Spotify UK in profit , Last.FM still in the red, SoundCloud losses grow

Spotify's UK business went into profit last year, Spotify Ltd's revenues rose 41.8% last year, from £92.6 million to £131.4 million, meaning that the company made £2.6 million in net profit, compared to a net loss of £11 million in 2012, according to figures filed with Companies House and seen by The Guardian. Over 70% of that revenue is paid out to music rights owners (labels and publishers).

Spotfiy also announced that British acts 'over achieved' on Spotify. the BPI confirmed that British acts were selling 1 in 8 of all CDs and downloads worldwide but British talent over-indexes to an even greater degree on Spotify, where British artists now make up an incredible one-fifth of all tracks currently streamed on Spotify worldwide.

Last.fm has filed its latest financial figures with Companies House, which show that the music data company continues to make losses, according to The Guardian. However, although revenues fell by more than 20% in 2013, the company has halved the losses made the previous year. In its last financial year, Last.fm reportedly made £4.92 million in revenues - a drop of 22.8%. Largely this came from advertising income, with a small amount from affiliate sales and £1 million in subscriptions. Only EU countries (not including the UK) saw a rise in revenues, which almost doubled from £740,659 to £1.12 million. The UK and US both saw significant drops (45.8% and 22.8% respectively), while the rest of the world saw a 60% decrease in revenues to £288,859.

And SoundCloud's bid to become a licensed music service is faltering, according to the Financial Times, as major record companies refuse to sign up to the terms (which apparently include equity) on offer. SoundCloud's revenues were up in 2013, but so were its losses, according to a annual filing by the digital firm. SoundCloud's revenues were up from 8 million euros in 2012 to 11.2 million in 2013. But in the same period losses more or less doubled, from 12.4 million euros in 2012 to 23.1 million in 2013.

The Royal Albert Hall announces record financial results

The Royal Albert Hall has announced its best ever financial year in 2013. The venue, which is run as a charity, brought in operating income of £18.6 million - a rise of 10.4% year-on-year and surplus of £5.3 million. Audience numbers also grew by 7%, with 1.7 million people attending 390 shows, which helped to achieve the income boost. As did £1 million in donations and £1.7 million in sponsorship - the latter up 27% on 2012. The venue's COO Jasper Hope said  "I'm enormously proud that our continued financial success is allowing us to build upon Prince Albert's legacy for the Hall to be a leading showcase for the arts and sciences. By encouraging more visitors through our doors we're raising vital revenues to support the maintenance and running costs of this iconic venue, as well as enabling to plan for ambitious new development projects to take us beyond our 150th anniversary and all the while offering a global stage for an annual calendar of world class performances". Photo: Drow Male (2008).

PRS for Music financial results reveal a record year

PRS for Music saw its income grow to £665.7m in 2013,  a 3.7% increase on 2012. There was an 11.7% increase in international revenue, with total international royalties breaking the £200m barrier for the first time, with Mumford and Sons, Arctic Monkeys and EllieGoulding enjoying exceptional success.  Across international markets, North America delivered strong (10.7%) growth for PRS for Music members due to the growing cable TV market and internet streaming services. Australia also saw strong growth (18%) thanks to improved deals with local television. Despite the challenging climate in Europe, a strong performance resulted in 15% revenue growth overall. Results in the Asia-Pacific region exceeded expectations across the board with 8.9% growth. Online revenues reached £61.2m in 2013, an increase of 18.3%. Contributors to this growth were new licences and key licence renewals, such as Deezer and YouTube, and some new mandates.  The online market continues to evolve apace, with the increasing transition from downloads to streaming. Television and radio continues to provide significant income to PRS for Music songwriters and composers. New licensing deals for services such as BT Sport, renewal of key licences such as Sky and strong sales for TV productions using PRS for Music repertoire resulted in revenue of £160.4m, an increase of 4.8%. In 2013, the challenging retail landscape and the closure of HMV branches contributed to the further decline (21%) of the recorded media market. Despite this decline, the recorded media market still provides significant income of £80.7m. 

PRS Royalty revenue by source:

£ Million	2013	2012	%
Broadcast	160.4	153.0	4.8
Online	61.2	51.7	18.3
International	201.1	180.1	11.7
Public Performance	162.3	154.7	4.9
Recorded Media	80.7	102.3	-21.1
Total	665.7	641.8	3.7

Good news for UMG and BMG

Having completed its acquisition of the EMI record company last autumn, sales at Universal Music shot up 16.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2013, from 1.92 billion euros to 2.24 billion euros, though the costs of integrating the former British major meant that profits were down. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were 143 million euros, down from 156 million euros in the same period a year earlier. UMG said that continued sales of Rihanna's last album, the debut from US alt-rock band Imagine Dragons, the 'Les Misérables' movie soundtrack, and the new acoustic version of Justin Bieber's 'Believe' played a key role in generating mega-sales during the first half of the year. Meanwhile major releases from both Eminem and Lady Gaga should assure a successful second half of the year.

German media group Bertelsmann has reported operating profits for the first half of 2013 up 5.2%, an uplift very much aided by the firm taking full control of the BMG music company in April. As previously reported, Bertelsmann bought business partner KKR out of BMG earlier this year.