“In its earnings call on Tuesday morning, Warner Music Group announced that it has now sold its entire stake in Spotify, realizing $504 million,” Jem Aswad reports for Variety. “CEO Steve Cooper said that the sale resulted in $126 million ‘credited to artist accounts on their June 30 royalty statements which are issued around the world in August and September.'”
“Of the other three label groups, Sony Music sold approximately 50% of its shares for an estimated $750 million, the company revealed in a public filing in May, while independent label collective Merlin sold 100% of its shares for an amount estimated at upward of $125 million and immediately distributed the earnings to its members,” Aswad reports. “Universal Music Group has not sold its shares, perhaps in anticipation of parent company Vivendi’s plan to sell 50% of that business unit.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Getting out while the getting is good.
If Warner Music Group were smart, they’d turn around and put that $504 million straight into AAPL.
Along with perfect integration with their iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and HomePods, smart people have 15 million more reasons for choosing Apple Music over Spotify:
You’d have to be stupid to subscribe to Spotify when it has 33% fewer tracks than Apple Music for the same price. Apple Music boasts a catalog of 45 million songs; Spotify has a mere subset of just 30 million. Don’t be stupid. If you’re still subscribing to Spotify, it’s past time for you to cancel it and upgrade to Apple Music. (See also: How to move your Spotify playlists to Apple Music.) – MacDailyNews, February 6, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Tastemaker George Ergatoudis leaves Spotify to join Apple Music – June 14, 2018
Apple revs up their own music publishing business – June 14, 2018
Oliver Schusser named new Apple Music chief as service passes 40 million subscribers – April 11, 2018
Apple Music hits 40 million paid subscribers milestone – April 4, 2018
Apple Music hits 38 million paid subscribers – March 12, 2018
Apple Music expands student membership pricing to 82 new countries – February 13, 2018
Apple Music poised to knock off Spotify – February 12, 2018
Apple Music was always going to win – February 6, 2018
Apple Music on track to overtake Spotify, become No. 1 streaming service in U.S. this summer – February 4, 2018
Apple Music and Spotify now account for the majority of music consumption in the UK – January 3, 2018
Spotify files for its IPO – January 3, 2018
Spotify hit with $1.6 billion lawsuit from music publisher – January 2, 2018
Apple Music passes Pandora and Spotify in mobile usage – March 29, 2017
Spotify hits 50 million paid subscribers – March 3, 2017
Apple Music surpasses 20 million paid members 17 months after launch – December 6, 2016
Oh ok, Spotify listeners are upgrading to Apple Music – July 19, 2015
Spotify CEO claims to be ‘ok’ with Apple Music – June 9, 2015
I have never understood why the big media companies allow wannabes like Spotify to become their gatekeepers, especially since everyone ditched DRM. Set up your own streaming/download service and keep 100% of the profit.
Check out Disney–no more Disney movies for Netflix.
Not saying its good for consumers, mind you, but why give another media company the golden goose when you can do it yourself?
Says more about Warner Music than Spotify.
Apple is still sucking hind tit after spending a fortune and giving away trial service to anyone who wants one.