Music Ally Focus #17: distributor Believe prepares for possible IPO – does this change the power balance in the industry?

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Distributor Believe said that it is "contemplating" raising around €500m (around $608.5m) from its mooted IPO... the prospectus isn't yet public, but Believe has published some of the figures that will be key to its appeal to investors: In 2020, Believe generated €728m (886m) from 'digital music sales' and in the first quarter of 2021, the company made another €124m, up by 26% year-on-year. Joe and Stu analyse who might (alternatively) buy Believe outright, what this IPO might mean for artists, and if it changes the power balance between distributors and labels. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb