T.His music business has gained a reputation for being a recession. In poor economic times, people still pay for their music subscription services and want to go to concerts. Some synchronization options can dry up when advertisers make cuts, but overall the music is a big business that does not follow typical financial cycles.
However, music business shares are not immune to fluctuations in the market and investors’ concerns about the increasingly fragile state in the economy. This week, only three of the 20 companies ended on the Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) with winnings, and five shares had losses of over 10%. Despite a number of strong quarterly earnings results in recent weeks, President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China and Europe have caused the markets to panic and abandoned music stores with the industrial and agricultural companies most likely to be affected.
The S&P 500 took a correction area on Thursday (March 13) when it closed 10% from all the time high. Russell 2000, an index of small businesses, was down 18.4% from its peak. Most shares were improved Friday (March 14) when the markets called – despite a fall in the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index – but the first four days of the week were too much to overcome. The S&P 500 ended the week down 2.3% and the NASDAQ composite shut down 2.4%.
Markets outside the United States did better than US markets. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell only 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi -Associated Index increased 0.1%and China’s SSSE -Associated Index improved 1.4%.
Although 17 of the 20 companies at BGMI had loss loss this week, the index rose 0.5% to 2,460.71 due to Spotify’s gain of 8.1%, and dollars almost 1% increase against the euro offset the weekly falls of 17 other shares. Spotify is BGMI’s largest component with a market value of approximately $ 117 billion – more than twice as large as Universal Music Groups (UMG’s) $ 50.2 billion. The stock also received rare good news this week when Redburn Atlantic began covering Spotify with a price target of $ 545 (which involves 5.5% upside down from Friday’s closing price) and a neutral rating.
UMG shares fell 8.8% on Friday, a reaction to Pershing Square’s announcement on Thursday that it will sell 50 million shares worth approx. 1.5 billion dollars. Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman called Umg “one of the best companies we’ve ever owned.” JP Morgan Analyst Daniel Kerne Admitted that the news was “an almost term negative for self -confidence” in UMG, but then Pershing Square’s decision to sell shares as a step to taking profits and weighing its portfolio (UMG was 27% of Pershing Square’s stocks) rather than a comment on UMG’s long -term potential or recent operation. UMG shares ended the week down 8.2% to 25.46 euros ($ 27.78), but remained 6.5% years to date.
Live Nation shares fell 6.5% to $ 119.22, marking the share’s fourth consecutive weekly decline. During the week, Deutsche Bank increased its Live Nation Price goal to $ 170 from $ 150 and maintained its “purchase” rating. On Friday, a judge rejected Live Nation’s request to reject an accusation that the promoter illegally forced artists to use his promotion business if they would appear in its amphitheate.
Other US-based live entertainment companies also dropped sharply. Sphere Entertainment Co. dropped 10.1% to $ 31.55. MSG Entertainment dropped 1.3% to $ 31.46 Despite Wolfe Research, which upgraded the “Outperform” stock from “Peer Perform” with a price target of $ 46. Vivid Seats, a secondary ticket platform, dropped 28.1% to $ 2.86 after the company announced earnings in the 4th quarter.
Radio companies that tend to suffer when financial uncertainty causes advertisers to withdraw expenses had another down week. Iheartmedia dropped 12.0% to $ 1.61. Cumulus media dropped 11.5% to $ 0.46. And Siriusxm, who announced redundancies this week, dropped 10.1% to $ 22.67. Year to date, IHEARTMEDIA is down 24.4% and Cumulus Media is down 40.3%. SiriusxM, on the other hand, achieved 1.4% in 2025.
K-pop shares also dropped sharply despite South Korea’s market that ended the week with a small win. Heb, SM Entertainment, Jyp Entertainment and YG Entertainment had an average drop of 7.4% for the week. Overall, however, the four South Korean companies have had a strong start to 2025 and after this week an average gain year to date had 19.3%.