Sony Corp's music division helped power a 10% year-on-year rise in operating profit to 279.1 billion yen (£1.5 billion) for the company in fiscal Q1 2024.
The Japanese firm credited "significant increases" in music, as well as game and network services (G&NS) and imaging and sensing solutions (I&SS), for contributing to the financial results, which covered the three-month period up to 30 June.
Overall, revenue from the music segment generated 435.7 billion yen (£2.3bn) compared to 355.8bn yen in the same quarter last year - a leap of 23% (Sony Corp results are not supplied in constant currency).
Recorded music garnered 229.3bn yen (£1.2bn) - a 26% year-on-year uptick - with streaming increasing 36% to 196.6bn yen (£1bn). Physical music revenue dipped just under 6%.
Based on the yen figure, music publishing revenue increased by 28.8% year-on-year in the quarter.
The number of songs in Sony's music publishing catalogue owned and administered stood at 6.24 million as of March 31, 2024 - up 8% from 5.76bn 12 months earlier.
Sony's best-selling recorded music project for the quarter was Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, followed by Future & Metro Boomin's We Don't Trust You, SZA's SOS, Travis Scott's Utopia and Gettin' Old by Luke Combs. The Top 10 also includes releases by Tyla (Tyla), Tate McRae (Think Later), Doja Cat (Scarlet) and 21 Savage (American Dream), plus a second entry by Combs - This One's For You.
The major further highlighted "anticipated" upcoming releases over the next six months by A$AP Rocky, Becky G, Dhruv, London Grammar, Manuel Turizo, Myles Smith, Purple Disco Machine, Rag'n'Bone Man, Rauw Alejandro and Rex Orange County.
Since the previous forecast in May, Sony Music's revised outlook for full financial year has improved by 3% in sales and 5% for operating income.
