This week, a new report from economist Will Page revealed that the global value of music copyright reached an all-time high of $47.2 billion in 2024.
Meanwhile, YouTube announced it will stop providing data to Billboard‘s US charts after more than a decade, following changes to Billboard’s streaming methodology.
Elsewhere, HYBE made a push into Africa via a new partnership with Tyla’s managers Brandon Hixon and Colin Gayle.
Also this week, The Weeknd closed a reported $1 billion catalog deal with Lyric Capital while maintaining creative control.
Additionally, MBW broke the news that Universal Music Group proposed divesting Curve to address European Commission competition concerns over its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. GLOBAL VALUE OF MUSIC COPYRIGHT REACHED $47.2 BILLION IN 2024, SAYS NEW WILL PAGE REPORT
The global value of music copyright (both recordings and compositions) reached a new all-time high of $47.2 billion in 2024.
That’s according to a new report from Will Page, the former Chief Economist at both Spotify and UK collection society PRS for Music, published on Page’s website, Pivotal Economics.
The 2024 figure was up just $2.3 billion (5.2%) on the prior year. According to the report, “growth is slowing largely because this is the first year where the pandemic effects have vanished”… (MBW)
2. BILLBOARD JUST MADE ‘FREE’ STREAMS WORTH MORE ON ITS US CHARTS. YOUTUBE IS STILL NOT HAPPY – AND IS PULLING ITS DATA.
YouTube says it will soon stop providing data to Billboard for inclusion in the US charts, ending a partnership that has lasted more than a decade.
The decision, announced on Wednesday (December 17) by Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, comes just one day after Billboard revealed changes to its chart methodology that will actually narrow the weighting gap between paid and ad-supported streams.
Under Billboard’s current formula for the Billboard 200, one album ‘unit’ equals 1,250 paid/subscription streams or 3,750 ad-supported streams — a 1:3 ratio.
Billboard’s new methodology tightens that ratio to 1:2.5, with one album unit now equalling 1,000 paid streams or 2,500 ad-supported streams… (MBW)
3. HYBE ‘TO BUILD A GLOBAL PLATFORM FOR AFRICAN TALENT’ VIA NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH TYLA MANAGERS BRANDON HIXON AND COLIN GAYLE
South Korea-born entertainment giant HYBE has been rapidly growing its geographic footprint beyond its home market over the past few years.
First, it expanded into Japan, followed by the United States, and then Latin America in late 2023.
More recently, the company established operations in China (April 2025) and India (September 2025). Now, after expanding across Asia and the Americas, HYBE is making a push into Africa… (MBW)
4. THE WEEKND CLOSES $1 BILLION CATALOG DEAL WITH LYRIC CAPITAL (REPORT)
The Weeknd has closed a deal with Lyric Capital Group that brings outside investment into his music catalog while keeping the artist and his team as shareholders with “creative control” over his catalog.
That’s according to a report from Variety over the weekend, which cited confirmation from representatives for the artist. The reported confirmation arrives less than four months after Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Canadian singer is looking to raise roughly USD $1 billion in financing backed by his stake in publishing rights and master recordings.
The news outlet reported at the time that New York-based Lyric Capital was leading the talks and that the artist already reached out to other investors to assemble the financing package of up to $1 billion… (MBW)
5. EXCLUSIVE: UMG PROPOSES SELLING CURVE TO SECURE EU APPROVAL FOR $775M DOWNTOWN DEAL
Universal Music Group has proposed divesting Downtown’s Curve royalty accounting business to address European Commission competition concerns over its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
UMG submitted formal commitments to the EC on December 11, outlining a plan to sell Curve Royalty Systems as a standalone business to an independent buyer approved by the Commission.
The EC sent out letters last week to potential buyers as part of the proposed divestment process. A document outlining the remedies package, seen by MBW, commits UMG to divesting the entire Curve business, including all employees (except two retained engineers), customer contracts, and the Curve Platform software and related assets... (MBW)
Partner message: MBW’s Weekly Round-up is supported by BMI, the global leader in performing rights management, dedicated to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the value of music. Find out more about BMI here. Music Business Worldwide
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