AI crushed music label stocks, but won’t kill them, Barron’s says

The rise of AI has the music industry on edge, and has contributed to a drop in the stocks of some key companies, Avi Salzman writes in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Universal Music Group (UMGNF), which represents Drake and The Weeknd, is down 10% this year despite statistics showing that people are streaming much more music this year than last. Rival Warner Music Group (WMG) has fallen more than twice as much. Investors who tune in now, however, could well benefit in the months ahead, the author notes. Most important, there’s a real possibility that Spotify Technology (SPOT) will raise subscription prices for consumers, and the labels will negotiate better contracts with streaming services. That could reignite the labels’ growth, the publication adds. And over the longer term, the threat of AI to music may prove to be less than feared.