7:30 AM PDT 8/7/2018 by Etan Vlessing Warner Music Group has sold off its entire stake in Spotify for $504 million, the company announced on its earnings call Tuesday morning. Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper told analysts the music label will share around $126 million in proceeds with its artists as part of the label's latest royalty payments. Warner Music in May said it had sold around 75 percent of its Spotify stock for $400 million in proceeds, and in its latest earnings call confirmed the sale of the rest of its stake. Cooper told analysts the sale of the Spotify stock did not reduce his enthusiasm for the music streaming business as it continues to grow. "While Apple and Spotify continue to grow their global subscriber numbers, Amazon and YouTube are both off to a great start with their premium services. This increased competition is good news for our business, and we’re happy to see other large tech companies, such as Facebook, begin to recognize the true value that music brings to their platforms," he said. With 180 million ad-supported active monthly users in its stable, Spotify is now larger than rival Apple Music. The Stockholm, Sweden-based streaming service, which is run by founder and CEO Daniel Ek, recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Japan's Sony earlier realized a gain of $768 million from selling off most of its own stake in Spotify, which leaves Universal Music Group as the last remaining major label with a sizable holding in the music streamer.
Warner Music Group has sold its entire stake in Spotify for $768m and will share $126m with its artists in the form of royalty payments. Warner Music CEO Steve Cooper said Warner Music and YouTube 's new premium services were good news for its business, as was Facebook 's recognition of the value that music brought to its platform. Spotify is now larger than Warner Music Group , with 180 million ad-supported active monthly users. The move leaves Facebook as the last major music label with a notable holding in Spotify after Sony sold most of its stake for $768m .