COVID-19 Virus Impacts Sony Music Entertainment FY2020 First Quarter Revenue

Q1 Results

SONY CORPORATION music division fiscal first quarter revenue fell 13% year-to-year to ¥173.7 billion ($1.6 billion). Operating income for the division fell 8.8% to ¥34.9 billion ($325 million). The biggest hit was to physical music media revenue, off from ¥22 billion to ¥12.7 billion, while digital streaming revenue rose from ¥66 billion to ¥69 billion. Music publishing revenue slipped from ¥39 billion to ¥31 billion.

SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT's top 10 sellers for the quarter, in order of sales, included HARRY STYLES' "Fine Line," FUTURE's "High Off Life," DOJA CAT's "Hot Pink," TRAVIS SCOTT's "Astroworld," POLO G's "The GOAT," LUKE COMBS' "What You See Is What You Get" and "This One's For You," TRAVIS SCOTT's "Highest In The Room," KHALID's "Free Spirit," and POWFU's "Death Bed." "Free Spirit," "Astroworld," and "This One's For You" were also on the list for first quarter 2019.

In the company's financial statements, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was noted as including delays on the release of new music "due to some artists being unable to record songs and music videos," with the impact limited in territories like the U.S. where streaming is prevalent but hitting sales hard in countries like JAPAN where streaming has not yet taken hold.

The company said that it expects music sales to fall 7% for Fiscal Year 2020 to ¥790 billion.

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