The solely positive factor on this earnings season is unpredictability. Whereas the worldwide economic system stays resilient within the face of U.S. tariffs, and U.S. gross home product grew 3% in Q2, shares took successful from a weak U.S. jobs report on Aug. 1, and a few specialists imagine a continuing drip, drip, drip of detrimental developments will trigger “demise by a thousand cuts.”
Music corporations’ early outcomes additionally supplied blended indicators. Spotify, the primary music firm out of the gate on July 29, posted stable year-over-year progress however dissatisfied buyers with weaker-than-expected steerage for the third quarter. Spotify shares dipped 11.6% because of this. Two days later, Common Music Group (UMG) posted 4.5% income progress and eight.5% subscription progress. However buyers have been hesitant — was it an absence of margin enchancment or issues about money circulation? — and UMG’s share worth dipped 5.2% the next day.
Associated
Under are summaries, listed in alphabetical order, of each music firm to report second quarter earnings as of Aug. 13. Billboard will replace the web page as extra outcomes are introduced. (If the abstract features a hyperlink, click on on it to get the complete story.)
- Cumulus Media. The No. 3 radio firm within the U.S. posted a 9.2% drop in income and an 11.3% decline in adjusted EBITDA. Broadcast radio income was down 13.0% and digital fell 1.4%. CEO Mary Berner referred to a “difficult” promoting setting for legacy media corporations and famous that Cumulus created an extra $5 million in value reductions within the quarter, bringing its whole annualized value cuts to $175 million during the last 5 years.
- Deezer: Whole income was flat at 267.1 million euros ($298.1 million), and subscribers fell 7.6% to 9.2 million (subscriptions by means of B2B partnerships fell 21% to three.9 million). However the French music streamer managed its prices, leading to improved working loss and adjusted EBITDA. The corporate reiterated its perception that it’s going to end 2025 with each optimistic money circulation (for the second consecutive 12 months) and optimistic adjusted EBITDA. Go right here for the complete article.
- HYBE: South Korea’s HYBE mentioned on Aug. 6 that its second quarter income rose 10.2% year-over-year to $516.7 million, whereas working revenue jumped practically 30% to $48.3 million on account of profitable international excursions and releases from a number of of its artists, together with BTS members Jin and j-hope. Recorded music income fell by practically 8.5%, however that was offset by double-digit year-over-year will increase in merchandise and touring income. The corporate mentioned information of BTS members finishing their army service additionally drove record-high engagement for its superfan platform Weverse. For extra, learn the complete article.
- iHeartMedia: Though CEO Bob Pittman mentioned “there’s nonetheless uncertainty within the market,” the radio large was in a position to beat steerage and publish a 0.5% income acquire within the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA got here in on the excessive finish of steerage. Income for the multi-platform group, which homes the radio broadcasters, fell 5% to $545 million whereas digital income, led by podcasts, jumped 13% to $324 million. Learn the complete article for extra.
- JYP Leisure: A record-setting world tour by Stray Children helped Okay-pop firm JYP Leisure to $157 million of income, up 126%. Live performance income, additionally aided by DAY6 and Xdinary Heroes, rose 342% to a file $45 million. Merchandise income, aided by robust live performance gross sales, jumped 356% to $49 million, additionally a quarterly file. Click on right here for the complete article.
- Stay Nation: Consolidated income jumped 16% to $7 billion and live performance income improved 19% to $5.95 billion, proving that followers proceed to clamor for stay music regardless of no matter weirdness is happening within the economic system. Adjusted working revenue grew 11% to $798 million. Ticketmaster income grew 2% to $742.7 million whereas sponsorship & promoting rose 9% to $340.6 million. Try the complete article with earnings numbers and the follow-up with further insights from the earnings name.
- MSG Leisure: With out Billy Joel, whose residency at Madison Sq. Backyard concluded in July 2024, MSG Leisure’s fiscal 12 months revenue suffered. Income of $947 million was down 2% whereas web revenue of $37.4 million was down 74%. Within the fourth quarter, income from leisure choices fell 17% to $118.7 million. Go to the article for all the main points and administration’s feedback about fiscal 2026.
- NetEase Cloud Music: The Chinese language streaming service noticed income of RMB 3.8 billion ($529 million) within the first half of 2025, a 6.0% lower from the primary half of final 12 months. Working revenue, nevertheless, elevated 40.8% to RMB 845 million ($117 million). Income from on-line music providers was RMB 3 billion ($417 million), up 15.9% from the primary half of 2024. The corporate additionally noticed a rise in subscription income, which was up 19% to RMB 2.5 billion ($348 billion) within the first half of the 12 months.
- Reservoir Media: Quarterly income rose 8% to $37.2 million within the first quarter of fiscal 2026 on robust recorded music and sync income. Adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a well-liked measure of profitability, was up 10% to $13.9 million. Acquisitions within the quarter, which contribute to the corporate’s income from catalogs, embrace a strategic partnership struck with Idiot’s Gold and an funding in an experiential leisure firm referred to as Lightroom. Go right here for extra particulars.
- SiriusXM: SiriusXM reported that total income of $2.14 billion within the second quarter fell 2% from the year-ago quarter, pressured by decrease subscriber progress, a authorized settlement and better working bills. The satellite tv for pc radio large is rolling out a brand new $7 subscription choice to attempt to increase lagging advert income and subscriber progress. SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz mentioned they’ll cautiously roll out the brand new providing, as they push different initiatives aimed toward bettering their standing amid a “difficult…advert market.” The complete story is right here.
- SM Leisure: Album gross sales and occasions income from RIIZE and NCT WISH helped SM Leisure’s consolidated income enhance 19.3% to $216.5 million. Album and digital music income jumped 37.9% to $70.8 million, and merchandise and licensing income rose 39.6% to $45.7 million. Live performance income was flat at $24.0 million. For a breakdown of subsidiary income, try the article.
- Sony Music: Led by Unhealthy Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, SZA’s SOS and Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia, Sony Music’s consolidated income was up 5.3% to $3.22 billion within the first fiscal quarter ended June 30. A robust yen made year-over-year comparisons a problem. Recorded music was up 0.7% to $2.09 billion however improved 8.4% on a greenback foundation (Sony doesn’t report ends in fixed forex). Music publishing income rose 2.1% as reported; on a dollar-denominated foundation, it improved 9.8%. Extra information on the full article.
- Sonos. Income of $344.8 million was down 13.2% from the prior-year interval, the corporate introduced Aug. 7. Gross margin fell to 43.4% from 44.7% as CFO Saori Casey famous “a posh setting marked by tariffs and an unsure macroeconomic backdrop.” Go right here for Billboard‘s protection of Sonos, together with its current layoffs and the way it reduce gross sales projections after a disastrous app redesign in Might 2024.
- Sphere Leisure Co: Whole second quarter revenues rose 3% to $282.7 million, helped by a 16% enhance in revenue from extra live shows and company occasions on the Sphere venue in Las Vegas. That offset a 12% income decline within the MSG Networks division from a 12 months in the past. The Sphere division’s income of $175.6 million was pushed by a $26.7 million enhance in event-related revenue from company occasions and 9 extra live shows in comparison with the prior-year quarter. Extra particulars on the full article.
- Spotify: The streaming large loved one other quarter through which it beat its personal subscriber and month-to-month person progress targets, however a lukewarm monetary forecast from executives and decrease quarterly working revenue on account of forex fluctuations and taxes brought about a pointy one-day selloff in its inventory. Try our article in regards to the earnings launch and a follow-up story with takeaways from the corporate’s second quarter outcomes.
- Tencent Music Entertainment: The Chinese language streamer noticed Q2 income soar practically 18% to eight.44 billion RMB ($1.18 billion), thanks largely to 26% progress in its music providers division. Whole subscribers rose 6.3% to 124.4 million, driving a 17% year-over-year enhance in music subscriptions income to 4.38 billion RMB ($611 million). Government chairman Cussion Pang added that music-related providers comparable to promoting, live shows and artist merchandise “confirmed spectacular momentum.”
- Common Music Group: Income elevated 4.5% to $3.38 billion whereas recorded music subscription income rose 8.5% to $1.36 billion (all progress figures in fixed forex). Elsewhere, music publishing soared 14.5% with a lift from Chord Music Companions, however each merchandising and bodily recorded music dipped. For extra, learn our earnings story and a follow-up article with takeaways from the outcomes.
- Warner Music Group: WMG reported income grew to $1.7 billion within the final quarter, because of a double-digit enhance in publishing income and powerful subscription streaming returns. That helped offset the influence of shedding BMG as a distribution consumer and helped push Warner’s inventory worth up by 3.5%. All the main points on the full article. Extra insights are within the follow-up article.
- YG Leisure: The Okay-pop firm behind BLACKPINK improved its Q2 income 11.6% to 100.4 billion KRW ($72.2 million). Working revenue improved to eight.4 billion KRW ($6 million) from an 11 billion KRW ($7.9 million) working loss within the prior-year interval.
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