SONY SOARS TO NEW STREAMING HEIGHTS

For the first time, Sony’s Recorded Music and Music Publishing units have collectively topped 200b yen in streaming revenue in a single quarter.

Recorded Music brought in 159.1b yen in third quarter fiscal 2022, a 33% spike over 2021’s fiscal Q3, and publishing was up 60% to 41.6b yen. Harry Styles, SZA, Beyoncé, Michael Jackson, Steve Lacy and Mariah Carey were key drivers.

In a presentation to shareholders, the company revealed that Sony Music averaged 38 songs per week in the Spotify Top 100 during the quarter.

Overall, Sony Music was up 23% to 363.7b yen despite the negative impact of the Visual Media & Platform unit. Operating income was 63b yen.

With the dollar strengthening against the yen in 2022, year-to-year comparisons are more valid by sticking with the yen. In Q3 of 2021, $1 equaled 113.7 yen; in ’22, a buck got you 141.7 yen.

The forecast of a nearly $10b fiscal year remains unchanged. In a related story, Rob Stringer has a strong yen to screen our calls.