Just weeks after reports surfaced that Sony Music Entertainment would acquire the recording and publishing rights to Queen’s music for £1 billion ($1.27 billion), new earnings figures from the band give us an idea of why the catalog may be selling for so much clue.
The latest annual report comes from Queen Productions Ltd. – the UK-based company responsible for collecting a band’s turnover, including recording and sync royalties as well as performance income – has now been published and reviewed by MBW.
The company reported GBP £39.47 million Revenue for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023. $49.1 million.
This means revenue is down slightly year-on-year 3.5% from £40.89 million (US$50.41 million), the company reported for the 2022 financial year, according to financial reports filed with the UK Companies House.
of £39.47 million Of the revenue in fiscal year 2023, royalties accounted for £36.1 milliondown Annual increase of 2.0% Beginning in fiscal year 2022.
However, year-over-year comparisons of royalty revenue may not accurately reflect queen’s music because, among other things, Queen Productions Ltd. Its numbers are not adjusted for currency fluctuations.
While the company reports turnover GBPa significant portion of its revenue comes from outside the UK.
In fact, Spotify data shows that Queen Traffic has been increasing over the past few years.
As of June 2024, the Queen is No. 43 Most played shows on Spotify, from No. 49 location one year ago 44th place two years ago. The band has 52.61 million Number of listeners per month, from 48.45 million listeners a year ago, and 40.3 million Two years ago.
Queen Productions It said the decline in revenue in fiscal 2023 was “partly due to lower live music touring license fees.” Royalties also fell from the same period last year bohemian rhapsody biopic, released in late 2018, and we will Rock Youis a musical written by Queen and Ben Elton that toured across the UK in 2022 and concluded in 2023.
However, Queen Productions noted that higher live performance revenue in fiscal 2023 offset some declines in other business segments.
“Licensing fees for live music tours are expected to increase next year, so the company is expected to generate similar revenue in 2019. [fiscal 2024] and the years thereafter,” the earnings report stated.
The company reported pre-tax profits of £19.65 million Fiscal Year 2023, downward revision Annual increase of 11.3%. Annual decrease in net profit margin 54% Fiscal year 2022 to 50% FY2023.
Queen Productions Owned equally by the three living members of the Queen – John Deacon, Brian Mayand Roger Taylor – and legacy Freddie Mercury.
Dividends paid to the company’s four shareholders in 2023 were significantly higher than the previous year. All in all, Queen Productions has paid £19.65 million to four shareholders, £12.19 million Payable in fiscal year 2022.
As of last year, Queen Productions owned the band’s master recordings outside the United States and Canada, which were owned by disneyand authorize them globally universal music group as its publisher and label partner.
The orchestra’s publishing rights are owned by another company, queen music ltd.and by Sony Music Publishing. Queen Music’s past financial statements indicate that its revenue was paid through Queen Productions.
“Licensing fees for live music tours are expected to increase next year, so the company is expected to generate similar revenue in 2019. [fiscal 2024] and the years that followed.
Queen Productions Ltd.
Of course, the whole arrangement is about to change if last month’s news that Sony purchased the rights to Queen’s catalog is true. (Sony has not officially confirmed the acquisition.)
according to a report The number of clicksSony will then transition from being the custodian of Queen’s publishing catalog outside of North America to owning global publishing and recording rights.
sony Sony will also become Queen’s global distributor when the band’s licensing agreement with Universal expires in 2026 or 2027. The number of clicks reported.
Sony’s acquisition also reportedly includes name and likeness rights – meaning we could be seeing Freddie Mercury’s face in new and unexpected places for years to come.global music business
