giant has gone straight for the throat and called them in itself…

Sam Taylor • 12 Mar 2024

Popcorn, rotisserie chickens and lattes are out; air fryers, women’s socks and vinyl are in say ONS boffins

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Vinyl • 3 min read

Popcorn, rotisserie chickens and lattes are out; air fryers, women’s socks and vinyl are in say ONS boffins

Did you know that you can buy heated ponchos that you plug in and wear? Us neither. They are increasingly popular - though not as popular as air fryers, which saw 1175% YoY growth to September 2023. Meanwhile, the ONS has added vinyl music to the consumer price index for the first time in 32 years.…

Sam Taylor • 11 Mar 2024

CNM statement shows that Spotify’s rage about new French streaming levy misrepresents key facts

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Spotify • 6 min read

CNM statement shows that Spotify’s rage about new French streaming levy misrepresents key facts

Spotify seems to be angry with the world right now. After threatening to pull out of Uruguay over ER, it said that the new French streaming levy meant it would have to “disinvest” from the country. What’s wrong, and why is it lashing out quite so hard at France’s Centre national de la musique?…

Sam Taylor • 08 Mar 2024

France has stood firm against Spotify’s bullying - and Spotify is having a tantrum

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Spotify • 4 min read

France has stood firm against Spotify’s bullying - and Spotify is having a tantrum

Spotify has announced that it is raising its prices in France as the result of a new levy on streaming subscriptions. Previously the company threatened to “disinvest from France” if the government went ahead and introduced the legislation. Instead, users will be charged an extra 13 cents a month…

Sam Taylor • 07 Mar 2024