0:54 23 September 2021
Music rises from the ashes
Ben Laidler, the global market strategist at eToro, said the music sector has very good prospects. The world's largest record label Universal Music (UMG) is just entering Euronext Amsterdam, as the owner of Vivendi has allocated 60 percent of shares counting on a valuation of over $39 billion. The music streaming boom has allowed the industry to recover from its ashes and is now approaching 20 years ago revenues. A strong IPO would empower UMG owners, investors, competitors, radio and potentially increase streaming.
"Global revenue from recorded music last year was $21 billion. As reported by the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry), as much as 62 percent came from streaming," Ben Laidler said.
In his opinion, the growth in streaming was influenced by developing markets, low prices, while sources of revenue are expanding to video games, fitness applications, and social media. This compensates for some of the losses resulting from the fact that some of the most popular performers are more and more willing to release music on their own, reaching their audience directly, bypassing record labels.
Good prospects for the sector are also helped by the largest streaming platform Spotify, which, together with Apple Music, pays ⅔ of sales to record companies.
(WBJ)
