Earnings: WMG Losses Widen; Digital Music Revs Up 5 Percent paidContent.org
—Music publishing, as opposed to record sales, is still considered a good business to be in for the major labels in general. And digital revenue from publishing grew 60 percent to $16 million . However, the total publishing segment was down, as revenue fell 12.5 percent to $147 million.— Tiered pricing on iTunes: about time : During the call, Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman said that celebrated Apple’s April introduction of variable pricing for single track downloads on iTunes. Bronfman: “It’s early days, but the variable pricing strategy is beginning to show a net positive impact on our top line digital revenue results. More importantly, this model gives us the flexibility to offer consumers more choice and provides us an opportunity to differentiate our offering.”
— Ringtones : Ringtone sales have been falling, as MocoNews’ Tricia Duryee reported earlier, and WMG was a victim as well. The slackening demand for ringtones was partially responsible for lower international sales, especially in Japan.
