Sony’s Global Music Biz Revenue Tops $3.53 Billion on 36% Surge in Vinyl, Live, Merch Sales

Streaming and sales of music by Michael Jackson, Ella Langley, Bad Bunny, Raye, SZA and Peso Pluma and Tito Double P made the music business the No. 2 sales generator in Sony Group overall.

The box office success of Michael appears to have put some thriller into Sony’s earnings. Sony Music Entertainment’s sales bounced 22% to 557.9 billion yen ($3.5B) in the three months to the end of June, according to the company’s Q1 earnings. Sony Music revealed that Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Bad” were among its top 1

Crunchyroll continues to grow paid subscriber numbers, but lower revenues from motion pictures was due to the studio only releasing one theatrical film in North America in the period. Music sales were boosted by the renewed interest in Michael Jackson.

Sony Pictures Entertainment posted a sales decline for the June quarter, offset by growth at Crunchyroll, while Sony’s music segment saw revenue increase 21%. The PlayStation games unit had flat sales for the period and a 37% increase in operating income drive by U.S. tariff refunds. Revenue for Sony Pictures for the q