As dust from the gold rush settles, big record companies and elite artists emerge firmly on top
With the streaming revolution breathing new life into a once-moribund music industry collapsing under plummeting CD sales and rampant piracy, the world’s biggest record companies – Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music – have got their financial mojo back.
After facing financial ruin a decade ago, the trio, which control the vast majority of the world’s biggest hits with a roster of talent spanning Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay to the Beatles, Adele and the Korean megaband BTS, are now valued at a combined $100bn (£73.8bn) as investors bank on the titans being the biggest winners of the streaming boom.
