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Vivendi CEO Sees Resurgence of Music Industry; UMG "Next Surprise for Our Investors"

Hope spring's eternal in music, and it seems, in the music industry as well. Jean Bernard Levy, the CEO of Vivendi (EPA: VIV) (which owns the biggest label Universal Music Group), told FT that he sees a new age of revenue growth, especially with digital and mobile sales. He cites Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) Comes With Music, Apple's (NSDQ: AAPL) efforts and now MySpace Music as reasons for optimism, despite the gloom and doom in the industry. Universal, which in July reported first-half revenues up 5 percent at $3.1 billion out of Vivendi's sales of $17.6 billion, "is the next surprise for our investors". He added: "I think...we are getting close to the lowest part of the cycle..I really believe we are at the turning point for the music industry and I didn't say that two years ago."

Meanwhile, another major indie is also voicing optimism, this time in relation to the launch of MySpace Music: Craig Scholl, CEO of The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD), says a music business based on advertising "could well dwarf today's $30 billion global recorded music industry," he told NYT, which is a bold and rather naive prediction to make considering the cyclical nature of ad markets. Meanwhile, back to majors, the story says the three majors labels (excluding EMI for now, though talks are ongoing) own a stake of about 40 percent in the new venture, with Universal Music owning the biggest share.