Vivendi, the French media giant wants to sell shares in its most-precious and highest prized-asset, Universal Group, before the mid-2023.
Universal music label is the world’s biggest music label and has stars like Taylor Swift, Drake and Lady Gaga in its contract.
Vivendi was even thinking of selling the profitable music division in 2018 but got past it as it was way too expensive.
Warner Music Group had a similar announcement a few days ago. Universal has sold its 10% shares to Tencent, Chinese tech giant in December last year at 30 billion Euros.
Warner announced last week that it is going to sell its shares in the US. It is home to Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry.
Universal’s earnings increased by 22% in one year. Spotify and Apple-like paid streaming services have helped in providing quick rise and growths in profit.
Warner, Universal, and Sony Music control about 80% of the market and are often called the “big three” of the music label industry.
Universal signed Taylor in 2018 when she moved from an independent label which she had alongside her since she was 14-years-old.
The world’s biggest music record company is planning to profit on the increasingly subscribed streaming channels.
Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music dominate the global streaming service industry. Between them, they have more than 250 million subscribers and if we count the ad-funded listeners, the number gets past 400 million.