Note by Sir Lucian Grange: Warner’s Strategy for Spotify and Amazon

Welcome to the Music Business Worldwide weekly review—where we ensure you don’t miss the five biggest stories making headlines over the past week. The MBW review is supported by Centtrip, which assists more than 500 best-selling artists worldwide in maximizing their income and minimizing their touring expenses.

WMG and Spotify Collaboration

This week, we learned that Warner Music Group (WMG) has signed a new agreement with Spotify. This agreement alters the “bunch” of the Spotify payment structure adopted last year, following a similar arrangement last month between Spotify and Universal Music Group.

Additionally, WMG confirmed this week that it acquired a controlling stake in Pace Music, which MBW understands is valued at over 450 million dollars.

Warner also released its Q4 calendar (Fiscal Q1) results this week, revealing company-wide earnings of 1.67 billion US dollars. WMG CEO Robert Kinkl also noted that the company has a new deal with Amazon Music.

NMPA Takes Action Against Spotify

In other news, the National Association of Musical Publishers (NMPA) announced a launch of an “extensive” action against Spotify, claiming to have identified 2,500 copyright violations in the platform’s podcasts. This announcement coincided with Spotify reporting its first yearly profits, sending the company’s share price to an all-time high.

Meanwhile, MBW obtained new insights from Sir Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group, outlining his vision for 2025, including the industry’s transition to what he calls UMG’s ‘Streaming 2.0’.

In other UMG developments, the company promoted Julie Adam to President and CEO of Universal Music Canada (UMC), while Jeffrey Remedios transitioned from his role as Chairman and CEO of UMC to become President of Strategic Development for UMG’s Collective.

This week, we also saw Cindy Mabe resign from her role as General Director of UMG Nashville. Mike Harris has been appointed as the new General Director of UMGN, with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb stepping in as the Chief Creative Director.

That’s the recap for this week…

1) Warner Music Group and Spotify Ink New Deal – Restructures the controversial CRB payment framework in the United States.

Warner Music Group and Spotify have entered into a new long-term licensing agreement.

And yes, sources have confirmed that this will replace the notorious “binding” payment structure that resulted in Spotify significantly reducing the mechanical fees paid to publishers and songwriters in the U.S.

The new Warner agreement with Spotify follows last month’s announcement from Universal Music Group, which also included a new royalties agreement addressing previous mechanical fee issues in the States.

As for the company’s challenges, CEO Robert Kinkl also confirmed that the firm has secured a new deal with Amazon…

2) NMPA Launches Wide Action Against Spotify Over Unlicensed Content in Podcasts

The National Association of Musical Publishers (NMPA) has initiated what it describes as an “extensive” action against Spotify.

NMPA alleges that the music streaming service has neglected widespread instances of copyright infringement across the podcasts it distributes.

On Tuesday (February 4), the industry group for musical publishers remarked that its initial wave of requests includes over 2,500 “detected” violations.

The news regarding NMPA’s actions surfaced as Spotify announced strong earnings for 2024, indicating the company has reached historical profits, which subsequently drove the stock price to a record high…

3) Confirmation: Warner Acquires Controlling Stake in Tempo Music (Just as MBW Predicted)

Warner Music Group confirmed on Thursday (February 6) that it has acquired a controlling interest in Tempo Music Investments, also known as Pace Music.

The previous owner, Providence Equity Partners, retains a minority stake in TEMPO as part of the transaction. MBW was the first to report this acquisition by Warner last month.

The deal is believed to value Pace at upwards of 450 million dollars.

The Tempo catalog includes rights to songs by artists such as twenty-one pilots’ Tyler Joseph, multi-Platinum artist Wiz Khalifa, and the duo Florida Georgia Line, among others…

4) Julie Adam Promoted to CEO of Universal Music Canada; Jeffrey Remedios Appointed President of Strategic Development for UMG Collective

In significant news regarding the leadership of Universal Music Group in North America:

UMG has promoted Julie Adam to President and CEO of Universal Music Canada (UMC).

Jeffrey Remedios, who previously led Universal Music Canada as Chairman and CEO for ten years, has been appointed President of Strategic Development for UMG’s Republic Collective (including Island Records, Ref Jam Records, and Republic).

Both appointments take effect immediately… (MBW)

5) Read Sir Lucian Grange’s Memorandum of 2025 to Universal Music Group Employees: “Streaming 2.0 Will Be a New Era of Innovation, Consumer Segmentation, Geographical Expansion, Greater Consumer Value, and Growth of ARPU.”

Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grange released his annual New Year’s memo for UMG employees.

The extensive letter, sent on Monday (February 3) and obtained by MBW, covers UMG’s achievements in 2024, highlights from the past Grammy week, the company’s advocacy for responsible AI usage, various charitable contributions, and progress made on artist-focused strategies.

Grange also confirms the onset of what he terms the “Streaming 2.0 era“—a concept first introduced during UMG’s capital markets presentation in September…

The MBW weekly review is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 bestselling artists worldwide maximize their income and reduce their touring expenses.