From TikTok Music’s shutdown to Atlantic Music Group’s new leadership team… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.

The news this week was dominated by the shutdown of two separate music platforms. The first was TikTok‘s subscription music streaming app, TikTok Music, which the social media service revealed will be shutting down at the end of November.

The second was Warner Music Group‘s foray into DIY distribution. MBW confirmed this week that WMG will be shutting down Level Music, its TuneCore rival, next year, and the platform has already stopped accepting new submissions.

Elsewhere in the music world, the majors are planning for the future through reorgs and M&A. One example: WMG revealed this week the new leadership team and company structure for Atlantic Music Group under incoming CEO Elliot Grainge.

There were also notable changes at Universal Music Group, with the announcement that Dickon Stainer will be stepping into the role of Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, following news earlier in the week that David Joseph will be leaving the company.

UMG, meanwhile, also completed its acquisition of Thailand’s RS Group for USD $65-70 million, hinting that more M&A deals are on the horizon.

Here’s what happened this week…

T. Schneider/Shutterstock1) TIKTOK MUSIC CLOSURE A WIN FOR SPOTIFY, SAYS DEUTSCHE BANK

TikTok’s announcement this week that it’s discontinuing its premium music streaming app sent shockwaves through the music industry.

As first reported by MBW, TikTok Music will close at the end of November in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico — the five markets where the app is available.

TikTok says the strategy behind the decision is to focus its resources on the ‘Add To Music App’ feature, which lets TikTok users save songs they discover on the platform to playlists on streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.

Spotify, in particular, is expected to benefit from TikTok Music’s exit. That’s according to a new research note from Deutsche Bank, which calls TikTok Music’s closure “a clear positive for Spotify”…

2) WARNER MUSIC GROUP IS SHUTTING ITS TUNECORE RIVAL, LEVEL MUSIC

TikTok Music wasn’t the only music industry platform to announce its closure this week.

MBW has confirmed that Warner Music Group is shutting down Level Music, its digital distribution platform for self-releasing artists.

Level Music, a TuneCore rival launched by WMG in 2018, offers distribution to major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music and social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

In an email sent out to Level Music users on Thursday (September 26), seen by MBW, the platform confirms that it has “made the difficult decision to shut down Level in 2025”. The email states that Level will no longer accept new content submissions for distribution or edits to existing releases, effective today…

Photo: Logan Mock3) REVEALED: ATLANTIC MUSIC GROUP’S NEW LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE UNDER INCOMING CEO ELLIOT GRAINGE

Warner Music Group has unveiled Atlantic Music Group (AMG)’s new leadership team and broader company structure under incoming AMG CEO Elliot Grainge.

Grainge assumes the CEO role starting October 1, following the departure of Julie Greenwald (Chairman, Atlantic Music Group) later this month.

Warner said in a press release Monday (September 23) that Atlantic Music Group will “combine the strengths of key functions” at AMG labels Atlantic Records, 300, and Elektra, to create “one central set of artist development services”.

These functions at the group level include Creative, Legal & Business Affairs, Promotion, Press & Media Strategy, Digital Marketing & Analytics, Sales & Streaming, A&R Research, A&R Administration, and Marketing Operations…

4) DICKON STAINER NAMED CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK

Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Sir Lucian Grainge announced this week that Dickon Stainer has been appointed Chairman & CEO of Universal Music UK. Stainer succeeds David Joseph, whose departure was confirmed on Monday (September 23).

In his new role, Stainer is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of Universal Music UK.

Divisions including Island EMI Label Group, Polydor Label Group, Decca Records, the recently formed Audience and Media Division, as well as Abbey Road Studios, will report to him.

For the last 10 years, Stainer served as President & CEO of Universal Music Group’s (UMG) Global Classics and Jazz division, splitting his time between London and New York…

5) UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP JUST COMPLETED THE $70M ACQUISITION OF THAILAND’S SECOND-BIGGEST RECORDED MUSIC CATALOG… WHILE SUGGESTING MANY MORE M&A DEALS IN ‘HIGH-POTENTIAL’ MARKETS ARE ON THE WAY.

Last year, Universal Music Group acquired a 70% stake in the recorded music catalog of Thailand’s RS Group for around USD $45 million (plus a potential ~$5m in bonus payments). At the time, MBW told you to “expect more M&A activity from UMG in Asia to follow”.

Okay, that wasn’t the boldest prediction we’ll ever make. But, well, we weren’t wrong.

UMG has now confirmed that it recently completed the acquisition of the remaining 30% of RS Group’s catalog, taking full ownership of the recordings portfolio.

In other words, UMG just completed the acquisition of Thailand’s second-largest recordings catalog for a total sum of approximately USD $65-$70 million.

Interesting. But the bigger story here is what’s going to come next…

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide

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