Sony revises 2018 music revenue forecast by 8% after EMI acquisition

Sony Music Entertainment’s global revenue forecast for 2018 has been revised by a higher 8% by its Japanese parent company Sony Corp.

It is now forecasting music revenues of 820 billion yen (A$10 billion).

The 8% boost, which translates to an uptick of 60 billion yen ($311 million), is partly due to its now-approved purchase of EMI Music Publishing which should inject a further 25 billion yen ($311 million) to Sony’s spreadsheet.

The operating income forecast for the year has been doubled to 230 billion yen ($2.8 billion).

Sony Corp’s latest financial post, covering Q2, slipped 2.7% year-on-year to 203.9 billion yen ($2.5 billion). But it was flat when currency exchange was factored in.

The decline was attributed by the company to a new accounting standard and continued decrease in physical and digital download revenues.

Sony Corp’s profits were up by 30% in the second quarter, due to popular game titles and as growing demand for its online gaming services.

Action-adventure title God of War sold 3.1 million copies in the first three days of its release in April, the fastest sales rate of any PlayStation first-party title in history.

The record was broken just five months later, when Marvel’s Spider-Man was released in September and shifted 3.3 million in its first three days.

Streaming revenue at Sony’s recorded music operation increased by a relatively modest 7.3% to 57.1 billion yen ($71.8 million), compared to the 36% year-on-year increase in the previous quarter.

Overall recorded music revenues were down 3.3% at 105.5 billion yen $1.3 billion).

Operating income in the music division was down 1% at 31.5 billion yen ($391.8 million).

For the first six months of the company’s financial year, music revenues were up 10.2% at 385.3 billion yen ($4.78 billion), which was down 1.3% on a constant currency basis.

Operating income for the half-year period was up 6.1% to 63.6 billion yen $792.6 million).

Revenues at the publishing division for the quarter were flat at 19.44 billion yen ($242.6 million).

Big sellers in the quarter included Travis Scott, Luke Combs, George Ezra and Camila Cabello.

Sony’s major releases for the end of 2018 include Barbra Streisand, Little Mix, Olly Murs and a Springsteen roadway set.