A live performance from Rosalía, whose Lux generated the most recorded revenue of any Sony Music project during Q4 2025. Photo Credit: Andrés Ibarra
Sony Music Group has posted a double-digit revenue jump for Q4 2025 (the fiscal third quarter) thanks in part to boosts across physical, merch, and publishing.
Said jump came to light in the overarching Sony Group Corp.’s newly released earnings report for October, November, and December 2025. All told, the conglomerate acknowledged a cool ¥538.66 billion (currently $3.43 billion) in external music revenue for the three-month stretch.
But as many know, this top-level sum doesn’t quite tell the full story. On the currency front, exchange-rate fluctuations always factor heavily into the results, which Sony Group reports in yen. For 2025’s final quarter, the entity pointed to a noteworthy average rate of ¥154 to a dollar.
More pressingly, the music category includes “visual media and platform,” which, consisting of mobile gaming and more, is best omitted to get a better idea of actual Sony Music revenue.
Less visual media and platform, then, the major generated $2.95 billion/¥463.04 billion (up 12.8% year over year) during the fourth quarter – with the growth percentage marking an improvement from its nine-month counterpart, up 8.5% YoY to $8.21 billion/¥1.30 trillion.
Sony Music Entertainment Q4 2025 Revenue Cracks $2.25 Billion
As usual, recorded music kicked in the lion’s share of the sum, at $2.26 billion/¥354.86 billion (up 12.5% YoY) on the quarter. Within the recorded total, streaming contributed $1.42 billion/¥222.80 billion, for a comparatively modest YoY bump of 6.3%.
(On a U.S. dollar basis, this bump was closer to 5%, execs relayed.)
Nevertheless, Sony Music enjoyed considerable YoY growth from physical formats such as vinyl ($224.61 million/¥35.28 billion, up 16.7% YoY), and the long-sagging permanent downloads category managed to climb 7.4% YoY to $44 million/¥6.91 billion.
Rounding out the recorded side, Sony Music during Q4 2025 attributed $572.11 million/¥89.86 billion (up 30.1% YoY) to the all-encompassing “other” sub-category, including sync, concerts/merch (which drove a significant portion of the hike), public performance, and more.
By revenue, the major’s top Q4 2025 projects were Rosalía’s Lux; Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here; Chromakopia by Tyler, the Creator; Tate McRae’s So Close to What; SZA’s SOS; and Tame Impala’s Deadbeat, respectively.
Sony Music Publishing Q4 2025 Revenue Approaches $700 Million
Shifting to publishing, Sony Music Publishing brought in $688.73 million/¥108.18 billion (up 13.5% YoY) during 2025’s final quarter. Therein, streaming made up $409.46 million/¥64.32 billion (up 14.3% YoY).
Once again on a U.S. dollar basis, publishing streaming growth was closer to 13%, higher-ups relayed during the quarterly results presentation.
Sony Group Adjusts Full-Year Music Revenue Forecast Amid Percentage Growth Acceleration
As mentioned, Sony Music’s nine-month revenue less visual media and platform – for April through December 2025, that is – grew at a slower clip than in the fourth quarter. In keeping with the trend, Q4’s category-by-category growth percentages largely outpaced those associated with the nine-month period.
Perhaps most notably, Q4’s YoY recorded streaming revenue spike, 6.3%, bested that behind the nine-month window, 5.3% to $3.99 billion/¥627.40 billion. The same was true in other recorded (up 30.1% versus 13.1% to $2.23 billion/¥349.66 billion) as well as publishing (up 13.5% versus 10.3% to $1.99 billion/¥312.65 billion).
However, Sony Music’s Q4 operating income improvement (9.2% YoY to $677.62 million/¥106.41 billion) was smaller than that of the full nine months (nearly 15% YoY to $2 billion/¥314.60 billion).
Looking ahead to the remainder of the fiscal year – meaning the current calendar quarter – execs increased their Sony Music revenue forecast by about $445.74 million/¥70 billion, citing better-than-expected live/merch results and favorable exchange-rate movements.
