Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we make certain you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and cut back their touring prices.
We realized this week that Warner Music Group‘s long-awaited superfan app is transferring nearer to actuality, with Ed Sheeran lining up as its first featured artist.
In the meantime, $1 billion-valued Create Music Group introduced this week that it’s buying !K7, the Germany-headquartered music firm based by Horst Weidenmüller, who handed away in February on the age of 60.
Elsewhere, music manufacturing firm Epidemic Sound launched its 2024 earnings this week, exhibiting a powerful 29% YoY bounce in income and an much more spectacular 150% YoY acquire in adjusted EBITDA.
Plus, Invoice Ackman, a significant Common Music Group shareholder, voiced issues about Donald Trump’s commerce battle, becoming a member of many others on the planet of excessive finance calling for a “outing” on tariffs.
Additionally this week, a bipartisan invoice aiming to crack down on unauthorized deepfakes was reintroduced within the US Congress…
Warner Music Group‘s long-promised superfan app is transferring nearer to actuality, with a extra refined model now being examined by a choose group of customers, based on a brand new Wall Avenue Journal report.
The app, which options Ed Sheeran as its first featured artist, has progressed from its earlier beta model that was first made out there to some workers for testing in spring.
Sheeran is now “actively posting” on an in-development model of the app, based on the WSJ interview with Atlantic Data CEO Elliot Grainge.
Sources inform MBW that Warner continues to be experimenting, so the precise look of the app and its launch date stay up within the air…
After elevating $165 million in an funding spherical final yr, valuing it at $1 billion, Create Music Group is constant its acquisition spree, this time shopping for Berlin-headquartered impartial music firm !K7.
Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. The impartial music firm mentioned the acquisition is aimed toward preserving the legacy of !K7 founder Horst Weidenmüller, who handed away in February on the age of 60.
Weidenmüller was a German music government who based !K7 in 1985 in Berlin. He additionally served on the boards of IMPALA and Merlin.
“Although Horst Weidenmüller, the founding father of !K7, is not with us, his phrases and imaginative and prescient proceed to resonate,” mentioned !K7 CEO Tom Nieuweboer…
Sweden-headquartered music manufacturing firm Epidemic Sound has printed its annual report for 2024.
Monetary highlights from the report embody a 29% YoY bounce in revenues, to 1.921 billion Swedish kronor, or USD $181.62 million on the common trade charge for 2024.
Epidemic’s adjusted EBITDA, in the meantime, soared 150% YoY to SEK 147 million ($13.9 million), whereas unadjusted EBITDA elevated 24-fold to SEK 107 million ($10.13 million).
In response to Epidemic Sound’s annual report, the corporate boasts greater than 50,000 music tracks and 200,000 “Hollywood-grade” sound results…
Billionaire investor and main Common Music Group (UMG) shareholder Invoice Ackman issued a warning about US President Donald Trump’s world tariffs, describing them as probably triggering an “financial nuclear winter” if carried out as deliberate.
The evaluation comes from a notable Trump supporter, who has been campaigning to relocate UMG’s monetary headquarters and inventory itemizing to the US from Amsterdam.
In July final yr, Ackman endorsed Trump for president, shortly after an assassination try that noticed Trump get shot within the ear at a marketing campaign rally. 4 months later, Ackman requested that UMG transfer its domicile and itemizing to the US, which he mentioned would provide “extremely materials advantages.”
Ackman, by way of Pershing Sq. Holdings, controls 7.48% of UMG’s inventory…
A bipartisan invoice aiming to crack down on unauthorized deepfakes has been reintroduced within the US Congress, with the help of the music business and different artistic sectors, joined this time by some main tech firms.
The Nurture Originals, Foster Artwork, and Preserve Leisure Protected (NO FAKES) Act was initially tabled within the Senate in July 2024, however did not make it out of Senate and Home committees earlier than the tip of final yr’s session, as a consequence of a busy schedule that included finances negotiations… (MBW)
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their revenue and cut back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
