Warner Music soars on its first day of public trading: it's the Cardi IPO

Warner has got New Rules... as a newly publicly-traded company. Warner Music stock popped 20% during its first day on Nasdaq (ticker symbol WMG — so much for JAM). Warner owns major labels like Warner Records and Atlantic Records, signing deals with Dua Lipa, Cardi B, and Ed Sheeran's vocal chords.

• It's the third largest of the music "three-opoly," after Universal Music and Sony Music. Those two are owned by big conglomerates, making Warner the only pure-play "music stock."
• It's the biggest American IPO in 2020 so far — Warner saw enough market momentum to take its music public as the economy begins to pick up.

Thinking out loud... Streaming music success makes sense, but what about the blow from cancelled concerts? Warner did lose out on concert promotions and tour merch. Buut — streaming has been accounting for more of Warner's biz each year:

• Recorded Music made up 86% of Warner's total sales in 2019, and that was mostly thanks to streaming sales/licensing, which popped 23%.
• Warner signs artists and negotiates with streamers like Spotify to get paid on listens, then dishes out 40% of that as artist royalties.
• Warner had a 12% surge in recorded music streaming sales this April, fueled by heavy hitters like Dua Lipa's latest album. The more streams, the more $$$.