Now that all the major music companies have reported earnings for the quarter ended March 31, it’s a good time to reflect on the notable performances in the bunch. Most companies posted good results and showed that music is a reliable business during times of uncertainty, with nearly all trending in the right direction (though companies not mentioned here didn’t necessarily have something to crow about). But because companies naturally experience ebbs and flows — a slow new release schedule or heavy sales of low-margin vinyl records can wreak havoc on market perceptions — the results for any one quarter won’t tell the entire story.
Below, I run down a few notable and/or interesting highlights from the latest earnings releases. For a full recap of earnings reports, refer to Billboard’s 2025 Q1 earnings roundup, which provides quick summaries of music companies’ earnings reports issued from April 29 to May 28.
Best top-line revenue growth: 22% by CTS Eventim
German concert promoter and ticketing company CTS Eventim’s top-line revenue got a boost from its 2024 acquisitions of See Tickets and France Billet, as consolidated revenue jumped 22.0% to 499 million euros ($525 million). Growth of the existing business was “slightly higher” than a strong prior-year period, CFO Holger Hohrein said on the May 22 earnings call. Ticketing revenue improved 16.9% to 214 million euros, a record for the first quarter. Retail tickets sold improved 42.1% to 40.5 million. Live entertainment revenue increased 24% to 292 million euros ($316 million), also a first-quarter record.
Best streaming growth, record label: 9.5% by Universal Music Group (UMG)
Subscriptions helped offset a lackluster 2.9% increase in other streaming revenue, including ad-supported streaming, resulting in overall streaming growth of 9.5%. UMG executives have told investors they can achieve long-term recorded music subscription growth of 8% to 10% through 2028. While the figure bounces from quarter to quarter — and has fallen well below the target range — UMG landed above the high end of the target by achieving recorded music subscription revenue growth of 11.5% in the first quarter. The subscription growth was “driven primarily by growth in the number of subscribers, and to a much lesser extent, helped by certain price increases,” COO Boyd Muir said during the April 29 earnings call.
Best subscription growth, streaming platform: 16.6% by Tencent Music Entertainment (TME)
TME’s subscription growth dominated the quarter for two reasons. First, average revenue per user improved 7.5% to $1.57, in part from the popularity of the Super VIP tier that costs five times as much as a normal subscription. Second, the number of subscribers grew 8.3% to 122.9 million. With more people paying a higher monthly fee, subscription growth rose to 17%. The ripple effects could be seen elsewhere: gross profit margin rose to 44.1% from 40.9% in the year-ago period, and the percentage of paying subscribers versus all music users improved to 22.1% from 19.6% a year earlier.
Most surprising new business segment: Tencent Music Entertainment’s physical music sales.
In the first quarter, TME had a 10-day “head-start presale” of the Teens in Times album Beyond Utopia. TME also sold physical albums for One Hundred Thousand Volts by Silence Wang. For the K-pop artist G-Dragon, TME conducted a presale of light sticks and other products and offered limited-edition merchandise to buyers of his digital albums.
Most impactful executive quotes: Sphere Entertainment Co. Executive chairman/CEO James Dolan and Vivid Seats CEO Stan Chia
Two vastly different companies provided contrasting takes on the state of live music demand. Amidst reports of falling international tourism to the U.S., Sphere Entertainment Co. CEO James Dolan downplayed concerns about visits to Las Vegas and attendance at the Sphere venue. Even if tourism took a hit, Dolan explained that “demand exceeds capacity, so we have room to absorb any issues from that.”
On the other hand, Stan Chia, CEO of secondary tickets marketplace Vivid Seats, described a more challenging landscape. The quarter “fell short of our expectations,” he said during the May 6 earnings call. Chia blamed the shortfall on “robust competitive intensity” and “softening industry trends amidst consumer uncertainty.” What’s more, he added, “economic and political volatility has impacted consumer sentiment, and this uncertainty can also impact how and when artists and rights holders go to market.” A 14% decline in revenue, combined with Chia’s comments and the company’s suspension of full-year guidance, caused a 38% one-day decline in Vivid Seats’ share price.
