Billboard's midyear roundup identifies the 13 biggest music business deals of 2026 so far, with the top five transactions alone worth a combined $16 billion — far surpassing the equivalent period in 2025. The surge reflects a broader global boom in mergers and acquisitions, with $2.77 trillion in deals struck worldwide in the first half of the year, up 48% on the previous year and the strongest first half since 2002, as institutional investors flush with cash from oil, gas and AI holdings increasingly turn to music royalties as a stable, recession-resistant asset class.

The list covers every publicly announced or closed music-industry merger, acquisition or capital raise worth more than $500 million through early July. Leading the pack is BMG's roughly $7 billion merger with Concord, agreed in April, which will create a "quiet" fourth major label generating an estimated $2 billion in annual revenue; Bertelsmann will hold 67% of the combined firm. Close behind is Sony Music Publishing's approximately $3.5 billion purchase of Recognition Music Group from Blackstone in May, bringing rights to some 45,000 songs — including hits by Shakira, Fleetwood Mac and Diana Ross — back under Sony's umbrella after years tied to the former Hipgnosis catalogue.