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The label revealed what it's spending on catalog and business acquisitions and revealed a packed schedule of upcoming releases, among other highlights.
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Aaron Bay-Schuck, Robert Kyncl and Tom Corson at the Warner Music Group Grammy Awards Party on January 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
Aaron Bay-Schuck, Robert Kyncl and Tom Corson at the Warner Music Group Grammy Awards Party on January 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
<cite>Dan Steinberg/Billboard</cite>
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Trending on Billboard
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**Warner Music Group** (WMG) <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/warner-music-q3-earnings-report-revenue-up-hits-sombr/">reported</a> that quarterly revenue rose 10% to $1.84 billion on Thursday (Feb. 5) as music from artists like <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/alex-warren/">Alex Warren</a> and <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/sombr">sombr</a> contributed to broad-based growth across recorded music, publishing and streaming revenue.
WMG CEO **Robert Kyncl** told investors and analysts on a wide-ranging call Thursday that the company is “humming,” with several consecutive quarters of streaming revenue growth and market share gains.
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<a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/warner-music-q3-earnings-report-revenue-up-hits-sombr/">
Robert Kyncl and Leonard Blavatnik at the Warner Music Group Grammy Awards Party on January 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
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“We’re very pleased to see our consistent performance,” **Kyncl** said. “We are really firing on most cylinders that there are, and all of it is underpinned by our incredible ability of artist development.”
Here are some of the highlights.
**It plans to spend big on catalogs.**
**Warner** and Bain Capital’s <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/warner-music-bain-capital-music-catalog-acquisition-venture/">50-50 joint venture</a>, established in mid-2025, is now worth about $1.65 billion, and the companies plan to spend a significant portion of those funds on catalog acquisitions this year, **Warner** CFO **Armin Zerza** said on the call.
“We plan to deploy a significant portion of the JV’s total capacity by the end of the fiscal year,” **Zerza** said. “This combination of organic and inorganic investment will fortify our core, giving us greater scale to capitalize on industry trends as well as emerging opportunities like AI that will [rely] heavily on iconic content.”
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<a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/warner-music-bain-capital-music-catalog-acquisition-venture/">
Robert Kyncl
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The company continues to work its existing catalog through placements in shows like Netflix’s *Stranger Things*, which used <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/prince/">**Prince**</a>‘s “Purple Rain” and <a href="https://www.billboard.com/artist/David-Bowie">**David Bowie**</a>‘s “Heroes.” After the episodes aired, “Purple Rain” charted on *Billboard’s* Hot 100 for the first time in a decade, and its weekly streams are now six times higher than prior to the *Stranger Things* sync, **Kyncl** said. Weekly streaming activity for **Bowie**’s “Heroes” is nearly 2.5 times higher than before, he added.
**It’s leaning into AI.**
**Warner** is the first — and so far, only — major <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/suno-warner-music-sign-ai-licensing-deal-settle-lawsuit/">to reach licensing deals</a> with two of the leading AI music generation platforms, Suno and <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/warner-music-settles-udio-deal-ai-music-platform/">Udio.</a> The agreements, which effectively ended **Warner**’s part in lawsuits filed by UMG and others in 2025, allow **Warner** to “shape” AI models that are quickly impacting the commercial music industry, **Kyncl** has said. Suno agreed to offer new licensed music-making models on its platform as part of the agreement, according to a press release announcing the news.
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