After a rough couple of weeks, music-related stocks are finally seeing some green again — and Spotify is leading the charge. Thanks to a 90-day pause on most U.S. tariffs (courtesy of the Treasury), Spotify stock jumped 9.8% on Wednesday (April 9), helping recover most of the $12 billion it lost the week before. It’s still down 3.1% over the past two weeks, but the rebound is a big deal.
Overall, the Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) — which tracks 20 top music companies — went up 4.6% after getting crushed last week. The music stock rally followed a general bounce in U.S. markets: the Nasdaq jumped 7.3%, and the S&P 500 rose 5.7%. But outside the U.S.? Not so great. The U.K., South Korea, and China all posted losses.
LiveOne, a music streamer, was this week’s biggest winner, with shares up 18% after the company reported over $112 million in revenue and more than 1.45 million users (paid + ad-supported). Still, LiveOne stock is down nearly 50% in 2025 so far, so… it needed the win.
Live Nation also had a good week, up 7.2%. It’s actually the only major music company to post gains over the past two weeks, climbing 3.6% overall.
Not everyone had a comeback, though. Major record labels were mid-tier performers:
- Warner Music Group: Down 1.5% this week, -8% over two weeks
- Universal Music Group: Down 1.6% this week, -10.7% over two weeks
- Reservoir Media: Up slightly at 0.7%, but still down 2.1% over two weeks
Sphere Entertainment Co., which has had a rough ride lately, barely moved the needle. It’s down 18.5% over two weeks, despite a small bump this week.
Radio companies were hit hard — again. Advertising slowdowns during economic uncertainty don’t help, and the numbers show it:
- Cumulus Media: Down 22.5% this week, -34% in two weeks
- iHeartMedia: Down 4.2% this week, -29.9% in two weeks
- Townsquare Media: Down 4.9% this week, -13.6% in two weeks
SiriusXM was one of the few bright spots in radio, up 2.6% this week after being upgraded to a “buy” rating. Still, it’s down 12% in two weeks.
As for the Chinese streaming giants:
- Tencent Music: Dropped 5.5% to $12.24, even with a new “buy” rating from Nomura
- Cloud Music: Fell 5.7%
K-pop companies, which had been outperforming, didn’t escape the dip this time:
- SM Entertainment: -8.2%
- HYBE: -8.1%
- JYP Entertainment: -5.8%
- YG Entertainment: -4.1%
TL;DR: U.S. music stocks are slowly recovering, led by Spotify and Live Nation. But labels, radio, and international markets are still struggling to catch up.
