In this article, we discuss the 5 most valuable music companies in the world. If you want to read our detailed analysis of the music industry, go directly to 15 Most Valuable Music Companies in the World.
5. Universal Music Group (Private)
Estimated Valuation: $40 billion
Universal Music Group can easily be called the world’s largest record label and music recording company. The company itself is owned by the massive publicly listed media conglomerate— Vivendi (EPA: VIV). It owns multiple businesses relating to recorded music, music publishing, merchandising in more than 60 territories. Universal Music Group itself has also signed some of the biggest names in music currently including Kanye West and Taylor Swift.
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4. Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT)
Market Cap: $19 billion
Spotify is the game-changer of the music industry for a reason. It is a name known to all because the company brought music streaming to consumers more than a decade ago. The company has about 422 million monthly active users.
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3. Sony Music Entertainment, owned by Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY)
Market Cap: $103 billion
Sony Music is also a renowned name when it comes to the biggest record labels as it operates in over 40 countries currently. The company also owns several other record labels including Epic Records, Columbia Records, Arista Records. Beyond that, Sony Music Entertainment’s publishing company, Sony Music Publishing, manages over five million copyrights— more than any publisher in the world. Artists like Mariah Carey, Travis Scott and Shakira are some of the famous names that work with the company.
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2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Market Cap: $1.14 trillion
When we think of Amazon we may generally not think of the company being related to music. However, only some realize that a chunk of Amazon’s revenues that appear in financial statements come from their different business segments— one of them being Amazon Music. Amazon Music serves as a direct competitor to Spotify and adds millions of dollars to their media empire. It launched in 2007 and was the first service of its kind to sell music without digital rights management from mega record labels. It also brought independent artists on board which added to its hype.
Amazon Music provides a lossless listening experience with access to over 75 million tracks and more perks for Prime members. It concluded the year 2020 with over 55 million customers all over the world, projecting a growth rate of over 50%. 2020 was a huge year for Amazon because it announced ultra-HD quality music for its consumers.
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1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Market Cap: $2.3 trillion
Apple’s iTunes and iPod introduced digital music to the world which is why the company is also seen as a music stock. iTunes was later changed to Apple Music in 2015 and it launched its very first year with 11 million subscribers. It is now the second-largest music streaming service in the world although its profits beat Spotify.
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