Republic Surges, Sony Caps Big Year – Billboard

With the year 2022 Now officially in the booksUS market share report in: with bad bunnyAnd Lil Nas X And Harry Stiles Up front, it’s been a stellar year for Sony Music, gaining both overall market share and, more radically, existing market share in flagship Universal Music Group, narrowing the gap between releases less than 18 months old to 6.58%. In 2022 – a gap of 13.7% at the end of 2021.

But there was good news for UMG as well, as Republic Records had a hot fourth quarter — led by Taylor Swift‘s midnight2 album of 2022 despite only being released in October – ranking first among the labels in current market share for the entirety of 2022, at 10.38%. This makes it the only naming of the top two figures in the final rankings of the year. UMG maintained a double-digit lead in overall market share over second-place Sony, driving 37.54% to 26.87% despite the latter’s gains over the year. Interscope Geffen A&M finished the year as the No. 1 brand in total market share again, at 9.63%, although it was down from the 10.08% share it held at the end of 2021.

Sony’s overall market share grew 0.76% year-on-year – up to 26.87% in 2022 from 26.11% in 2021 – marking a huge step forward for the music group. That gain was largely at the expense of Universal Music Group, which fell 0.66% year-over-year, from 38.20% in 2021 to 37.54% at the end of 2022. Meanwhile, Warner Music Group’s market share grew from 16.06% in 2021 to 19.05% in 2022, although this is not an “apples-to-apples” comparison; This year, the ADA included the Warner-owned distributor — which distributes dozens of independent labels — into WMG’s market share, adding 2.96% to its total and accounting for nearly all of Warner’s jump. (The move more accurately aligns Warner’s distributed market share with other major companies, which also include distribution wings in their totals.) This key also explains the proportional decline in the indie segment, which fell from 19.63% in 2021 to 16.54% in 2021. 2022.

In current market share, Universal fell more than 4%, from 37.89% in 2021 to 33.57% in 2022, with the other three major players picking up the slack, led by Sony, which swelled nearly 3 percentage points to 26.99. % in 2022 – up from 24.19% in 2021. Warner – even factoring in the 3.32% in current stake added by ADA – also up, from 14.42% in 2021 to 18.30% in 2022 (up 0.56% After the ADA hike), while the independent segment rose from 23.50% last year to 21.14% in 2022, which is up 0.96% year-over-year when factoring in the loss of the ADA label. However, Universal increased its catalog percentage from 38.33% in 2021 to 38.94% in 2022, while the other three declined slightly.

After Interscope in total market share, Atlantic remained in second place, at 8.89%, although it also declined slightly from 2021, when it recorded 9.17% of total market share. Republic ended the year in third place – the only label among the top five to increase overall market share year-over-year – at 8.44%, up from 8.28% through the end of 2021, while Columbia (6.98%) and Capitol Music Group (6.40%) They rounded out the top five. (Note on these labels: Interscope’s market share includes Verve [0.85%]; Atlantic Group has 300 Electra Entertainments combined now [2.35%], which would have been good enough for ninth on its own; Includes Republic’s Island [1.51%]cash Money [0.71%], Loud, Imperial and Mercury; Columbia includes some independent labels from distributor RED; They include the Virgin Capitol [1.78%]Motown/QC [1.05%]Capitol Christian Music Group [0.61%]And Astralwerks and Blue Note.)

Sixth, Warner Records — which includes Rhino, Warner Latin and a large portion of Warner Nashville in its market share — grew year over year, from 6.16% in 2021 to 6.35% in 2022, after steadily increasing its share each quarter. . RCA, whose market share stands alone, has done the same; The mark came in at number seven, growing quarter-to-end by 5.12% — up from 4.89% in 2021 — closing the year strong with a four-week first run from SZA. SOS. In eighth place, Epic Records also captured market share, rising to 2.63% in 2022 from 2.38% in 2021. Def Jam, in ninth place, stumbled to 2.07%, down from 2.25% in 2021; While Sony Nashville jumped to the 10th spot, overtaking UMG Nashville by increasing its market share from 1.99% to 2.04% year over year.

UMG Nashville dropped to 11th place, dropping from 2.04% in 2021 to 1.85% in 2022, while Concord jumped from 13th place (1.68%) in 2021 to 12th place (1.73%) in 2022. Charm Boost – up to 1.60% in 2022 from 1.40% a year earlier, well for 13th place, while Universal Latin (1.47%) and Sony Latin (1.24%) rounded out the top 15, both up from a year earlier as well.

Republic had a great fourth quarter (9.57%), with four major releases – Stray children” maxidentSwift midnightAnd Drake And 21 brutal‘s its loss And Boomin Metro‘s Heroes and villains, all debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 – and together topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. This helped boost its current market share from 8.77% during the first three quarters of the year to 10.38% by the end of the year, with its late push to number one among all brands in terms of current market share in 2022.

Atlantic ranks second in current share, essentially maintaining its level from last year, reaching 9.15% (from 9.16% in 2021), although it moved up one point from third place; While Interscope fell sharply, from a stellar level of 11.05% in 2021 to 8.72% in 2022, dropping from first to third. The share of Columbia and Capitol, in fourth and fifth place respectively, decreased from 6.83% to 6.67% and the latter from 5.64% to 4.97%; While the share of Warner and RCA grew in the sixth and seventh positions, the former from 4.48% to 4.86% and the latter from 4.37% to 4.65%.

Outside the top seven signs, there has been a larger change in the current market share. Epic Records rose to eighth, rising from its current 2.04% share in 2021 to 2.23% in 2022, while Sony Nashville jumped to ninth, growing to 1.89% from 1.59% in 2021. Alamo made the biggest jump , Along the way. to 10th in current share in 2021 at 1.56% in its first full year as an independent label from Sony Music; In 2021, its stake is split between UMG and Sony as it was sold in the middle of the year, making it difficult to compare apples to apples. BMG, in 11th place, settled at 1.42%, while Disney, perhaps unsurprisingly, jumped to 12th, increasing to 1.36% year-over-year from 0.52% in 2021. However, Def Jam saw its current share of 2.21% in 2021 to 1.27% in 2022, finishing 13th, while Sony Latin (1.24%) and UMG Nashville (1.23%) rounded out the top 15.

As is the case in general, catalog market share is tracked similarly to overall market share, with older titles generally running flat as a percentage of the market on an annual basis. But both UMG and the indie sector grew year over year, while Sony and Warner, the latter of which are key to ADA, were also down slightly.