In a week of overall market declines and intensifying trade tensions, SM Entertainment stock gain led a surprising bright spot in the global music industry. The South Korean entertainment giant, which manages K-pop powerhouses aespa and RIIZE, saw its stock jump by 10.6%, emerging as the top performer on the Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) for the week ending May 23.

SM’s rally came amid broader gains by Asian music companies. Chinese streaming platforms Netease Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) followed with weekly increases of 7.0% and 5.4%, respectively. HYBE, home to BTS and its solo ventures, also enjoyed a 4.0% gain, further solidifying Asia’s dominance in music stock performance this week.

Thanks largely to these Asian gains, the BGMI edged up 0.2% to a new all-time high of 2,800.92, marking its seventh straight week of growth. Year-to-date, the index has surged 31.8%, massively outperforming the Nasdaq’s 4.5% decline and the S&P 500’s 2.4% drop. This contrast underscores a fascinating trend: music stocks—especially those anchored in the K-pop and Chinese markets—appear resilient during periods of economic anxiety.

U.S. markets, however, told a bleaker story. Amid renewed tariff threats—President Trump floated a 50% tariff on the European Union—and fiscal red flags like Moody’s debt downgrade and declining economic indicators, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell over 2.5% each. Most music stocks traded in the U.S. followed suit, with TME being the only U.S.-listed music stock to post gains (thanks to its dual listing in Hong Kong).

CTS Eventim, Germany’s largest concert promoter, was the only music company to release quarterly results. Despite a 22% revenue bump from its See Tickets acquisition, its EBITDA only improved 8.9%, missing expectations. Its stock dropped 4.7%, peaking at a 14.7% plunge on the day of the announcement.

Other notable moves included:

• Universal Music Group: rose 1.8%, steady amid the chaos.
• Warner Music Group: fell 5.3%, despite no major developments.
• Reservoir Media: dipped 1.2%, ahead of its upcoming earnings.
• Spotify: slipped 0.4%.
• Deezer: edged up 0.8%.
• Anghami: fell 5.1%, continuing its downward trend.
• LiveOne: plunged 20.8% after disclosing a $27.8 million convertible notes deal, which converts shares at $2.10—a stark contrast to its current $0.76 price.
• Live Nation: dropped 1.8% even as Macquarie raised its price target to $175 and affirmed an “outperform” rating. Political buzz followed the appointment of Richard Grenell, a Trump-era diplomat, to its board.

SM Entertainment’s leap isn’t just a market reaction—it’s a signal of investor confidence in K-pop’s global scalability, even as other sectors face turbulence. The consistency of growth from Asia-based companies suggests that music—especially in the streaming and idol-based economies—is decoupling from traditional economic cycles. This may reflect K-pop’s high digital engagement and export-friendly model, which insulates it from domestic downturns more effectively than legacy Western music firms tied to touring and physical sales.