SONY MUSIC CLOSES OUT 2023 ON A FESTIVE NOTE

Rob Stringer's Sony Music Group closed out 2023 on a high note, with double-digit growth in Recorded Music and Music Publishing. The unit brought in 58.4b yen ($2.85b), a 16% spike over 2022.

Recorded Music hit $1.94b in the three-month period ending 12/31, a 15% increase in dollars and a 20% rise in yen. Streaming (up 12% in dollars) was the driver behind the growth, generating $1.26b. The live/merch category also delivered a strong showing, pulling in $404m, a 40% jump from 2022. Music Publishing was up more than 17% to $344m.

Top sellers in the quarter included music by SZA, Travis Scott, Doja Cat, Rod Wave and blink-182 along with strong performance from holiday repertoire by the likes of Mariah Carey and Phil Spector. In a presentation to shareholders, the company noted that five of Sony’s holiday song catalogs exceeded 1b streams in the U.S.

SMG also announced its intention “to expand opportunities to use the music and work to create new revenue in the artist-merchandise and event-promotion areas.”

Sony Music is forecasting a full fiscal year, which ends 3/31, of 1.57t yen, an increase of 10b yen from the previous forecast. In a related story, is it Christmas again yet?