Sony Music Group generated $2.5bn in Q4 2023

This marked a 14% year-on-year (YoY), compared to calendar Q4 2022, as Sony’s overall music rights operation generated approximately $309m more in calendar Q4 2023. Its global recorded music operation earned the company $1.90bn in Q4 2023, up 14.8% YoY.

In Q4 2023, streaming generated $1.2bn, up 12.3% YoY. Streaming combines both subscription and ad-funded revenues generated by Sony’s global recorded music operation.

Quarterly revenues from physical music sales in calendar Q4 2023 hit USD $213m, down 2.7% YoY.

Sony’s ‘Other’ monetary category within recorded music generated $404m in calendar Q4, up 39.7% YoY on the $289m it generated in the Q4 2022.

‘Other’ includes licence revenue (public performance, broadcast and sync), merchandising and live performance income.

Sony’s global music publishing operation – led by Sony Music Publishing – generated $582m in the three months ending December 2023, up 11.2% YoY.

The company’s global music publishing operation received $344m of its quarterly revenues in the calendar Q4 2023 period from streaming, and increase of 17.3% YoY.

Sony Corp also issued financials for its corporate music division in Q4 2023. In calendar Q4 2023 (fiscal Q3 2023), Sony’s corporate music division posted a quarterly operating income of $515m. That represented an operating margin of 18% from total divisional quarterly revenues, including ‘Visual Media & Platform’, of $2.85bn.

In Q4 2023 (fiscal Q3 2023), Sony’s Music division posted an adjusted OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortisation) of $666m. That represented an adjusted OIBDA margin from total divisional quarterly revenues of 23.3%.

Sony Music Entertainment‘s 10 biggest recorded music projects in calendar Q4 2023 quarter (excluding artists signed in Japan) were:

• SZA – SOS
• Travis Scott – Utopia
• Rod Wave – Nostalgia
• Doja Cat – Scarlet
• blink-182 – One More Time…
• Mariah Carey – Merry Christmas
• Tate McRae – Think Later
• Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• Phil Spector – A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
• Fuerza Regida – Pa las Baby’s Y Belikeada