Photo Credit: Reservoir Media
Reservoir Media (NASDAQ: RSVR) achieved an 8% year-over-year revenue increase during 2024’s second quarter, as double-digit publishing growth managed to offset a 7% decrease in the recorded music category.
These and other results emerged in the New York City-headquartered business’s Q2 2024 (Q1 of the 2025 fiscal year) earnings report today. According to Wrabel-partnered Reservoir, revenue totaled $34.3 million during April, May, and June.
Behind the sum, publishing operations generated $24 million and recorded music contributed another $9.6 million. In keeping with industry-wide trends, digital played a major role in both categories, referring to a 17% YoY spike in digital recorded revenue ($6.6 million total) and 23% for digital publishing revenue ($14.6 million).
Zeroing in on the recorded side, Reservoir chalked up the revenue slip to a decline in physical sales ($3.6 million to $1.4 million) stemming from the release of multiple De La Soul projects in Q2 2023. The aforementioned digital kicked in $6.6 million, with $1.1 million in neighboring rights (up 29% YoY) and sync’s $600,000 (up 87% YoY) rounding out the recorded segment.
Reservoir’s placements on the quarter included Sinéad O’Connor’s “Never Get Old” in a trailer for The Watchers.
Shifting to publishing, on top of digital’s $14.6 million, performance brought in $5.1 million (up 14% YoY), sync fell 7% YoY to $2.8 million, mechanicals improved 20% YoY to $700,000, and other sources’ revenue dipped 4% to $800,000.
All told, despite a 58% YoY jump in operating income ($4.96 million total), heightened interest expenses ($5.06 million) contributed to a $453,177 net loss for Reservoir in 2024’s second quarter, per the report.
“The music industry has enjoyed an unprecedented return to growth,” Reservoir founder and CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi added in part, “which experts predict will continue for the next decade. We are excited to be part of that momentum as our creators shape the music landscape with their chart-topping collaborations across genres and markets. We are well-positioned to capture additional organic growth, while continuing to pursue accretive opportunities.”
Looking ahead to the remainder of its 2025 fiscal year (ending March 31st, 2025), Reservoir is banking on between $148 million and $152 million in revenue; the forecast reflects an estimated $1.2 million to $1.5 million hit stemming from Spotify’s bundling frenzy.
Acknowledging a recent slowdown in catalog acquisitions, execs during the corresponding earnings call nevertheless pointed to a “robust” pipeline of forthcoming deals.
At the time of this writing, RSVR was down 3.73% on the day at an even $8. Notwithstanding the decrease, the price still represents a close to 50% boost from late July of 2023.
In other earnings news, Live Nation yesterday reported relatively strong overall financials for Q2 2024, and with plans to achieve profitability next year, Deezer shed light on a solid showing of its own for 2024’s initial half.
