BMG said on Friday (Aug. 28) that its revenue for the first six months of the year rose 5% to 444 million euros ($518.7 million) due to growth in recorded music streaming subscriptions.

The German-owned music company said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 4% to 127 million euros ($148.4 million), for a 29% EBITDA margin. Adjusted operating EBITDA also hit 127 million euros, having risen 42% since 2023, the company said.

BMG acquired some 14 publishing and recorded music assets in the first six months of the year, making this its biggest investment in music rights during the company’s history. BMG, which in April announced plans to acquire Concord in a deal that includes $1.16 billion in cash, said it has invested $1.8 billion in music rights catalogs since 2021 through parent company Bertelsmann’s Boost program.

“Our first-half results reflect the strength of the business we have built over the past several years,” BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld said in a statement. “We have become a more focused, more profitable, digital-first business — one that is better able to invest in artists, songwriters, and music rights for the long term. Sustained organic growth, record profitability, and our highest-ever first half investment in music rights give us a strong foundation for the opportunities ahead.”

Acquisitions this year included rights from Jelly Roll, Fuji Music Group (which includes works associated with John Lee Hooker, Hal David, and Chess Records), Snap! co-founder Luca Anzilotti and Jet. 

Coesfeld said BMG is using artificial intelligence “at scale across BMG to better serve our clients and rights-holders by connecting music with the right audiences, deepening fan engagement, driving revenue opportunities, and improving productivity.”

BMG uses AI and data to sharpen its marketing, fan-focused strategies and to better monetize its catalog by identifying the best audiences to target. AI is also used to create and deliver “Motion Art for Apple Music.”

Across its recorded music, publishing and catalog, BMG represents more than three million songs and recordings including Tina Turner, Jason Aldean, Jelly Roll and Paul Simon. For the first six months of the year, catalog performance was led by “Blue” by young kai, “What Is Love” by Haddaway, and “Lost On You” by LP.

BMG reiterated that its acquisition of Concord is on track pending regulatory approval. The ultimate combined company would be 67% owned by Bertelsmann, BMG’s parent company, and 33% owned by affiliates of Great Mountain Partners, a private markets investment firm that has long invested in Concord through a fund that manages money from Michigan Retirement Systems and Great Mountain’s management team

“Together with Concord, we will have greater scale, broader capabilities, and increased capacity to invest in artists and songwriters, strengthen the support we provide creators and partners and create greater long-term value from music rights,” Coesfeld said.

Billboard used an average six-month U.S. dollar to Euro conversion rate of 1.1682224299.

BLINKs, JENNIE is your fallen angel.

The South Korea-born, New Zealand-raised BLACKPINK star steps out on her own for Fallen Angel, the three-track digital EP that dropped as the clock struck midnight.

It’s a collection that comes “from a very personal place with the truest self-expression,” reads an announcement, posted just last week by Odd Atelier, the singer-actress’ own company and label. “A gift from JENNIE, with love.”

The gift, well, it’s unwrapped and available for streaming below. The title from Fallen Angel arrives with an official music video, a fairytale that could be inspired by the work of Tim Burton. It’s a balancing act of light and dark, of bonfires and flowers. Of butterflies and bad dreams. Poetry and pain. JENNIE is the connecting tissue. “Thorns may be the sharpest, fiercest thing on this earth,” we learn in the spoken word outro. “And yet, they bloom into the world’s most beautiful roses.”

The clip culminates in a fiery finale. But fear not, no one was set ablaze. A disclaimer accompanying the music video assures that all fire depicted in it was created using VFX (CG), and that “all scenes involving minors were filmed in a safe environment under appropriate supervision.” Good to know.

At the top, as a child is boxed in on a stage of warped little houses, we learn that “human greed has made them grow so heavy.” As the camera pulls back, we see a surreal foggy landscape, backed by domineering skyscrapers. Those bent dwellings have eyes. “But little one, close your eyes like I do,” that narrator explains, in Korean. “We can still fly. Free as can be.”

Fallen Angel collects the title track, plus “Heaven,” which the K-pop icon debuted last month when she headlined the final night of Open’er Festival in Gdynia, Poland; and “Less Than a Lover.”

“It’s a song I wrote thinking about summer,” she told the audience before performing “Less Than A Lover.” “It feels really special to share new music with this many people.” She added: “I really can’t wait to share this new music with you soon.”

Stream Fallen Angel below.