The CEO of Warner Music Group said on Monday the major label plans to create an "e-label," which instead of CD albums will release batches of three songs from artists every few months as digital downloads, CNET News.com reported. The e-label will provide artists with a "supportive, lower-risk environment," commented Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., and not focus on the million-selling hit records sought after by major record labels. In addition, artists on Warner's e-label will retain ownership of the master recordings of their songs and copyrights. "We're trying to experiment with a new business model," said Bronfman. "We're going to try to see where this goes."
The global streaming industry has spent the better part of a decade chasing subscriber counts as the primary metric of success. That era is now formally over. New market data from Omdia confirms that the industry has crossed a decisive threshold; one that shifts the competitive playing field from growth-at-all-costs to monetization discipline. For senior executives navigating media, advertising, and technology strategy, the implications extend well beyond entertainment. A Historic Revenue Crossover Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion in 2025, while pay-TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion; marking the first time in the industry's history that streaming has surpassed legacy pay-TV in revenue terms. This is not a rounding error or a statistical artifact; it represents the culmination of more than a decade of structural disruption to the traditional broadcast and cable TV model. Global subscriptions to online video services reached 2.24 billion by the ...