Three of the largest companies in the music industry, Live Nation, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group, have reported revenue losses in the second quarter of 2020. All three organizations cited the COVID-19 pandemic as the main culprit of their losses.
Live Nation reported the worst second quarter decline of the group. As a company with a revenue model tied to live performances and concerts, Live Nation typically thrives in the second quarter, when the peak of festival season arrives. Instead, the company reported a 98 percent loss in revenue this quarter compared with the second quarter of 2019. As many would guess, this led Live Nation to report an adjusted operating income loss of more than 400 million.
While the earnings report largely looks grim, Live Nation specified its goal for the quarter:
“Strengthening our financial position to ensure that we have the liquidity and flexibility to get through an extended period with no live events.”
This liquidation and flexibility has been achieved in several ways, including altering the cancellation policy and furloughing 20 percent of employees in May.
Sony Music and Warner Music Group have each reported losses as well, but notably came out of the second quarter of 2020 much healthier than Live Nation due to their involvement in music streaming. Nevertheless, in the first quarter of 2020, Sony Music reported losses of 13.1 percent, translating to a decline of 1.64 billion. Warner Music Group only reported 5.7 percent in revenue losses in the first quarter of the year compared with the same quarter in 2019, equating to a drop of 1.01 billion. View the respective second quarter earnings reports below.
Via: Live Nation; Warner Music Group; Sony Music
Featured image: Bloomberg
