Investing in music might not be the obvious option, but with digital streaming on the up, music still means big business and if done wisely, you could also profit from the industry.
Music is still a very profitable business (IMAGE SOURCE)
Gone are the days when listening to music meant carrying your walkman with you everywhere. Mobile phone devices account for the majority of music listening today, and Spotify, for instance, is now valued at $16 billion.
You could get a bit of help from a free stock screener to guide you on how to invest in music. We have prepared a list of companies (below), which are some of the ones to look to when investing in the industry.
Amazon
Amazon is a music streaming platform owned by Amazon.com. Its owner Jeff Bezos’ net worth has exceeded $100 billion in 2017 and experts predict this will only keep rising. The company’s price-to-earnings ratio earlier in the year was set at 248.1. This makes Amazon a very profitable company in which to invest.
Vivendi
This French company operates in the areas of music, television, film and video games, to name but a few, and it is the owner of Universal Music Group. Vivendi has undergone a number of acquisitions and mergers over the years, but the company was worth $24.2 billion in May this year according to Forbes, and it is a great investment choice.
Apple
Valued at $265.5 billion, Apple is the biggest player in the information technology industry, well ahead of brands like Microsoft and IBM. It was the company’s iPod that brought us music as we know it today and this makes the company a likely investment source. Experts claim its dividends are low, but with music streaming on the up, it is nonetheless a company to look out for.
Time Warner
American company Time Warner was at some point ranked with being the second largest cable company in the United States. Last year, Charter Communications purchased Warner and the company is now worth $76.2 billion. The firm trades at $101 per share but watch out, rumour has it AT&T intends to purchase Time Warner sometime in the near future.
Sony Corp
Valued at $40.4 billion, Sony Corp is another company in the industry that is currently performing extremely well. Trading at $38 per share, experts predict the company will see profitable years ahead and with the Japanese economy on the up, Sony Corp might just be the company you would like to invest in.
The brands above provide a glimpse into the lucrative music industry and the benefits you could attain if you decided to invest in them. Nurturing music talent is something that labels are now focusing on, rather than dropping an act once this has released an unpopular single. This means we will see online viral campaigns become more effective over the years. With music being increasingly streamed over the internet, this could only mean big business for the aforementioned players, and ultimately for you.
