Sony Music has reported an astonishing $1.82 billion increase in revenue for their first quarter of 2021, which represents a brutal 54% increase in comparison to last years’ figures. This amount of money coming from recorded music gives an image of how tough 2020 was for music labels and how they are now starting to recover after a tragic year.
But it’s not only the labels that have seen an impressive bounce back this year. Music publishing has also seen a notable rise in revenue, generating 51.6% more than 2020 with a total amount of $430.4 million in Q1. On the contrary, music downloads have suffered a slight decrease in comparison to last year, falling by 11.1% from $70.7 million to $61.7 million this year.
Festival promoters keep being one of the most damaged sectors in the music industry as they have directly suffered the consequences of the pandemic due to the government restrictions on gatherings and mobility. Although we have seen the return of some live events these past months, the vast majority of large-scale festivals are still on hold or being postponed to 2022, as we wait for the pandemic restrictions to loosen up.
Image Credit: Sony Music (via LinkedIn)
