Sony‘s mixed revenues from recorded music and music publishing topped USD $3 billion for a second consecutive quarter in calendar Q1 2026 (January–March), producing an estimated $3.03 billion within the interval.
That’s in keeping with MBW’s calculations primarily based on Sony Group Corp‘s calendar Q1 2026 (fiscal This autumn, FY2025) outcomes, as introduced by the Japanese conglomerate immediately (Friday, Could 8). The calendar Q1 2026 quarter additionally marks the tip of Sony‘s fiscal 12 months (which runs April 2025 to March 2026), that means full-year figures are additionally obtainable for the primary time.
The $3.03 billion quarterly mixed complete was up 19.5% YoY at US dollar-converted constant forex, in comparison with $2.54 billion in calendar Q1 2025.
Which means Sony‘s recorded music and publishing operations generated roughly $495 million extra in calendar Q1 2026 than within the prior-year quarter.
Standout industrial performers for Sony in calendar Q1 included recorded music streaming (up 13.6% YoY to $1.44 billion), and the corporate’s ‘Different’ class – overlaying revenues from merch, reside, and licensing – which generated over $630 million within the quarter.
Notice: Corporately talking, Sony Group’s world music operation contains recorded music, plus music publishing, plus ‘Visible Media & Platform’. The ultimate class primarily covers cellular video games and animation initiatives, and has been omitted from MBW’s income calculations within the above chart.
MBW calculates Sony’s music revenues in USD, primarily based on common quarterly trade charges offered by Sony. This provides a extra correct image of Sony’s worldwide efficiency than the Japanese agency’s reported Yen figures. US-headquartered Sony Music Leisure and Sony Music Publishing each combination the outcomes of their worldwide subsidiaries on a USD foundation. Nevertheless, this world USD conversion dangers a level of FX distortion by changing revenues from Tokyo-based Sony Music Leisure Japan, which studies revenues in its ‘root’ forex of Yen.
Recorded music income breakdown
Sony Music Leisure‘s complete recorded music income in calendar Q1 2026 was an estimated $2.35 billion, up 23.2% YoY versus $1.91 billion in calendar Q1 2025.
Of that complete, streaming income (combining subscription and ad-funded streaming) was roughly $1.44 billion, up 13.6% YoY.
Bodily music gross sales got here in at an estimated $241.7 million, up a putting 37.3% YoY from $176.0 million in calendar Q1 2025.
However probably the most notable motion was within the ‘Different’ class – which incorporates license income (public efficiency, broadcast, and sync), merchandising, and reside efficiency revenue.
This ‘Different’ section generated an estimated $631.9 million in calendar Q1 2026, surging 51.0% YoY from $418.4 million in calendar Q1 2025.
That roughly $213 million YoY enhance in ‘Different’ income alone accounted for practically half of the overall greenback enhance in recorded music income through the quarter.
In the meantime, obtain income continued its decline, falling to an estimated $38.9 million, down 20.1% YoY.
High-selling initiatives globally
The next had been the high 10 best-selling recorded music initiatives for Sony Music Leisure (excluding Japan-signed artists) in calendar Q1 2026 (the quarter ended March 31, 2026), so as of income contribution:
- Dangerous Bunny (Rimas Leisure), DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
- Harry Kinds, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Often.
- ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR : Half.4
- Dangerous Bunny (Rimas Leisure), Un Verano Sin Ti
- BLACKPINK, BLACKPINK The third MINI ALBUM [DEADLINE]
- Tate McRae, So Shut To What
- ROSALÍA, LUX
- SZA, SOS
- Megan Moroney, Cloud 9
- A$AP Rocky, Don’t Be Dumb
Because the quarter additionally marks the tip of Sony‘s fiscal 12 months, the corporate additionally disclosed its high 10 best-selling recorded music initiatives for the complete fiscal 12 months ended March 31, 2026 (i.e. the 12 months April 2025–March 2026):
- Dangerous Bunny (Rimas Leisure), DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
- SZA, SOS
- Tate McRae, So Shut To What
- Harry Kinds, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Often.
- Dangerous Bunny (Rimas Leisure), Un Verano Sin Ti
- Michael Jackson, Thriller
- PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U
- Fuerza Regida, 111XPANTIA
- Tyler, The Creator, CHROMAKOPIA
- ROSALÍA, LUX
Music publishing efficiency
Sony Music Publishing‘s complete income in calendar Q1 2026 was an estimated $684.2 million, up 8.4% YoY versus $630.9 million in calendar Q1 2025.
Inside that, streaming income at Sony Music Publishing was roughly $402.5 million, up 10.8% YoY from $363.4 million.
Quarterly earnings
Notice: Revenue figures cowl Sony‘s full company Music division, which encompasses recorded music, music publishing, and Visible Media & Platform (animation and cellular video games). Visible Media & Platform is excluded from MBW’s income calculations above, however is included within the revenue metrics beneath.
Sony‘s Music division generated working revenue of 132.4 billion Yen (roughly $844.9 million) in calendar Q1 2026, versus 83.6 billion Yen ($547.8 million) in calendar Q1 2025.
Nevertheless, the quarterly working revenue determine included a one-time remeasurement achieve of 34.7 billion Yen from the acquisition of further fairness curiosity in Peanuts Holdings LLC. Excluding this merchandise, working revenue for the quarter was roughly 97.7 billion Yen ($623.5 million).
Complete divisional income for the quarter (together with Visible Media & Platform) was 570.0 billion Yen (roughly $3.64 billion), giving an working margin of 23.2%.
Full fiscal 12 months outcomes
For the complete fiscal 12 months (April 2025–March 2026), Sony‘s mixed revenues from recorded music and music publishing totaled an estimated $11.71 billion, up 13.4% YoY from $10.33 billion within the prior fiscal 12 months – a distinction of roughly $1.38 billion.
Inside that, complete recorded music income for the complete fiscal 12 months was an estimated $8.93 billion, up 13.8% YoY, whereas music publishing income was an estimated $2.79 billion, up 11.9% YoY.
Sony‘s personal investor presentation said that full-year streaming income development charges on a US greenback foundation had been +9% YoY for Recorded Music and +14% YoY for Music Publishing. (MBW’s calculations, which can differ marginally from Sony’s inner figures resulting from rounding, produced broadly constant outcomes.)
Turning to earnings: Sony‘s full-year Music division working revenue was 447.0 billion Yen (roughly $2.97 billion), up from 357.3 billion Yen ($2.34 billion) within the prior fiscal 12 months – a rise of 25% YoY per Sony‘s personal calculations. Sony famous that even when excluding the one-time Peanuts Holdings LLC remeasurement achieve (34.7 billion Yen), working revenue reached a report excessive.
Full-year Music division Adjusted OIBDA – a metric additionally utilized by Warner Music Group – was 507.8 billion Yen (roughly $3.37 billion), up from 449.1 billion Yen ($2.94 billion) within the prior fiscal 12 months, a rise of 14.4% YoY on the USD-converted stage.
Complete full-year divisional income (together with Visible Media & Platform) was 2,120.1 billion Yen (roughly $14.07 billion), giving a full-year working margin of 21.1% and an Adjusted OIBDA margin of 24.0%.
Sony attributed the year-on-year enhance in income to greater revenues from streaming providers in each Recorded Music and Music Publishing, greater revenues from reside occasions and merchandising in Recorded Music, and better revenues in Visible Media & Platform – together with contributions from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Fort and Kokuho launched in FY25, plus greater revenues from cellular recreation purposes.
Notice: Sony Music Group – the US-headquartered umbrella group for Sony Music Leisure and Sony Music Publishing, run by Chairman Rob Stringer – is distinct from Sony‘s company Music division, which additionally encompasses Sony Music Japan operations and Visible Media & Platform.
Methodology observe
Notice: All YoY share rises/falls revealed on this story are calculated at fixed forex on the US dollar-converted stage. MBW makes use of Sony’s personal quarterly common forex charges for these calculations.
[SCREENSHOT: Music Segment Supplemental Information chart from Sony filings]
For this evaluation, MBW has calculated Sony’s financials from Japanese Yen into US {dollars} on the following prevailing trade charges in every quarter, as offered by Sony Corp:
- Calendar Q1 2020: 109.0 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2020: 107.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2020: 106.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2020: 104.5 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2021: 105.9 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2021: 109.5 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2021: 110.1 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2021: 113.7 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2022: 116.1 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2022: 129.4 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2022: 138.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2022: 132.3 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2023: 135.4 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2023: 137.0 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2023: 144.4 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2023: 147.9 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2024: 148.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2024: 155.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2024: 149.5 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2024: 152.2 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2025: 152.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q2 2025: 144.6 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q3 2025: 147.37 Yen per USD
- Calendar This autumn 2025: 153.99 Yen per USD
- Calendar Q1 2026: 156.7 Yen per USD
By making use of these trade figures to every relevant interval, we successfully get a US-leaning fixed forex image of Sony Music’s efficiency.
This isn’t an ideal system; it dangers overplaying Sony Music Leisure’s world enterprise barely by changing a piece of revenues from Sony Music Leisure Japan (which might normally be straight-reported in Yen) into US {dollars}.
Nevertheless it supplies us with a cleaner reflection of the efficiency of New York-based Sony Music Leisure outdoors of FX distortion, as a result of the corporate needed to convert its US forex into Yen within the first place for Sony Corp’s outcomes. The identical is true for US-based Sony Music Publishing.
MBW believes this forex trade system is the yardstick used internally at Sony Music Group’s HQ in New York.
Sony’s personal description of its three company music divisions is as follows:
- Recorded Music – Streaming contains the distribution of digital recorded music by streaming; Recorded Music – Others contains the distribution of recorded music by bodily media and digital obtain in addition to income derived from artists’ reside performances;
- Music Publishing contains the administration and licensing of the phrases and music of songs;
- Visible Media and Platform contains the manufacturing and distribution of animation titles, together with recreation purposes primarily based on the animation titles, and varied service choices for music and visible merchandise.
Inside / overlaying the primary two divisions listed above:
Sony Music Publishing, run by CEO & Chairman Jon Platt, is Sony’s US-headquartered music publishing operation. Sony Music Leisure, run by CEO Rob Stringer, is Sony’s US-headquartered recorded music operation.
And Sony Music Group – additionally run by Rob Stringer, as Chairman – is Sony’s US-headquartered umbrella group for each Sony Music Leisure and Sony Music Publishing.Music Enterprise Worldwide
