From the bidding war for Hipgnosis Songs Fund to ByteDance’s battle for TikTok in the US… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome Music business worldwideour weekly roundup – where we make sure you catch the five biggest stories we've covered over the past seven days. The compilation of MBW was supported by Centtriphelping more than 500 of the world's best-selling artists maximize income and reduce touring costs.

The war is going on between Harmony And Slat because Hipgnosis Song FoundationConcord's fortune has been a breathtakingly fast-moving story ever since Concord made one 1.4 billion USD all-cash offer for Hipgnosis last week.

In just a few days, investment giant Blackstone reached 1.5 billion USD made its own offer, and Concord responded with an update 1.51 billion USD suggestion. On Thursday (April 25), Blackstone issued comments to the market and HSF shareholders.

Another fast-moving story this week involves a new U.S. ban or divestment law aimed at TikTokThis could have a major impact on the music business.

Chairperson Joe Biden signed the bill into law one day after the Senate voted to pass it. Since then, news reports have tried to predict the parent company will ByteDance will respond, with one report saying it could sell TikTok's US operations but without the algorithm, while another report said the company would rather discontinued operations in the US rather than selling.

We also got quite a bit of data on the state of the music industry this week, to say the least RIAA'S Latin music reportshow sales of music recorded in Latin hit a pace 16% YoY jump into America, to 1.4 billion USD.

SpotifyMeanwhile, the company reported its highest-ever quarterly operating profit in Q1, hitting 168 million USDas the number of paid subscribers increased by 3 million quarter-on-quarter, up 239 million. The resulting (albeit short-lived) surge in Spotify's stock price gave the CEO a boost Daniel Ek Perfect opportunity to sell 400,000 units of stock.

Finally, headquartered in France Trust report one 15.9% YoY increase quarterly revenue, up 250 million USD. The company noted that some of that growth came from Music streaming services increase prices.

Here's what happened this week…

1) AFTER CONCORD BIDDED $1.511 BILLION FOR THE HIPGNOSIS SONG FUND, BLACKSTONE TOLD HSF SHAREHOLDERS: DON'T MOVE THE MUSCLES, WE'LL BE BACK NOW

On Wednesday (April 24), we learned about the latest chapter in the takeover saga surrounding the UK-listed company. Hipgnosis Song Foundation.

Harmony gave one 1.511 billion USD auction of company assets, at $1.25 per share. That bid was slightly higher than recent bids 1.50 billion USD offer to take over from Slathas HSF value at level $1.24 per share.

Concord is then back in the driver's seat in the battle to buy the Hipgnosis Song Fund… for now.

On Thursday (April 25), Blackstone launched one Short but engaging comments to the market, especially to HSF shareholders, following Concord's new offer.

It reads in part: “Blackstone strongly advises Hipgnosis shareholders to no action and is considering my options. A further announcement will be made at the appropriate time…”

2) BYTEDANCE WILL CLOSE TIKTOK IN THE US IF LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST THE BAN FAILS (REPORT)

On Wednesday (April 24), President Joe Biden signed into law a bill requiring it TikTokparent company of – tech giant based in China ByteDance – divest the app business in the US or face a ban in the marketplace where the app is counted around 170 million user.

Quoted source, Information on Thursday (April 25) reported that TikTok's parent company “are exploring internal scenarios” to sell the app's US business Not available Its powerful recommendation algorithm, powers the 'For You' feed.

ByteDance is denied Informationreported through a statement published on the media platform Toutiao.

Late Thursday, Reuters reported that TikTok's parents “want” Turn off the app in the US If it cannot successfully challenge the law in court…

3) SPOTIFY SUBSCRIBER BASE INCREASES 3M TO 239M IN Q1, AS COMPANY POSTS BIGGEST QUARTERLY PROFITS EVER

Spotify saw an increase in the number of global Premium Subscribers 239 million paying users in Q1 – and achieved its biggest ever quarterly profit in the three months to the end of March.

In Q1, Spotify's Premium/subscription revenue grew 21% YoY at constant currency levels to 3.247 billion euros (3.525 billion USD) and was driven, according to SPOT, by subscriber growth and premium ARPU increases €4.55 ($4.94) – upward 7% YoY in fixed currency.

In terms of profits, Spotify posted an operating income of 168 million euros (182.41 million USD), which it noted in its investor presentation was a “new quarterly high” and reflected “lower staffing, related costs and marketing spend.”

During the company's investor meeting this week, CEO Daniel Ek has confirmed that Spotify will continue to stratify and diversify its subscription plansincludes 'music only' and 'audiobooks only' options.

Spotify saw its shares skyrocket after the earnings report, giving Ek the perfect opportunity to sell 400,000 units of Spotify stock, which he did this week, because 118.8 million USD…

4) LATIN MUSIC GENERATED $1.4 BILLION IN THE UNITED STATES FIVE YEARS IN MEMORY MUSIC REVENUES – UP 16% YOY

Latin music continues to be one of the recording industry's greatest success stories.

Total revenue generated by Latin music in the United States surpassed $1 billion for the second consecutive year in 2023, reaching 1.4 billion USD.

That's according to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), was published at the end of the year Latin music report on Tuesday (April 23) for the world's largest recorded music market.

The report shows that on a retail basis (amounts spent on streaming subscriptions as well as physical and digital music), Latin music revenue grew 16% YoY in the US by 2023, far ahead of the general market…

5) TRUST TO CREATE 250 MILLION USD IN Q1, AN INCREASE OF 15.9% over the same period

Music company based in Paris Trust announced financial results for Q1 2024 (the three months to the end of March).

The company has achieved revenue 230.3 million euros in Q1, convert to 250 million USD according to the average quarterly exchange rates published by the European Central Bank.

According to Believe's filing, released on Wednesday (April 24), the company's quarterly revenue grew 31.7 million eurosfrom 198.6 million euros in Q1 2023, reflecting an increase 15.9% YoY.

Believe said Wednesday that “healthy premium streaming growth continued” in Q1, “lifted by price increases by some DSPs….”

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