Sony’s global music rights operation posted a strong quarter in calendar Q3, with streaming revenues in recorded music up 11.7% YoY, and streaming revenues in music publishing up by a whopping 24.8% YoY.
Across both recorded music and music publishing, the company’s operations generated USD $2.89 billion in the three months to end of September 2025.
That’s according to MBW’s calculations based on Sony Group Corp’s calendar Q3 2025 (fiscal Q2 2025) results, as announced by the Japanese firm today.
The $2.89 billion figure was up by 13.3% year-on-year (vs. calendar Q3 2024) at US dollar-converted consistent currency.
In monetary terms, Sony’s overall music rights operation (recorded music plus music publishing) generated approximately $341 million more in calendar Q3 2025 than in the prior-year quarter.
(Our regular note: MBW’s calculations of Sony’s music earnings – explained at the bottom of this story – are based on average quarterly exchange rates, provided by Sony, from its reported Yen to USD. We believe this gives a more accurate picture of Sony’s worldwide results than its reported Yen figures. This is because Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing both aggregate the results of their worldwide subsidiaries on a USD basis. However, this global USD conversion system still risks a certain amount of FX distortion by converting revenues from Tokyo-based Sony Music Entertainment Japan – which would usually report revenues in its ‘root’ currency of Yen – into USD.)
Recorded music revenue breakdown
Sony’s global recorded music operation generated USD $2.18 billion in calendar Q3 2025, up 12.1% YoY versus the equivalent quarterly period of the prior year on a USD basis.
Within Sony’s calendar Q3 2025 global recorded music result, streaming generated USD $1.42 billion (on a USD-converted basis), up 11.7% YoY.
(This ‘streaming’ number combines both subscription and ad-funded streaming revenues generated by Sony’s global recorded music operation.)
Quarterly revenues from physical music sales in calendar Q3 2025 hit USD $184.9 million (up 8.4% YoY).
Sony’s ‘Other’ category within recorded music generated $529 million in calendar Q3 2025, up 16.8% YoY versus the prior-year quarter.
This latter category (‘Other’) includes license revenue (public performance, broadcast and sync), merchandising, and live performance income.
According to Sony Corp‘s results, Sony Music Entertainment’s ten biggest recorded music projects in the calendar Q3 2025 quarter (ex-artists signed in Japan), in order of global revenue generation, were:
- Bruce Springsteen, Tracks II: The Lost Albums
- SZA, SOS
- Tyler, The Creator, DON’T TAP THE GLASS
- Bad Bunny (Rimas Entertainment), Debí Tirar Más Fotos
- Tate McRae, So Close To What
- Tyler, The Creator, Cherry Bomb
- Beéle, BORONDO
- Fuerza Regida, 111XPANTIA
- Michael Jackson, Thriller
- Sleep Token, Even In Arcadia
Music publishing performance
Sony’s global music publishing operation – led by Sony Music Publishing – generated USD $718 million in the three months to end of September 2025.
That quarterly revenue figure, at the US dollar level, was up 17.2% year-on-year.
Based on Sony’s reported streaming growth rates, Sony’s global music publishing operation derived approximately $442 million of its quarterly revenues in the calendar Q3 2025 period from streaming.
That publishing streaming figure was up 24.8% year-on-year.
Quarterly profits
Sony Corp also today issued some profit numbers for its corporate Music division in the three months to end of September 2025. (The following figures include Sony’s operations across Recorded Music, Music Publishing, plus Visual Media & Platform.)
In calendar Q3 2025 (fiscal Q2 2025), Sony’s corporate Music division posted a quarterly operating income of 115.4 billion Yen (USD $783m).
That represented an operating margin of 21.3%, from total divisional quarterly revenues (again, ‘Music’ including ‘Visual Media & Platform’, including intersectional revenues) of 542.4 billion Yen (USD $3.68bn).
Sony Corp additionally presents to investors its Adjusted OIBDA performance in each quarter (see below) – a metric also used by Warner Music Group to present its earnings.
In calendar Q3 2025 (fiscal Q2 2025), Sony’s Music division posted an Adjusted OIBDA of 139.8 billion Yen (USD $949m).
That represented an Adjusted OIBDA margin from total divisional quarterly revenues of 25.8%.
Methodology note
Note: All YoY percentage rises/falls published in this story are calculated at constant currency at the US dollar-converted level.
MBW uses Sony’s own quarterly average currency rates for these calculations, and the below data from Sony’s filings.
For this analysis, MBW has calculated Sony’s financials from Japanese Yen into US dollars at the following prevailing exchange rates in each quarter, as provided by Sony Corp:
- Calendar Q1 2023: 135.4 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2023: 137.0 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2023: 144.4 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q4 2023: 147.9 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2024: 148.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2024: 155.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2024: 149.5 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q4 2024: 152.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2025: 152.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2025: 144.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2025: 147.37 Yen per USD
By applying these exchange figures to each applicable period, we effectively get a US-leaning constant currency picture of Sony Music’s performance.
This isn’t a perfect system; it risks overplaying Sony Music Entertainment’s global business slightly by converting a chunk of revenues from Sony Music Entertainment Japan (which would usually be straight-reported in Yen) into US dollars.
But it provides us with a cleaner reflection of the performance of New York-based Sony Music Entertainment outside of FX distortion, because the company had to convert its US currency into Yen in the first place for Sony Corp’s results. The same is true for US-based Sony Music Publishing.
MBW believes this currency exchange system is the yardstick used internally at Sony Music Group‘s HQ in New York.
Sony’s own description of its three corporate music divisions is as follows:
- Recorded Music – Streaming includes the distribution of digital recorded music by streaming; Recorded Music – Others includes the distribution of recorded music by physical media and digital download as well as revenue derived from artists’ live performances;
- Music Publishing includes the management and licensing of the words and music of songs;
- Visual Media and Platform includes the production and distribution of animation titles, including game applications based on the animation titles, and various service offerings for music and visual products.
Within / covering the first two divisions listed above:
- Sony Music Publishing, run by CEO & Chairman Jon Platt, is Sony’s US-headquartered music publishing operation. Sony Music Entertainment, run by CEO Rob Stringer, is Sony’s US-headquartered recorded music operation.
- And Sony Music Group – also run by Rob Stringer, as Chairman – is Sony’s US-headquartered umbrella group for both Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing.
Music Business Worldwide
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