Common Music Group generated $2.7 billion in Q2; recorded music subscription streaming income grew 7% YoY

In recent times, the music rights enterprise has grown used to the foremost music corporations posting double-digit YoY subscription streaming income development each quarter that flies by.

Yesterday (July 27), that narrative modified considerably, as Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music rights firm, posted its Q2 2022 fiscal outcomes (overlaying the three months to finish of June).

First, the headline positives: Whole firm revenues at UMG (throughout recorded music, publishing, and different actions) have been up by a wholesome 17.3% YoY at fixed foreign money within the quarter.

The important thing quarterly numbers for UMG in Q2 have been as follows:

• As talked about, UMG’s whole company-wide revenues have been up 17.3% YoY at fixed foreign money to EUR €2.535 billion (USD $2.70bn);
• UMG’s whole recorded music revenues have been up 9.0% YoY at fixed foreign money to €1.922bn ($2.05bn). Including in ‘merch and different’ (€141m), this determine rises to €2.06bn ($2.20bn);
• And UMG’s whole music publishing revenues have been up 50.6% YoY to €476 million ($507m) – though this dramatic rise was partly pushed by UMG now recognizing assortment society income otherwise than it did beforehand.

Digging just a little bit deeper into UMG’s Q2 numbers reveals that, for its recorded music enterprise, streaming subscription income grew by a single-digit share charge YoY:

• UMG’s recorded music subscription streaming Q2 income was up by 7.0% YoY at fixed foreign money to €966 million ($1.03bn);
• UMG’s recorded music ad-funded/non-subscription Q2 streaming income was up 15.6% YoY at fixed foreign money to €348 million ($371m).

That 7.0% uplift in recorded music subscription streaming income clearly seems just a little smaller than the type of streaming-growth figures we’re used to seeing from UMG.

There’s a caveat: In Q2 2021 (i.e. the prior-year quarter), UMG’s subscription streaming revenues obtained what the agency calls a “one-time catch-up cost from a DSP” that amounted to €41 million.

With this cost discounted, UMG’s quarterly recorded music subscription streaming income in Q2 2022 would have grown by €164 million YoY.

As issues stand, together with the “one-time catch up”, UMG’s recorded music subscription streaming revenues in Q2 2022 have been nonetheless up by €123 million YoY.

It’s additionally value mentioning one other headline right here: UMG’s recorded music subscription income topped USD $1 billion in Q2 for less than the second time within the firm’s historical past, in accordance with Common’s reported (EUR) numbers transformed to USD on the common quarterly charge from the European Central Financial institution.

(Beneath, MBW has mapped UMG’s reported quarterly streaming revenues in EUR, after which transformed to USD on the prevailing common charge – in accordance with the ECB – in every quarter.)

It’s a primary truth of arithmetic, in fact, that as UMG’s quarterly subscription streaming income determine grows, it will get more and more tougher to take care of YoY double-digit share development (i.e. it’s a lot simpler to indicate a excessive share development when your ‘base’ quantity is small; it’s a lot tougher when that ‘base’ quantity is massive).

For instance: UMG’s non-subscription revenues for recorded music have been up 15.6% YoY in Q2 2022. However in actual phrases, these revenues have been solely up by €69 million vs the prior 12 months.

As talked about, UMG’s subscription revenues for recorded music have been up by a smaller-sounding 7.0% YoY in Q2 2022. However in actual phrases, these revenues have been truly up by €123 million.

Or to place it one other approach: UMG’s subscription streaming enterprise is rising by about double the dimensions, in actual phrases, of its ad-funded streaming enterprise.

However percentage-wise, as a result of it’s rising off a smaller base, the ad-funded enterprise (+15.6% YoY) seems – on the floor – prefer it’s growing quicker.

UMG’s subscription streaming revenues for the half-year of H1 2022 carried a 10.0% YoY enhance (on the equal six months of 2021) at fixed foreign money.

In Q1 2022 alone, UMG posted a 13.4% YoY rise in subscription streaming revenues.

Elsewhere in UMG’s recorded music outcomes for Q2: The agency’s bodily revenues shot up by 17.4% YoY to €303 million ($323m), whereas licensing income (together with sync) rose by 6.3% YoY.

Common’s biggest-selling artists throughout Q2 2022 on the recorded music aspect have been, so as of income generated: BTS, King & Prince, Rammstein, Olivia Rodrigo and INI.

Inside its newest outcomes, UMG revealed its EBITDA figures for the half-year to finish of June (see above).

These figures present that UMG’s company-wide EBITDA throughout this six-month interval was €960 million ($1.05bn), equating to a margin of 20.3%.

The agency’s adjusted EBITDA throughout H1 2022 weighed in at €962 million, additionally equating to a margin of 20.3%.

All references to YoY percentages on this story, whether or not said as such or not, are in fixed foreign money. All EUR-USD conversions made on the common charge of the related interval in accordance with the European Central Financial institution.Music Enterprise Worldwide