Taylor Swift’s tour is shattering records and streamer
Spotify Technology’s
stock is up 100% this year. And there are suddenly new ways to invest in music, such as David Schulhof’s recently launched
MUSQ Global Music Industry
exchange-traded fund, which made its debut July 7.
Music labels such as
Warner Music Group
and
Universal Music Group
that dominated the industry for decades have gone public in recent years; so have producers of fast-growing K-pop. Music-industry veteran Schulhof’s MUSQ invests in a range of companies—streamers such as Spotify, equipment makers like
Sonos,
event companies like
Live Nation Entertainment.
About half of MUSQ’s assets are in non-U.S. names, with 17% from South Korea.
Schulhof worked with EQM Indexes to build the ETF, then licensed it to Exchange Traded Concepts to get it on the New York Stock Exchange. He sees music as a liquid alternative not correlated to the larger economy. “Our view is that music is an indispensable part of life—like food, like water—and it should be a core part of a portfolio’s equity allocation.”
| Artist / Tour | Years | Grosses (mil) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Elton John | 2018-20, 2022-23 | $843 |
| FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD | ||
| 2. Ed Sheeran | 2017-19 | 776 |
| THE DIVIDE | ||
| 3. U2 | 2009-11 | 736 |
| U2 360 DEGREES | ||
| 4. Guns N’ Roses | 2009-11 | 584 |
| NOT IN THIS LIFETIME | ||
| 5. The Rolling Stones | 2005-07 | 558 |
| A BIGGER BANG | ||
| 6. The Rolling Stones | 2017-19 | 547 |
| NO FILTER TOUR | ||
| 7. Coldplay | 2016-17 | 524 |
| A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS | ||
| 8. Roger Walters | 2010-2013 | 459 |
| THE WALL LIVE | ||
| 9. AC/DC | 2008-10 | 442 |
| BLACK ICE WORLD | ||
| 10. Harry Styles | 2021-Present | 418 |
| LOVE ON |
Source: Billboard
Goldman Sachs
recently predicted that the music industry would grow by 7.3% a year through 2030 as music streaming prices rise and companies figure out how to get superfans to spend more. The ETF calls itself a music pure-play, but it also includes a trio that makes most of their revenue outside music—
Amazon.com,
Apple,
and
Alphabet.
Because MUSQ is market-cap weighted, those stocks make up more than 20% of the ETF. But they can’t go much higher: Each stock’s weighting is capped at 7% when it’s time for quarterly rebalancings, making room for Taylor Swift, if she ever decides to truly go public.
Next Week
Monday 7/17
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York releases the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for July. Consensus estimate is for a negative 6.5 reading, about 13 points less than in June.
Tuesday 7/18
Bank of America,
Bank of NY Mellon,
J.B. Hunt Transport Services,
Lockheed Martin,
Morgan Stanley,
Novartis,
Omnicom Group,
PNC Financial Services Group,
Prologis,
and
Synchrony Financial
release earnings.
The Census Bureau reports retail sales data for June. Consumer spending is expected to grow 0.4% month over month, following a 0.3% increase in May. Excluding autos, spending is seen rising 0.3%, two-tenths of a percentage point more than previously. U.S. consumers have proved much more resilient than the majority of economists predicted at the start of the year.
The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for July. Economists forecast a 57 reading, two points higher than in June. The index has risen for six straight months and is at its highest level in nearly a year, despite 30-year mortgage rates close to a two-decade high. Solid demand and a lack of existing inventory have buoyed home builders’ sentiment.
Wednesday 7/19
Tesla
reports second-quarter results. Shares of the electric-vehicle pioneer are up 128% this year, making them the third best performer in the S&P 500 index. Tesla announced a record 466,140 deliveries for the second quarter in early July, up more than 80% from the prior year.
ASML Holding,
Baker Hughes,
Crown Castle,
Discover Financial Services,
Elevance Health,
Goldman Sachs Group,
Halliburton,
IBM,
Kinder Morgan,
Las Vegas Sands,
Nasdaq,
Netflix,
Northern Trust,
U.S. Bancorp,
and United Airlines Holdings report quarterly results.
The Census Bureau reports new residential statistics for June. The consensus call is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.48 million privately owned housing starts, more than 9% less than in May.
Thursday 7/20
Abbott Laboratories,
American Airlines Group,
Capital One Financial,
CSX,
D.R. Horton,
Freeport-McMoRan,
Intuitive Surgical,
Johnson & Johnson,
Kenvue,
Marsh & McLennan,
Newmont,
Philip Morris International,
SAP,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing,
Travelers, and
Truist Financial
hold conference calls to discuss earnings.
The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for June. Expectations are for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3 million homes sold, matching the May data.
The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for June. The LEI has declined for 14 consecutive months, which points to weaker economic activity ahead, according to the Conference Board, which projects a recession in the next nine months.
Friday 7/21
American Express,
Roper Technologies,
and
SLB
announce earnings.
Write to Avi Salzman at [email protected]
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