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Reservoir Media, Inc..
2/4/2026
Greetings and welcome to the rest of our media's third quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Jackie Marcus, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.
Thank you, operators. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's earnings conference call. Reservoir Media issued a press release with results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2026, ended December 31st, 2025, earlier this morning. If you did not receive a copy of our earnings press release, you may access it from the investor relations section of our website at investors.reservoir-media.com. With me on today's call are Gulnar Potashahi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Jim Heidelmayer, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, this call is being simultaneously webcast and will be recorded and archived on the Investor Relations section of our website. Before I turn the call over to Gulnar and Jim, I'd like to note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views of Reservoir Media about our business, financial performance, and future events. and as such, involve certain risks and uncertainties. Our expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith, and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that our expectations, beliefs, and projections will result or be achieved. Please refer to our earnings press release and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for more information on the specific risks uncertainties, and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations, beliefs, and projections described in today's discussion. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call or in our earnings press release are as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events, except to the extent required by applicable law. In addition to financial results presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, We plan to present during this call certain financial measures that do not conform to U.S. GAAP if we believe they are useful to investors or if we believe they will help investors to better understand our performance or business trends. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures are included in our earnings press release. I would now like to turn the call over to Gulnar.
Thank you, Jackie. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We continued to execute our strategy in the third fiscal quarter with a sustained focus on deepening relationships with our top-tier talent through new ventures, investing in the next generation of hitmakers, and expanding our presence in emerging markets. Organic growth was up 5% year-over-year, underscoring the strength and demand for our catalog, Music publishing revenue grew another 12%, while recorded music revenue for the quarter was up 8% compared to the year-ago period. Both music publishing and recorded music's revenue growth were driven by acquisitions, an increase in digital revenue, and continued growth of music streaming services. Before reviewing our operational highlights, I want to congratulate the nominees and winners of music's highest honor, the Grammys, held on Sunday in Los Angeles. Our roster contributed to 10 wins across multiple genres. Chris Riddick-Tyne's collaboration, Folded, by Kehlani, won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance. Sarah Jarosz and her group, I'm With Her, took home Best Folk Album for Wild and Clear and Blue and Best American Roots Song for Ancient Life. Joni Mitchell received the Best Historical Album Grammy, and Miles Davis' Miles 55, The Prestige Recordings, won Best Album Notes. Our songwriters, Michael Leake, Steph Jones, Robert Agosta, Mike Chapman, Simon Pilton, and John Marco, also contributed to wins for Best Alternative Jazz Album, Best Contemporary Country Album, Best Dance Electronic Album, and Best Tropical Latin Album. Congratulations to all on a memorable night and an extraordinary year in music. Turning to the quarter's highlights. Reservoir's portfolio is distinguished by its diversification spanning iconic catalogs and genre-defining artists alongside new and emerging creators across global markets. This quarter reflected that balance. We announced the acquisition of the publishing and recorded music rights of yacht rock icon Bertie Higgins, adding evergreen hits, including Key Largo, to our portfolio. As noted last quarter, Reservoir acquired the Miles Davis catalog in September. This January marks the official launch of his centennial year, and we are working closely with the estate and partners to honor his legacy through a global celebration with key integrated moments all year long, including the feature of Miles Davis' blue and green, as well as his artwork in a recent ad campaign for Lexus. The debut of celebratory Centennial logos, numerous planned releases across the various label partners, a co-branded Miles Davis Centennial cigar from premium cigar and accessories company Ferriotago, a deal between the estate's official global merchandising and brand licensing partner, Periscope, and premium men's retailer, John Barbados, a centennial edition of Miles, the autobiography, several live performances and festival appearances, and more. This quarter was also marked by new partnerships with two music icons, R&B legend Gladys Knight and hip-hop icon T.I., The agreement with Gladys Knight includes rights to her income streams across both publishing and master recording catalogs. The deal with TI will see Reservoir work with the acclaimed rap superstar across his entire publishing back catalog and future works, as well as select recorded music interests, including master recordings, artist royalties, and neighboring rights. These agreements mark our team's proven ability to structure and execute unique, flexible deals with legendary talent and further build our portfolio of evergreen hits that are accretive to the portfolio as a whole. Alongside partnerships with established and legacy talent, investing in the next generation of hitmakers remains central to our growth strategy. We welcomed critically acclaimed band Say She She with a global publishing deal covering past and future works. This female-led band is redefining discodelic soul and recently kicked off a North American tour. We also added Allison Velts-Cruz, an in-demand songwriter in the popular country pop space with number one hits and credits for artists including Matt Stell, Tennille Arts, Jason Aldean, Luke Combs, and Lady A. Also joining the roster this quarter is Britain Newbill, whose pop and R&B songwriting and producing credits include hits by Kat Burns, Olivia Dean, Daya, Meghan Trainor, and more. We also continue to invest in high-growth emerging markets. We extended our publishing agreement with multi-platinum Indian hip-hop artist Divine, now overseen through Reservoir's recently launched subsidiary, Pop India. Originally signed in 2020, this partnership, including our joint venture with Divine's umbrella company, Gully Gang Entertainment, has helped cultivate new talent across India's hip-hop ecosystem, and we are excited to continue supporting the genre's global growth. Additionally, we entered into a joint venture with dance hall publisher, Abood Music, and Jamaican star, Cordell Skadabarel. SCADA's hit record, Cooley Dance Rhythm, exemplifies how enduring works can reach new audiences through inventive sampling. With uses in global hits by Pitbull, Lil Jon, Whitney Houston, Fat Man Scoop, Nina Sky, 2025 Grammy-nominated gold-selling global hit After Hours by Kehlani, and more, Cooley Dance reinforces the long-term value of culturally significant music. Through the joint venture, Reservoir and Abood Music will acquire catalogs and sign and develop Jamaican creators aimed at further advancing the new generation of Jamaica's music scene. Our emerging market strategy remains highly impactful with favorable acquisition multiples and streaming growth rates that continue to outpace both the U.S. and Europe. Our performance this quarter is taking place against the backdrop of sustained growth in the global music economy. As reported by music economist Will Page in December, the global value of music copyright reached an all-time high of $47.2 billion for the year prior. Streaming services continue to follow a relatively regular cadence of price increases, which serve as additional tailwinds for general industry growth. We believe our focus on premium assets, long-term creator partnerships, and emerging markets positions us well to drive growth and maximize value creation for our songwriters, our artists, and shareholders over time. I will now turn the call over to Jim to discuss our fiscal third quarter financial performance. Jim?
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