From AI Uses to Upcoming Releases

Warner Music Group (WMG) reported that quarterly revenue rose 10% to $1.84 billion on Thursday (Feb. 5) as music from artists like Alex Warren and sombr contributed to broad-based growth across recorded music, publishing and streaming revenue.

WMG CEO Robert Kyncl told investors and analysts on a wide-ranging call Thursday that the company is “humming,” with several consecutive quarters of streaming revenue growth and market share gains.

“We’re very pleased to see our consistent performance,” Kyncl said. “We are really firing on most cylinders that there are, and all of it is underpinned by our incredible ability of artist development.”

Here are some of the highlights.

It plans to spend big on catalogs.

Warner and Bain Capital’s 50-50 joint venture, established in mid-2025, is now worth about $1.65 billion, and the companies plan to spend a significant portion of those funds on catalog acquisitions this year, Warner CFO Armin Zerza said on the call.

“We plan to deploy a significant portion of the JV’s total capacity by the end of the fiscal year,” Zerza said. “This combination of organic and inorganic investment will fortify our core, giving us greater scale to capitalize on industry trends as well as emerging opportunities like AI that will [rely] heavily on iconic content.”

The company continues to work its existing catalog through placements in shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things, which used Prince‘s “Purple Rain” and David Bowie‘s “Heroes.” After the episodes aired, “Pruple Rain” charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first time in a decade, and its weekly streams are now six times higher than prior to the Stranger Things sync, Kyncl said. Weekly streaming activity for Bowie’s “Heroes” is nearly 2.5 times higher than before, he added.

It’s leaning into AI.

Warner is the first — and so far, only — major to reach licensing deals with two of the leading AI music generation platforms, Suno and Udio. The agreements, which effectively ended Warner’s part in lawsuits filed by UMG and others in 2025, allow Warner to “shape” AI models that are quickly impacting the commercial music industry, Kyncl has said. Suno agreed to offer new licensed music-making models on its platform as part of the agreement, according to a press release announcing the news.

Establishing partnerships early was a priority for Warner, Zerza said, and it is working with those companies to promote consumption-business models that boost cash flow and increase engagement with its catalog and artists.

“We expect [the Suno] partnership to be a material top and bottom line growth driver, starting in fiscal 2027,” Zerza said.

WMG is incorporating AI into its A&R business to discover new artists. It’s also bringing it to bear in its relationships with the big streaming platforms — to track exposure for its artists and improve consumer engagement, and to figure out which songs from its catalog are ripe for remixes and music videos, Zerza said.

“Many of our artists and songwriters [are] already leveraging [AI] tools to more analytically driven, precise deployment of marketing dollars, as well as my real-time forecasting and analytics,” Zerza added.

It has a packed upcoming release schedule.

Quarterly revenue for major music companies remains heavily impacted by hit music, and Kyncl voiced optimism about Warner’s upcoming release schedule, starting with Bruno Mars, whose fourth studio album comes out in late February.

“We have a steady stream of releases from new and established stars dropping every week for the rest of [the second quarter],” Kyncl said.

Other artists expected to release music before March 30 include Charli xcx, Kehlani, sombr, Alex Warren and Fred Again..