iHeartMedia Leads Music Stocks’ Gains for Second Straight Week

The Billboard Global Music Index improved 1.8% to 1,270.57 in the week ending June 9, marking gains in successive weeks and four out of the last six weeks. iHeartMedia was the index leader for the second straight week. Shares of the radio company were up 13.5% to $3.54 a week after rising 30.5%. 

Thirteen of the 21 stocks in the index posted gains over the week. LiveOne improved 9.8% to $1.35 and Sphere Entertainment Co. rose 8.1% to $26.40. One company, French company Believe, was unchanged and seven companies posted losses. Most stocks that lost ground dropped only 1%, however. Madison Square Garden Entertainment had the largest loss of the week after falling 4.9% to $38.13. 

Stocks were broadly up as investors await a Federal Reserve policy meeting next week. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,298.86, marking its fourth straight week of growth. The Nasdaq gained 0.1% to 13,259.14. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index declined 0.6% to 7,562.36. South Korea’s KOSPI index improved 1.5% to 2,641.16. One encouraging sign this week came from the CBOE Volatility Index, commonly referred to as the “fear index.” A measurement of 30-day expected volatility of the U.S. stock market, the CBOE Volatility Index fell to 13.50 on Friday (June 9), its lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Year-to-date, the Billboard Global Music Index’s performance has improved 8.8% and posted gains in 13 of 23 weeks. Spotify’s 90.6% increase through June 9 has been the largest single contributor to the index’s growth. The year-to-date gains of two K-pop companies also stand out: HYBE is up 61.7% and SM Entertainment has improved 33%. Music promoters have also fared well. Live Nation shares have risen 20.7% and Germany’s CTS Eventim is up 19.1%.