Sony Music’s recorded music revenue tumbles in Q2

The results were published under the parent company’s quarterly financials and Music Business Worldwide did the yen-to-dollar analysis. The company’s recorded music streaming revenues increased to $640m, up 5.9% year-on-year. But the 'Other' cateogry, which includes licensing revenue, merchandise sales and Sony’s income from live shows, fell 38.8% to $82.6m.

Physical recorded music sales also dropped 41% to $118m in calendar Q2. As a result, Sony’s streaming gains weren’t quite enough to offset its declines in the Other category. This resulted in total quarterly recorded music revenues of $911.6m, down 10.5% year-on-year.

The biggest sellers in calendar Q2 – excluding releases from Sony Music Entertainment Japan – were Harry Styles (Fine Line), Future (High Off Life), Doja Cat (Hot Pink), Travis Scott (Astroworld), Polo G (The Goat), Luke Comb (What You See Is What You Get) and Luke Combs (This One’s For You).

Across the first half of calendar 2020, Sony’s recorded music streaming revenues reached $1.282bn. That was up by 15.6% on the $1.109bn streaming haul the company posted in the same period of 2019.

Sony Corporation’s music publishing division, which includes Sony/ATV and Sony Music Publishing Japan, saw its revenues fall by 19.2% to $289m in calendar Q2, and streaming-related revenues for music publishing in the same period stood at $129m. Across the first half of the 2020 calendar year, Sony’s global music publishing revenues hit $656.5m, down 3.2% year-on-year.

“Around the world, the release of new music is being delayed primarily due to some artists being unable to record songs and music videos,” Sony Corporation said. “The impact on profitability from the delays in new music is limited at this time in the US and other countries where the proportion of music that is streamed is high. However, in countries like Japan where the proportion of music that is streamed is relatively low, CDs and other packaged media sales are decreasing due to restrictions on going outside.

“Ticket and merchandising revenues are also decreasing, as concerts and other events are being postponed and cancelled in Japan and other areas. Due to a global reduction in advertising spending, revenue from advertising-supported streaming services and revenue from the licensing of music in TV commercials is decreasing. Additionally, delays in the production of motion pictures and TV shows are causing a decline in music licensing revenue.”

Meanwhile, the other two major music rights holders, Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG), have also posted their figures for Q2. For recorded music revenues, UMG’s financials were down 4.5% year-on-year, while WMG’s fell by 5.7%. UMG and WMG's publishing revenues were up 24.5% and 1.4% respectively.