From Cardi to Madonna... Warner Music, the third-largest US label after Universal and Sony, reps some of music’s biggest stars. Warner broke sales records last quarter as you streamed “Lizzo and chill” playlists. Streaming now accounts for more than three-fourths of the US music industry’s revenue and more than half of Warner’s. But it’s not all about Spotify: Warner earned $235M last year on tunes for TikTok dances, Peloton workouts, and video games. Now it’s even dabbling with metaverse concerts to drive growth. We'll see what new projects are in store when Warner reports Tuesday.
Dry January becomes Wet February... just in time for Coke and Pepsi to report on Thursday. While people ditched booze in January, soda giants popped open some of their first alcoholic drinks. Sales hit 20-year highs during the pandemic, powered by a boom in ready-to-drink cocktails for home-sipping. To uncork a fresh revenue stream, Coke teamed up with Constellation and Molson Coors to launch Fresca canned cocktails and Simply spiked lemonade. Meanwhile, Pepsi partnered with Sam Adams maker Boston Beer and Taco Bell on a boozy Baja Blast. The canned-cocktail market is expected to hit $4.5B this year and 13X over the next decade.