SONY MUSIC TOPS $10B FOR SECOND STRAIGHT FISCAL YEAR

Sony Music has reported continued strong results for the fiscal year ending 3/31, with recorded-music revenue topping $10 billion for the second year in a row—a feat never accomplished before 2023.

The company’s overall revenue was up nearly 17% to 1.59 trillion yen ($11.1b). The Rob Stringer-led recorded-music division’s revenue of 1.07t yen—about $7.4b—in fiscal 2023 rose 20.4%, with streaming revenue up 18.5% to 709.5b yen. In the “other” category, which includes merch, revenue jumped nearly 60% to 221.4t yen ($1.53b).

Full-year music-publishing revenue posted an 18.1% gain to 326.7b yen ($2.3b), while streaming revenue climbed 21.1% to 185b yen ($1.3b), a 55% spike from fiscal 2022.

The numbers were powered by a host of superstar releases during the fiscal year, including Travis Scott’s UTOPIA, SZA’s SOS, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, Peso Pluma’s Genesis and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.

For fiscal Q4, Sony Music revenue was up 23.5% to 422b yen ($2.9b), with streaming-revenue growth pushing the overall recorded-music tally to a 29.4% increase (288b yen, $1.9b). UTOPIA and SOS were the company’s top-performing albums during this period, with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, 21 Savage’s American Dream and Bad Bunny's nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana contributing to the bottom line.

At 301.7b yen, Sony Music’s operating income remained the highest of any of the businesses under the Sony Corp. umbrella for the second year.

The overall numbers exceeded projections for revenue and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization provided during a February quarterly earnings call, with Sony Corp.’s full-year revenue posting a 13% increase on a constant-currency basis.

Looking forward, Sony Corp. is planning to partially spin off its lower-performing financial-services division in October 2025 so as to focus on its music, film and gaming sectors. The company projected a 4% increase in revenue and operating income for the ongoing fiscal year, which concludes 3/31/2025.