Sony Corp’s music segment – comprising Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) and Sony Music Publishing – reported strong growth in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025.
On a 12-month fiscal year basis, music segment revenue increased 14% in yen year–on-year, reflecting growth in music subscription streaming revenues across recorded music and publishing, as well as gains in live, merchandising and sync revenue.
Recorded and publishing revenue (minus visual media & platform sales) increased 13% year-on-year to 1.6 trillion yen (£8.2billion).
Segment operating income hit a new fiscal high, increasing 18% to 357 billion yen (£1.8bn), led by gains in recorded music and publishing revenue.
The fiscal year streaming growth rates on a US dollar basis were up 5% for recorded music revenues and up 13% for music publishing revenues. On a yen basis, Recorded music streaming revenues were up 11% and music publishing was up 18%.
For the fiscal Q4 (the first quarter of the calendar year), Sony’s music segment revenue was up 9.5% year-on-year on a yen basis.
While recorded music streaming revenue was up 5% on a yen basis and physical revenue was up 12%, the overall growth in the quarter was just 1% due to lower sales in recorded music’s “other” category, comprising live, merchandise and sync revenue.
Music publishing revenue was up 16% year-on-year in Q4 on a yen basis.
Top sellers in the quarter included SZA, Travis Scott, Tate McRae, Central Cee and Lisa.
For the fiscal year 2025 forecast, profit growth is expected at Sony Music Group in the high single digits on a US dollar basis. The overall music segment operating profit is expected to be essentially flat year-on-year due to the impact of foreign exchange rates.
FOLLOW 
