Sony Corp will soon own 90% of EMI Music Publishing, following a $2.3bn cash deal with Mubadala Investment Company. The two parties have inked a legally binding memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) for the sale of a Mubadala-led consortium’s 60% equity interest in EMI Music Publishing to Sony Corporation of America. The deal values EMI Music Publishing…
Tag: sony music entertainment
YouTube solidifies deal with Sony and Universal, moves closer towards paid service launch
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that YouTube‘s music streaming service could arrive as early as March. The service, which has tentatively been titled Remix, has been experiencing delays in its launch due to its failure to negotiate agreements with major music publishers. Negotiations with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group have been ongoing for quite some time, and until now…
Popular YouTube audio ripping website ‘youtube-mp3’ has been shut down
The world’s largest audio ripping site, youtube-mp3.org ,has been shut down after a consortium of labels including Warner Music Group, Sony Music, and UMG filed a lawsuit to shutter the site. Unsurprisingly, the ruling went in favor of the music labels, with the website ordered to pay a substantial settlement fee, as well as transfer its…
SONY MUSIC BECOMES FIRST MAJOR RECORD LABEL TO LEGALIZE (UNOFFICIAL) REMIXES IN GAME CHANGING MOVE
Sony Music unexpectedly just became the first major record label to legalize unofficial remixes and DJ mixes — a real game changer for electronic music! The move comes as Sony signs a deal with Berlin-based startup Dubset, a company that works on “fingerprinting” mixes to provide royalties to rightful sample owners. So, when Sony artists are incorporated into…
Spotify Scores New Licensing Deal With Sony
Spotify has reached a licensing agreement with its second major label this year, Sony Music Entertainment, after months of negotiations. Billboard reports that the new deal follows the music streaming giant’s multi-year licensing agreement with Universal Music Groupannounced back in April. The agreement terms allowed for Universal’s artists to limit new album releases to paid subscribers only for two weeks, marking a change from…
TWO MAJOR LABELS REPORTEDLY IN DISCUSSIONS TO ACQUIRE SPINNIN’ RECORDS
According to trusted sources of Music Business Worldwide, ownership of indie dance label powerhouse Spinnin’ Records is supposedly up in the air. Sources also revealed that both Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are currently in contention to acquire the Dutch record label. Private equity organizations are also said to be in the mix at this point in time but don’t…
2016 NUMBERS REVEAL UNIVERSAL AS THE LARGEST MUSIC GROUP AGAIN DESPITE SONY & WARNER MARKET SHARE GAINS
The number for fiscal 2016 are just in and per Music Business Worldwide, SONY Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have gained on Universal Music Group, the largest record label in the world. All in all, it was a good year for the recording industry with both record labels and music publishers reporting growth on…
KYGO & SELENA GOMEZ RELEASE ‘IT AIN’T ME’
‘It Ain’t Me’, the new single from Kygo & Selena Gomez, is out now on Sony Music International. The first piece of offical new music since Kygo released his acclaimed 2016 debut album ‘Cloud Nine’, ‘It Ain’t Me’ is now available to stream below. Producer, musician, songwriter, DJ and pop phenomenon, Kygo became the fastest artist…
SONY MUSIC EARNED $1.2BN FROM STREAMING PLATFORMS IN 2016
Sony Music Entertainment generated 134.83bn Yen ($1.24bn) from streaming music in calendar 2016 – and 40.65bn Yen ($372m) in the three months to end of December alone. That means Sony’s recorded music division is now earning approximately $124m every month, $31m every week, $4m every day and $167,000 every hour from the likes of Spotify and…
Sony Music tweet ‘death’ of Britney Spears in suspected Twitter hack
Sony Music tweet ‘death’ of Britney Spears in suspected Twitter hack On December 26, Sony Music’s official Twitter account sent out two tweets announcing the “death” of Britney Spears. One of the tweets blamed her supposed demise on an “accident” and promised more details would be on the way. The official Twitter account of Sony…
PRINCE’S VAULT OF UNRELEASED MUSIC IS ON SALE FOR $35 MILLION
PRINCE’S VAULT OF UNRELEASED MUSIC IS ON SALE FOR $35 MILLION Universal, Sony and Warner are all in talks… Prince’s famous vault — that is rumoured to contain four decades worth of unreleased music and recordings — is up for sale for $35 million. All three major labels — Universal, Sony and Warner — are…
“Big Three” Labels Sue YouTube Ripping Website
“Big Three” Labels Sue YouTube Ripping Website Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group – collectively, the “Big Three” record labels – have filed a lawsuit against the world’s most popular YouTube ripping website, YouTube-mp3.org. The website is one of the primary offenders of unlawful stream ripping in the world, accounting for more than 40% of…
SONY MUSIC INKS NEW EXCLUSIVE CHINA DEAL WITH TENCENT FOR DIGITAL CATALOGUE
SONY MUSIC INKS NEW EXCLUSIVE CHINA DEAL WITH TENCENT FOR DIGITAL CATALOGUE Sony Music Entertainment has renewed its partnership with Tencent Music for the exclusive digital distribution of the major’s master recordings across mainland China. According to the IFPI, China generated $169.7m for recorded music rights-holders last year – up 63.8% on 2014 – making…
SONY & SOUNDCLOUD FINALLY REACH A DEAL
SONY & SOUNDCLOUD FINALLY REACH A DEAL Sony Music Entertainment has not only licensed SoundCloud, but taken equity in the streaming business as part of the deal. The world’s second largest record company, Sony will not only receive stock inSoundCloud, but has also been invited to participate in the Berlin-based platform’s next funding round. Having…
RECORD LABELS WIN $22.2M IN LAWSUIT AGAINST MP3SKULL
RECORD LABELS WIN $22.2M IN LAWSUIT AGAINST MP3SKULL Music labels are in a constant war with illegal filesharing sites, and their newest battle has resulted in a major victory. A group of US labels filed a lawsuit against website MP3Skull.com, winning over $22 million in damages. The judge presiding over the case awarded the record labels maximum…
WARNER AND UNIVERSAL WIN ANTI-PIRACY ORDER AGAINST ‘RUSSIA’S FACEBOOK’
WARNER AND UNIVERSAL WIN ANTI-PIRACY ORDER AGAINST ‘RUSSIA’S FACEBOOK’ SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 BY TIM INGHAM Universal and Warner have scored a significant legal ruling against Russian site vKontakte (VK), following an 18-month battle in the courts. VK, the second largest social network in Europe, has become known as ‘Russia’s Facebook’. Unlike Mark Zuckerberg’s creation,…
UNIVERSAL CLAIMS 43% OF MAJOR LABEL MONEY IN FIRST HALF OF 2015
UNIVERSAL CLAIMS 43% OF MAJOR LABEL MONEY IN FIRST HALF OF 2015 SEPTEMBER 6, 2015 BY TIM INGHAM Universal Music Group took 42.7% of total revenues accrued by the major record companies in the first half of 2015, MBW can reveal – slightly down year-on-year. As explained in the below in-depth MBW…
