In a week with little news and few regulatory filings, music stocks finished the last full week of 2024 by dropping for the third consecutive week. The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) fell 0.6% to 2,155.51, lowering its year-to-date gain to 40.5%. The index has fallen 5.5% over three weeks after rising 14.6% over six consecutive weekly gains. Six stocks finished the week in positive territory while 13 lost ground and one was unchanged.
Two of the three major music labels were among the week’s few winners. Universal Music Group gained 1.4% to 24.70 euros ($25.75) while Warner Music Group improved 0.9% to $31.45. Elsewhere, iHeartMedia rose 1.1% to $1.91 following the company’s announcement on Monday (Dec. 23) that it completed a debt exchange that reduced its long-term debt load by $440 million and extended maturity dates.
The independent music companies all posted declines. Reservoir Media dropped 4.3% to $8.86 and Believe fell 4.0% to 13.78 euros ($14.37). All four South Korean companies lost ground, too: YG Entertainment dropped 2.6%, HYBE fell 2.5%, JYP Entertainment lost 2.0% and SM Entertainment slipped 1.6%.
Spotify, the BGMI’s most valuable music company, dropped 0.8% to $456.48, the third consecutive week the stock has fallen. While the stock has dropped 9.9% since reaching its all-time high of $506.47 on Dec. 4, Spotify is by far the best-performing music stock of 2024. It has seen a 143% increase this year with two trading days remaining.
In other stock news, Chinese music streamer Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) fell 1.8% to $11.72. On Friday, 86Research increased TME to a “buy” rating with a $14 price target. Shares of TME are up 30.1% year to date.
The week’s biggest loser, SiriusXM, fell 8.6% to $21.13. SiriusXM’s 61.4% decline in 2024 is the second worst amongst BGMI stocks after Cumulus Media’s 86.5% drop.
Music stocks underperformed markets around the world. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8% and the S&P 500 gained 0.7%. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 improved 0.8%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index was unchanged after declining in three of the previous four weeks.
